Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers Now Accepted by USCIS

The new process for submitting a stateside waiver to cure the harsh consequences of unlawful presence for certain qualifying immigrants is now available.  

From USCIS:

Beginning March 4, 2013, certain immigrant visa applicants who are spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens (immediate relatives) can apply for provisional unlawful presence waivers before they leave the United States. The provisional unlawful presence waiver process allows individuals, who only need a waiver of inadmissibility for unlawful presence, to apply for a waiver in the United States and before they depart for their immigrant visa interviews at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad.

Here are the eligibility requirements:

You must:

1. Be 17 years of age or older.
2. Be an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen (not a preference category immigrant who has a visa available). An immediate relative is an individual who is the spouse, child or parent of a U.S. citizen.
3. Have an approved Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, or Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant.
4. Have a pending immigrant visa case with DOS for the approved immediate relative petition and have paid the DOS immigrant visa processing fee.
5. Be able to demonstrate that refusal of your admission to the United States will cause extreme hardship to your U.S. citizen spouse or parent.
6. Be physically present in the United States to file your application for a provisional unlawful presence waiver and provide biometrics.
7. Not have been scheduled for an immigrant visa interview by DOS before January 3, 2013.
8. Meet all other requirements for the provisional unlawful presence waiver, as detailed in 8 CFR 212.7(e) and the Form I-601A and its instructions.

Here are the disqualifying factors:

1. You are subject to one or more grounds of inadmissibility other than unlawful presence.
2. DOS initially acted before January 3, 2013, to schedule your Immigrant Visa (IV) interview for the approved immediate relative petition upon which your provisional unlawful presence waiver application is based, even if your immigrant visa interview has been canceled, you failed to appear for the interview, or your interview was rescheduled on or after Jan. 3, 2013.
3. You are in removal proceedings that have not been administratively closed.
4. At the time of filing, you are in removal proceedings that have been administratively closed but have been placed back on the EOIR calendar to continue your removal proceedings.
5. You do not meet one or more of the requirements, as outlined in the Form I-601A and its instructions.

Click here for the filing instructions.