CASE: I-751 / Waiver of the Joint Waiver Requirement

APPLICANT: Guyanese

LOCATION: Shorewood, Wisconsin

Our client contacted our office in August of 2018 regarding his potential I-751 filing. He came to the United States from Guyana and he married a U.S. Citizen (his ex-wife) in November 2015.

Through his marriage, he was able to obtain a 2-year conditional green card in November of 2016 with our office’s legal assistance. Thus, his conditional residency terminated in November 2018.

To comply with immigration requirements, our client and his wife had to file an I-751 Joint Petition to Remove Conditions. He retained our office on August 8, 2018, and our office prepared an I-751 application for our client with other supplemental exhibits.

On August 13, 2018, our office filed an I-751 application to the USCIS with multiple affidavits from his friends and family members, joint bank statements, utility bills, joint tax documents, , and photos of our client and his wife to demonstrate the bona fideness of their marriage.

Unfortunately, while his I-751 case was pending, their marriage ended in March 2019. Our client experienced a lot of difficulties during his marriage with her ex-wife. Thus, our client could not continuously pursue his I-751 joint filing application. In July 2019, the USCIS issued Request for Evidence and requested our client to submit more bona fide marital documents. 

When we prepared a Response to RFE for our client, we requested to change our client’s I-751 from joint filing to a waiver of joint filing because our client entered into the marriage in good faith, but the marriage was terminated through divorce or annulment. We sent this request based on the April 3, 2009  Donald Neufeld USCIS Memorandum entitled “I-751 Filed Prior to Termination of Marriage”, which allows for these applications to be converted to a waiver, if the divorce happened during the pendency of a jointly filed I-751 application. 

The memorandum, in part, states, on page 3:

“If the Conditional Permanent Resident provides evidence that the proceedings (divorce) have been finalized, the ISO amends the I-751 petition to indicate that the CPR is eligible for a waiver of the joint filing requirement based on termination of marriage and adjudicates the petition on the merits in accordance with established procedure. In so doing, the ISO determines whether there is sufficient evidence the CPR entered the marriage in good faith, or whether the case warrants relocation to a Field Office for an in-person interview.”

On September 21, 2019, our office filed Response to RFE along with a detailed affidavit from our client and various supporting documents to demonstrate our client’s bona fide marriage with his ex-wife.  

Eventually, the USCIS approved our client’s I-751 application on November 4, 2019. Now, he has his ten-year green card.

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CASE:   Immigrant Visa Approval / I-601A Hardship Waiver of Inadmissibility

APPLICANT / BENEFICIARY: Guyanese

LOCATION: Albany, NY / Georgetown, Guyana

Our client came to the United States from Guyana in 2005 on a C1/D crew visa. He married his U.S. citizen wife in 2007.  Thereafter, his U.S. Citizen wife filed an I-130 petition for him in 2008. This I-130 petition was approved on November 23, 2009.

However, our client cannot file for adjustment of status application due to his ground of inadmissibility (entry without inspection and admission as a crewman). He needs a waiver of inadmissibility to become a green card holder.

Under current law, immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who are not eligible to adjust status in the United States must travel abroad and obtain an immigrant visa. Individuals who have accrued more than 180 days of unlawful presence while in the United States must obtain a waiver of inadmissibility to overcome the unlawful presence bars under section 212(a)(9)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act before they can return to the United States

In 2013, the USCIS announced a new policy called the provisional unlawful presence waiver. 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.

The new process is expected to shorten the time U.S. citizens are separated from their immediate relatives while those family members are obtaining immigrant visas to become lawful permanent residents of the United States.

INA § 212(i) provides for a discretionary waiver of the entry without inspection inadmissibility ground. To qualify for the waiver, the alien must establish that his or her US Citizen spouse would suffer extreme hardship if the alien were denied admission. INA § 212(i)(1). In addition to the equities presented, the USCIS may consider the nature of the inadmissibility ground.

There is a seminal BIA case that deals with this waiver.  In Matter of Cervantes, 22 I & N Dec. 560 (BIA 1999), the BIA identified the factors to be considered in determining whether a qualifying relative would suffer extreme hardship if the alien were denied admission.  Those factors include: the presence of LPR or USC family ties both within and outside the United States; the conditions in the country to which the qualifying relative would relocate and the extent of the qualifying relative’s ties to that country; the financial impact of departure from the United States; and significant conditions of health, particularly when tied to the unavailability of suitable medical care in the country to which the qualifying relative would relocate.

Our client filed I-601A application before with a different immigration counsel, but it was denied in October 2014. Nevertheless, he had since gathered more evidence, financial and medical, to have a stronger re-file case.

Our client’s I-601A application had a good chance since our client’s U.S. Citizen wife suffers from a great degree of hardship. Moreover, their U.S. citizen children suffer from great degree of medical hardships. Although their U.S. citizen children are not considered as “qualifying relatives” for the I-601A, we argued that children’s medical hardship is also hardship to our client’s U.S. citizen wife, by virtue of having to take care of them (children with medical / special needs) is an extreme hardship to her. In the I-601A brief and supporting documents, our office included extensive medical reports of his children.  We argued that if he was removed from the United States, extreme hardship to his wife is clearly foreseeable and evident.  She would not be able to take care of her own needs and the bulk of their family chores, most importantly taking care of their child. Also, it would be extremely difficult for her and their kids to get the same level of therapy and satisfactory access to medical services in Guyana in case they join our client there.

