Deportation Waivers (I-601/212)

During the summer 2007, a Macedonian man was deported despite an approved I-130 petition by his US Citizen mother, filed in 2002. Since the father was the principal beneficiary of the I-130 petition, his wife and daughters would not be able to receive their green cards until the father was back in the US. The family retained our firm in July to help the father return to the United States and to obtain green cards for the entire family. After extensive efforts of contacting USCIS and the client's Congressman , our firm filed two applications, the I-212 application to apply for admission in to the US after being deported and the I-601 application for waiver of grounds of inadmissibility, so that the father could legally reenter the United States. These applications were filed in March and were approved in August 2010. Once the father returned to the US in September, we began to prepare the green card application forms for the rest of the family. Three I-485 applications for the wife and two daughters were filed in May 2011 Their interview, attended by one of our attorneys, was held in August. Less than three months later, their green card applications were approved in early November 2011. Everyone in the family is now a happy, legal permanent resident of the United States!

Our office was retained to work on an I-601 waiver for an elderly Romanian applicant who was inadmissible under 212 (a)(6)(C)(i) of the INA. We prepared the documents, the hardship material and filed the waiver on June 6 to the US Consulate in Bucharest. After 5 months we learned that the waiver was approved. The qualifying US family relatives of the individual were very happy to hear about the great news. The individual will now be able to go to the Consulate to get an immigrant visa to the US

We obtained an I-212 waiver to allow a Canadian client be admitted to the U.S. after being removed. Because of USCIS's delay, our client did not get derivative lawful permanent resident ("LPR") status while his parents and siblings did through the green card lottery system. The delay caused our client to no longer be eligible for derivative LPR status. Our client was placed in removal proceedings because his visa had expired so he was out of status. The Immigration Judge granted him voluntary departure. Our client's former attorney did not tell him that he must post bond for his voluntary departure at that time. The attorney helped our client appeal his case to the BIA, but lost. Because our client did not post bond at the right time, after his appeal with the BIA was denied his voluntary departure order was revoked and a final order of removal was issued against him. When our client voluntarily left the U.S. and returned to Canada, he executed his removal order and became subject to the 10-year bar from admission to the U.S.
We prepared a I-212 waiver for our client, including a detailed memorandum about his situation and equities, including the fact that our client's only inadmissibility was his past removal - he had no past criminal history or unlawful presence of more than 6 months. Our client submitted the waiver application with Customs and Border Protection in a preclearance office in Canada. A year later his waiver was granted, erasing his past removal order. He can now reapply for admission to the U.S. and be reunited with his family. He will also be able to adjust status when the priority date of his approved I-130 becomes current.

One of our clients, a national of China, was paroled into the United States as an arriving alien back in the mid 1990's. His mother, a United States Citizen filed an I-130 immigrant visa petition for him before April 30, 2001. He entered with a fake passport and sought asylum which was eventually denied by an immigration judge. Our client was subject to a final order of deportation. He has been in the United States for well over a decade, has a successful restaurant and his ill and elderly mother is extremely dependent upon him. Attorney Jason Lorenzon attended the interview and persuaded the USCIS Officer to grant the case based upon the hardship his mother would experience and the significant equities he accumulated while in the United States. He was statutorily eligible to get his green card. After a month, Attorney Lorenzon continuously contacted the USCIS officer since a final approval was not issued. Finally after several months of persistence the USCIS approved the 601 waiver due to his initial entry on a fake passport and granted our client Lawful Permanent residence. Now thanks to the efforts of our firm, and the persistence of Attorney Lorenzon, our client can live the American dream!

We were retained by a client and his US citizen wife to process his I-130 and immigrant visa. The client also needed a waiver of inadmissibility (Form I-601). Once the immigrant visa paperwork was complete and we knew of an immigrant visa interview date at the US COnsulate in Guanzhou we had the I-601 ready and it was submitted on March 4, 2011. The waiver was adjudicated and on June 23, 2011 we received approval.

A client from China retained us to work on an I-601 waiver application that was denied by the US Consulate in Guangzhou. An appeal was filed and our office submitted additional documentation to AAO on numerous occassions. The AAO has a lenghty adjudication process of over 24 months. The AAO notified our office on September 27, 2010 of the wonderful news of the waiver being approved. This Chinese applicant will just now finish consular processing of her immigration medical paperwork and be able to enter the US with an Immigrant Visa to remain in the US permanently. Her relatives in the US are overjoyed with the news and look forward to being reunited. Margaret Wong worked on this case with the assistance of paralegal Brian Marek.

We were retained by a US citizen (Chinese born and now currently living in New York) to help bring her husband back from China who needed an I-601 waiver and Form I-212 for his inadmissibility charge. He was inadmissible because he overstayed and was subsequently deported back to China. After the I-130 approval in August 2009, we went through the steps in order to get the immigrant visa interview that included the fee bill and DS forms to the US Consulate in Guangzhou. Upon getting notice of his immigrant visa interview date, we ensured the applicant had the I-601/212 package with him to take to the interview. The waiver was filed on February 17, 2010. The applicant, his wife and two young US citizen children patiently awaited adjudication of the case. On November 1, 2010 we were informed of the wonderful news of the case being approved. The family is very happy to hear of this great outcome and can now be reunited in the US where they can live permanently without worry. Attorney Margaret Wong worked on this matter with paralegal Brian Marek.

