REPLY: In order to obtain a new waiver, you will need to submit virtually the same application materials that you did the first time. Of course, the new materials must be updated. Specifically, you will need to obtain a new RCMP report, current employment letter, etc. You will also want to submit documentation of any changes in your life – new home, new career, family, etc.
You can submit copies of some documents, such as your personal statement and certificate(s) of conviction (if applicable) that were previously submitted with your first waiver application.
Our office will evaluate each waiver renewal applicant’s case individually and compile a case-specific list of items that we recommend submitting with the waiver renewal application. Since each case is different, I cannot advise you specifically about what to submit. If you would like to submit additional information about your case and receive a complete professional analysis, please consider contacting my office to set up a consultation.
]]>Our client, a first-time waiver applicant nearing the end of the applicable 10-year bar, was issued a nonimmigrant waiver for a validity period of one year authorizing multiple entries for business or pleasure. The validity of this waiver will last through the expiration of the applicable 10-year bar, at which time our client will no longer require a waiver in order to enter the U.S. as a visitor.
Our client requires a waiver due to unlawful presence accumulated while she and her family remained in the U.S. beyond the expiration of their authorized periods of stay as B1/B2 visitors. While in the U.S. as visitors, the family applied to immigrate to Canada but the Canadian immigration process took longer than expected. When the family’s applications for extensions of stay were denied, they chose to remain in the U.S. only for the additional time needed to complete the Canadian immigration process. Since she remained in the U.S. for just over one year beyond her authorized period of stay, our client is inadmissible for 10 years from the date of departure under INA § 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(II).
]]>REPLY: Thank you for your question. Unfortunately, since your husband readily admits to falsely claiming U.S. citizenship, there is nothing to be challenged. Regardless of the reason that he claimed U.S. citizenship, the fact that he admitted it renders the charge justifiable under the law. The only cases in which we recommend challenging a Consular finding of falsely claiming citizenship involve a misapplication of the law – when there actually was no false claim to citizenship.
Your husband may want to consider a nonimmigrant waiver so that he can visit you and your family in the U.S. Other than that, I am afraid that there is no way for him to return to the U.S. He faces a lifetime bar for which there is no permanent waiver. He will never obtain permanent residence or U.S. citizenship.
]]>So my girlfriend and I decided we would try to play it safe. Many of our friends had told us about times they had tried to go through the border with or to visit their significant other and were denied due to suspicion of immigration. When asked, I told the officer I was travelling alone. They sent me to secondary inspection where my bag and one of my girlfriend's bags (which we were not aware was checked my name) were brought out and searched. Needless to say they found material belonging to her. I proceeded, knowing if I told them now that I was indeed NOT travelling alone, and travelling with my partner, that I would be denied entrance based on the aforementioned suspicion. I proceeded to tell them, foolishly, that the items of female usage were gifts and items I was bringing for her.
These were the only two things untrue in my statements: who I was travelling with, and who the items in the bag belonged to. Everything else, intent to visit, length of stay, was all true.
]]>Prior to needing a waiver, our client worked in the U.S. for several years as a nurse under TN status. At one point during her career, however, she was offered a job overseas that she could not pass up. Upon her return to Canada several years later, she again sought to apply for TN status. The requirements for U.S. nurses, however, had changed during her absence from the U.S. and she was now required to take and pass an examination before she could be granted TN status again as a nurse.
In order to take the exam, our client entered the U.S. as a Canadian visitor. She stayed with a relative in the U.S. while she studied for the nursing exam. After taking the required exam, our client departed the U.S. and returned to Canada where she learned that she had passed the nursing examination. She then obtained an offer of employment from a hospital in the U.S., which agreed to sponsor her for new TN status. She made plans to travel to the U.S. as a visitor in order to obtain her credentials from her relative’s home, which she needed in order to make a proper TN application at the U.S. port of entry.
]]>REPLY: Based upon the information you provided, I have set forth my general outline of the perceived situation below. As you acknowledged, I cannot specifically advise you without first learning more about the particular facts of your case.
When individuals fail to appear for removal proceedings in Immigration Court, it is the policy of the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to move the Immigration Judge to issue an order of removal in absentia. This is done in 99% of cases in which individuals do not appear for court. Thus, I would assume that your fiancé was ordered removed. Unfortunately, her departure on her own has absolutely no effect on the order against her – the deportation/removal order remains in effect. When an individual is ordered removed by an Immigration Judge, s/he is barred from returning to the U.S. for a period of 10 years. The 10 years begins to run on the date of the removal order. However, s/he may apply to waive this 10-year ban by submitting a Form I-212, Application for Permission to Reapply for Admission After Deportation or Removal.
]]>REPLY: Based upon the information provided, it sounds as though you will almost certainly require an I-212 waiver in order to return to the U.S. The more important issue, however, may be the need for a waiver to overcome the reason why you were removed. For example, if you were removed due to an overstay for more than 6 months, for a criminal conviction, or for committing fraud in connection with an immigration application, you will require another waiver (Form I-601) in addition to Form I-212.
I would also like to point out to you and your fiancé that the I-129F petition for a K3 visa is currently taking just as long to process as the I-130 petition. In our recent experience, visa applicants are not getting to the U.S. any faster with the K3 petition than the I-130 petition. You should also know that if the Consulate receives notice of approval of your I-130 petition before your K3 visa interview occurs, you will no longer be permitted to apply for the K3 visa and must proceed with the I-130/immigrant visa process.
]]>Any help would be very much appreciated. I have spent literally 20 hours trying to get some information on this and I cannot find any good counsel.
REPLY: I hope that I can shed some light on this frustrating process for you. In my recent experience, the Admissibility Review Office (“ARO”), which is the agency responsible for adjudicating all I-192 waiver applications, has been requesting all court documents relating to every arrest and conviction, no matter how old they are. I recently had to send a client to the Ontario Archives in order to obtain records from the 1970s, as the ARO issued a specific request for these documents. If all records are truly unavailable, the ARO will usually require that this be confirmed in writing by a court official.
]]>Now I am in Pakistan and I want to return to the U.S. If I get married to a U.S. citizen who is here in Pakistan, will I have any problems immigrating to the U.S.? I called a U.S. immigration person here and he said it doesn’t matter if I got voluntary departure – I still have a 10-year bar.
Please clarify my situation. Is passage back to the U.S. still open or closed permanently?
REPLY: Based upon the information provided, it does not sound as though you accumulated unlawful presence and therefore you should not be subject to any bars or require any waivers. This is assuming that as a student you were admitted for the duration of status (“D/S”). If this is the case, your passport stamp and Form I-94 would have been clearly marked “D/S”. With D/S, since you were not provided with a date upon which your authorized period of stay would expire, you could not have accumulated unlawful presence because you had no date beyond which to “overstay.”
]]>REPLY: Based upon the information you provided, I cannot identify any restrictions to which you are subject. You do not require a waiver for unlawful presence as a result of your overstay, as only overstay periods of 6 months or more will render someone inadmissible due to unlawful presence. There is also no time or other restriction regarding when you can apply for your new visa.
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