In our brief, we also argued that our client and his wife have maintained strong family ties in the United States, that his wife will have difficulty in finding the same level of employment in Guyana, and that his U.S. citizen child and his wife will face extreme emotional difficulties if he is removed.

On April 28, 2016, we filed the I-601A waiver application which included the brief in support, his wife’s extensive medical examination records, and other documents that demonstrated hardship to his wife if he is removed from the United States. Eventually, his I-601A waiver was approved on October 13, 2016.

Once his I-601A waiver was approved, he retained our office again for his immigrant visa processing. Our office prepared and filed his immigrant visa application on December 5, 2016. Later, the U.S. Embassy in Guyana informed our office that they scheduled an immigrant visa interview for our client. Our client went back to Guyana to appear at his interview on May 3, 2017. On May 3, 2017, our client appeared at his immigrant visa interview at the Embassy, and the Consulate officer approved his immigrant visa on the same day.

Now, our client can come back to the United States with an approved immigrant visa and he will get his green card in a mail within two months of his entry to the United States.  

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CASE:   I-601A Hardship Waiver of Inadmissibility

APPLICANT / BENEFICIARY: Guyanese

LOCATION: Albany, NY

Our client came to the United States from Guyana in 2005 on a C1/D crew visa. He married his U.S. citizen wife in 2007.  Thereafter, his U.S. Citizen wife filed an I-130 petition for him in 2008. This I-130 petition was approved on November 23, 2009.

However, our client cannot file for adjustment of status application due to his ground of inadmissibility (entry without inspection and admission as a crewman). He needs a waiver of inadmissibility to become a green card holder.

Under current law, immediate relatives of U.S. citizens who are not eligible to adjust status in the United States must travel abroad and obtain an immigrant visa. Individuals who have accrued more than 180 days of unlawful presence while in the United States must obtain a waiver of inadmissibility to overcome the unlawful presence bars under section 212(a)(9)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act before they can return to the United States

In 2013, the USCIS announced of new policy called the provisional unlawful presence waiver. 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.

The new process is expected to shorten the time U.S. citizens are separated from their immediate relatives while those family members are obtaining immigrant visas to become lawful permanent residents of the United States.

INA § 212(i) provides for a discretionary waiver of the entry without inspection inadmissibility ground. To qualify for the waiver, the alien must establish that his or her US Citizen spouse would suffer extreme hardship if the alien were denied admission. INA § 212(i)(1). In addition to the equities presented, the USCIS may consider the nature of the inadmissibility ground.

There is a seminal BIA case that deals with this waiver.  In Matter of Cervantes, 22 I & N Dec. 560 (BIA 1999), the BIA identified the factors to be considered in determining whether a qualifying relative would suffer extreme hardship if the alien were denied admission.  Those factors include: the presence of LPR or USC family ties both within and outside the United States; the conditions in the country to which the qualifying relative would relocate and the extent of the qualifying relative’s ties to that country; the financial impact of departure from the United States; and significant conditions of health, particularly when tied to the unavailability of suitable medical care in the country to which the qualifying relative would relocate.

Our client filed I-601A application before with a different immigration counsel, but it was denied in October 2014. Nevertheless, he had since gather more evidence, financial and medical, to have a stronger re-file case.

Our client’s I-601A application had a good chance since our client’s U.S. Citizen wife suffers from a great degree of hardship. Moreover, their U.S. citizen children suffer from great degree of medical hardships. Although their U.S. citizen children are not considered as “qualifying relatives” for the I-601A, we argued that children’s medical hardship is also hardship to our client’s U.S. citizen wife, by virtue of having to take care of them (children with medical / special needs) is an extreme hardship to her. In the I-601A brief and supporting documents, our office included extensive medical reports of his children.  We argued that if he was removed from the United States, extreme hardship to his wife is clearly foreseeable and evident.  She would not be able to take care of her own needs and the bulk of their family chores, most importantly taking care of their child. Also, it would be extremely difficult for her and their kids to get the same level of therapy and satisfactory access to medical services in Guyana in case they join our client there.

In our brief, we also argued that our client and his wife have maintained strong family ties in the United States, that his wife will have difficulty in finding the same level of employment in Guyana, and that his U.S. citizen child and his wife will face extreme emotional difficulties if he is removed.

On April 28, 2016, we filed the I-601A waiver application which included the brief in support, his wife’s extensive medical examination records, and other documents that demonstrated hardship to his wife if he is removed from the United States. Eventually, his I-601A waiver was approved on October 13, 2016. Now, he can file packet 3 and 4 here in the United States, and would go to Guyana shortly to get his immigrant visa.

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CASE: I-129F Fiancé Petition and Fiancé Visa
PETITIONER: US Citizen in Cleveland, OH
BENEFICIARY: Guyanese
PETITION FILED: May 21, 2012
VISA APPROVED: October 11, 2012

Our client, a US Citizen Petitioner, met her Guyanese fiancé in Barbados last year. A few months after she came back to the States, she retained our firm to get a visa for her fiancé.

We informed her of all supporting documents we would need, helped her and her fiancé draft a letter in support of the fiancé petition, and filed the petition on May 21, 2012.

On August 17, 2012, the I-129F fiancé petition was approved. Our client’s fiancé was then scheduled for a fiancé immigrant visa interview in early October 2012 at the US Embassy in Georgetown, Guyana. We prepared all forms and supporting documents for his interview and sent them by international mail to Guyana. He was also prepared prior to the interview.

On October 11, 2012, our client passed his fiancé visa interview. He would be reunited with our client in the U.S. soon and would get married within 90 days of his entry. From there he can apply for his green card.

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