It is a fairly common situation for an individual to arrive in the U.S. illegally (often as a child or adolescent), marry a U.S. citizen later in life, start a family, and then at some point desire to obtain legal status. The process to accomplish this involves filing first for an immigrant visa, followed by what USCIS calls a “provisional waiver”, which fortunately since 2013 does not require the immigrant to return to his or her home country to determine whether the bar normally caused by their illegal presence has been waived, or forgiven. Instead, a 601A waiver application is filed, the purpose of which is to demonstrate to USCIS that the U.S. citizen spouse or parent (petitioner) would suffer extreme hardship if the immigrant were deported, and the family was forced to either be separated or uprooted and moved to immigrant’s home country. As of August 29, 2016, a petitioning green card holder, as well as U.S. citizen, may apply for the 601A waiver for their spouse or parent. The process does required a great deal of work, diligence, patience and keen understanding of the best ways to demonstrate “extreme hardship” to the petitioner. There may be medical hardships, as well as severe financial consequences to the petitioner which must be explored and adequately proved when submitting the 601A application. Care must also be taken to determine that there are no other factors besides the unlawful presence which could make the immigrant inadmissible, such as having committed a felony or crime of moral terpitude.
Consulting with and hiring a competent family immigration attorney is the best way to ensure a successful result in obtaining the 601A waiver, after which the immigrant would proceed to their consular interview abroad.
I would be happy to discuss your 601A wavier case with you during a free consultation.