We assisted a Macedonian individual who required an I-601 waiver in order to reenter the US. He was deported back to Macedonia and also needed a Form I-212. We filed the I-601/212 on March 9, 2010 to the Skopje US Consulate as the applicant had an immigrant visa appointment at that time. In October of 2010, within about 7 months time, we received notice of the approval of this matter. We were very happy to learn of this great decision and the applicant and his family were overwhelmed with excitement to know that they can all be together in the US. Attorney Margaret Wong worked on this matter with paralegal Brian Marek.

Our client, a Russian citizen, arrived in the US on June 19, 1998 with an F-1 Visa. On July 17, 2003 he married a US citizen. On July 31, 2003, our client filed I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence and adjusts status based on his marriage to a US Citizen. On November 20, 2006 USCIS issued a Notice to Intent to deny his application. The notice required that our client file Form I-601, Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility. Our client was considered inadmissible to the US due to his admission of committing acts which constitute elements of crimes of moral turpitude as well as his alleged misrepresentation of failing to state that he had committed a crime of moral turpitude such as using a fraudulent driver's license to obtain a firearm. I-601 was filed on February 14, 2007 and a formal decision issued by CIS denied his I-485. The waiver was denied due to the fact that he did not show "extreme hardship". Our office filed a Motion to Reopen or Reconsider this denial within 30 days. The Motion argued that the decision by CIS was incorrect and inconsistent with the applicable statutes and regulations and no waiver of inadmissibility was necessary. Our client was scheduled for a second interview and his case was approved in April, 2008. Mr. Scott Bratton handled this case for Margaret Wong & Assoc.

Our client is a lawful permanent resident who was applying for immigrant visas for his mother and father in the Philippines. His mother was granted an immigrant visa, but his father's application was denied because of a criminal conviction that occurred more than 30 years ago for which he spent time in prison. He had a ten-year bar to entering the United States. We filed an I-601 Waiver of the bar to demonstrate that his wife and son would experience extreme hardship should he be forced to stay in the Philippines for 10 years without him. We prepared extensive documentation with affidavits, photos, medical records, bills, and articles in support of our argument. The waiver application was filed on November 4, 2009, and the application was approved on December 8, 2009! The waiver application was approved in little over one month!! Now the family will be reunited for the new year. Our attorney Deborah Lee handled the case for the firm.

Our client from the Ukraine entered the U.S. without inspection. She fell in love with and married a U.S. citizen. Her husband filed an I-130 Petition on her behalf which was approved. The client applied for her green card because she did not know she was ineligible to apply due to her illegal entry. The green card application was denied, and she was issued a notice to appear to be put into removal proceedings. The client never received the notice to appear or a hearing notice. She missed her hearing and received a final order in abstentia. In the mean time, she had hired an attorney to help her to start consular processing so she could apply for an immigrant visa outside the U.S. Neither the client nor her attorney found out about the final order, and she left voluntarily to the Ukraine to attend her immigrant visa interview. She submitted an I-601 Waiver for unlawful presence with her immigrant visa application which was denied. She hired our firm to prepare a new waiver application. While our firm was doing research on her case, we found out that she had a final order and filed a motion to reopen in abstentia based on the failure to receive a Notice to Appear and a hearing notice. Even though she had already left the country, we argued that by statute the Immigration Court had jurisdiction to reopen the case. The Immigration Judge agreed with our argument, rescinded the final order, and reopened her case. We refiled the I-601 Waiver demonstrating the significant hardship that our client's U.S. citizen spouse was experiencing as a result of the separation from his wife. Our client's spouse suffered from depression and great financial distress. Not only did it impact our client's spouse, but her husband's family members in the United States and the client's child. The Vienna Consulate approved the waiver, and our client was issued an immigrant visa. She has now been reunited with her spouse after three difficult years. Deborah Lee and Scott Bratton handled the case for the firm.

Our client came to us after his I-485 was denied when USCIS found he needed a waiver and that he did not establish eligibility for a waiver. We filed an appeal with the AAO and argued that no waiver was necessary and that CIS' decision was incorrect. The AAO agreed with our position and remanded the case to CIS for further proceedings on the adjustment of status application. After another interview CIS granted the application. Scott Bratton handled the case.

Indian CL who had previously tried to cross Canada/US border as a Canadian, who was returned to Canada and removed from Canada, later married a USC , and misrepresented himself during his IV interview in India by not disclosing the previous "misrepresentation," is now overjoyed to receive the approval of his waiver application. His wife retained us and after the thorough review of all materials , information, and advising on the type of documentation most favorable to the case, we filed I-601 Waiver in May 2006 to the US Consulate in Mumbai, India. Case got transferred to New Delhi 's office within two weeks. After constant inquiry and return communication from the US Consulate in New Delhi , India, in late September of 2006, our office was informed that file was lost and we were asked to resubmit the complete file. File was resubmitted twice to the US Consulate in India . Every two weeks our office would request an update on CL's case. No additional evidence requested other than provision of the initial I-601 waiver packet. Case was just granted in December 2006 and CL is waiting for processing of the immigrant visa to join his USC wife and newly born USC son. Lori Pinjuh, a senior attorney in the firm, worked on this case, with the assistance and research of Karim Berdiev.

We were retained to work on an I-601 waiver for an Indian client who was removed in 2005 from the US.  The client had an IV interview in New Delhi on 10/18/06 during which he submitted the waiver application prepared by our office.  The client subsequently was approved in mid 2007 and entered the US in June 2007 with a green card.  Margaret Wong worked on this case with assistance from paralegal Brian Marek.