Honduras - Smart Immigration Lawyer

We recently received approval of the I-601A Provisional Waiver that we prepared and submitted on behalf of a Honduran client who is married to his U.S. citizen spouse.

The I-601A Provisional Waiver application package prepared by our law firm included:

a complete set of USCIS forms requesting consideration of the I-601A Provisional Waiver;
a 31 page waiver statement detailing relevant case law favorable to my client’s situation as well as the presenting the extreme medical, psychological, financial, and other hardships that compelled approval of our I-601A Provisional Waiver application;
an expert emphasis on the unique and favorable discretionary factors that applied to this case based on our 12+ years of preparing winning “extreme hardship” waivers on behalf of our clients; and
a comprehensive collection of organized exhibits to prove the extreme hardships and favorable discretionary factors being presented.

To be eligible for the I-601A Provisional Waiver for Unlawful Presence, an applicant must fulfill ALL of the following conditions:

Be 17 years of age or older.
Be the spouse, child, or adult child of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
Have an approved Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, or Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant.
Have a pending immigrant visa case with the Dept. of State for the approved immediate relative petition and have paid the Dept. of State immigrant visa processing fee.
Be able to demonstrate that refusal of your admission to the United States will cause extreme hardship to your U.S. citizen or lawful permanent spouse or parent.
Be physically present in the United States to file your application for a provisional unlawful presence waiver and provide biometrics.
Not have been scheduled for an immigrant visa interview by Dept. of State before January 3, 2013.
You are inadmissible ONLY for unlawful presence in the United States for more than 180 days but less than 1 year during a single stay (INA Section 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(I)), or unlawful presence in the United States for 1 year or more during a single stay (INA Section 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(II).

An applicant is NOT eligible for the I-601A Provisional Waiver for Unlawful Presence if any of the following conditions apply:

You are subject to one or more grounds of inadmissibility other than unlawful presence.
You have a pending Form I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status with the USCIS
You are in removal proceedings, unless your removal proceedings have been administratively closed and have not been placed back on the Dept. of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review calendar to continue your removal proceedings at the time you file the Form I-601A.
You are subject to a final order of removal, deportation, or exclusion, or to the reinstatement of a prior order of removal, deportation, or exclusion
You are subject to a Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) order reinstating a prior order of removal, deportation, or exclusion
Dept. of State 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.
You fail to establish that the refusal of your admission would result in extreme hardship to your U.S. citizen spouse or parent, or that your application should be approved as a matter of discretion

In this case, the applicant is a Honduran national who grew up in poverty, having lost both his parents at a young age and raised by his older sister. He later entered the U.S. to escape the abject poverty and unchecked crime and violence of his home country. He has worked productively in the U.S. upon his entrance to the country, has no criminal record whatsoever, and is the father of a U.S. citizen child who he raises together with his U.S. citizen wife.

The extreme hardship factors discussed and documented in detail by our office includes:

U.S. citizen wife suffers from Type I Diabetes, a life-long condition carrying serious, potentially lethal consequences, if not properly treated or managed
Specific instances of our Honduran client having saved his U.S. citizen wife’s life as she slipped into a hypoglycemic coma due to an imbalance of sugar and insulin in her body
The U.S. citizen wife’s history of psychological disorders including Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Dysthymic Disorder
The vital financial support provided by our Honduran client to his U.S. citizen wife, without which she would be unable to pay her household and child-related expenses, make payments on her significant debt (including credit bills, home mortgage, and student debt), nor afford her medical expenses
The serious medical condition of the wife’s U.S. citizen grandparents, who she and her husband care for and watch over as best they can
In-depth research and discussion of the country conditions of Honduras and the variety of hardships and dangers likely to be faced by this family should they re-locate there
The close-knit and interrelated relationships between this extended family of wife, husband, daughter, and grandparents, that would lead to a spiral of psychological distress and medical risk upon four U.S. citizens should the Honduran husband not be allowed to remain in the U.S.

As a result of our efforts, the I-601A provisional waiver was approved. Our client will now be able to obtain U.S. lawful permanent resident status and more importantly, continue to play an integral role in caring for the well-being of his wife, daughter, and extended family.

I-601 Waiver News

The applicant in this case is a Honduran female who attempted to enter the United States in 1993 by presenting an altered Honduran passport. She was deemed inadmissible under section 212(a)(6)(C)(i) of the Immigration & Nationality Act for willful misrepresentation of a material fact in order to procure an immigration benefit. She thus required a waiver under 212(i) in order to reside with her mother and children in the U.S.

Although this case decision does not discuss unlawful presence, it appears that the applicant re-entered the United States without inspection and has resided with her mother and her children in the country since 2003. In reality, she was probably also subject to the 10 year unlawful presence bar under INA Section 212(a)(9)(B) and required a waiver pursuant to Section 212(a)(9)(B)(v).

Section 212(a)(6)(C)(i) of the Act provides:

In general – Any alien who, by fraud or willfully misrepresenting a material fact, seeks to procure (or has sought to procure or has procured) a visa, other documentation, or admission into the United States or other benefit provided under this Act is inadmissible…

Section 212(i) provides, in pertinent part:

(1) The Attorney General [now Secretary of Homeland Security] may, in the discretion of the Attorney General [now Secretary of Homeland Security], waive the application of clause (i) of subsection (a)(6)(C) in the case of an immigrant who is the spouse, son, or daughter of a United States citizen or of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, if it is established to the satisfaction of the [Secretary] that the refusal of admission to the United States of such immigrant alien would result in extreme hardship to the citizen or lawfully permanent resident spouse or parent of such an alien ….

The majority of I-601 Waiver cases I prepare on behalf of my clients involve couples. I thereby prepare a comprehensive extreme hardship memorandum (including citation of relevant case law and how they fit the specific facts of my client’s situation) that goes over two scenarios: 1. the extreme hardships the U.S. citizen or LPR spouse would suffer if the applicant is not admitted to the United States; or alternatively, the extreme hardships the U.S. citizen or LPR spouse would suffer if he/she is forced to move abroad and reside in the home country of the foreign spouse.

It is important to keep in mind however that extreme hardship to the U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident parent also qualifies for purposes of the I-601 waiver. [However, it is only extreme hardship to the U.S. citizen parent or spouse (not lawful permanent resident) that qualifies for purposes of the I-601A Provisional Waiver.]

In this case, the favorable factors are the following:

Applicant’s mother has lived with her daughter since 2003.
The daughter provides the mother support, shelter, food, and cares for all her needs and if the daughter’s waiver application were denied, the mother would lose all of this support
Applicant’s mother provides child care for her daughter’s two children, cooks all the family’s meals, cleans the house daily, and cares for the children until her daughter returns from work.
Applicant’s son is sixteen years old and has been diagnosed with anxiety, fears, phobias, depression for which he sees a psychologist. If the applicant’s waiver application were denied, the mother would be placed in the situation of caring for her daughter’s son without her daughter’s support.
Applicant’s mother has arthritis of her right knee, bilateral cataracts, osteoarthritis, and borderline hypertension.
If the Applicant’s mother returned to Honduras to be with her daughter, she would have no choice but to live with her son, in a three-room structure which is occupied by his wife and their two children. Her son is severely underemployed and cannot support her.
Applicant’s mother would not have adequate medical care for her medical conditions in Honduras. The presence of diseases and pollution in Honduras would exacerbate her current medical problems.
Applicant’s mother could be the victim of crime as Honduras uncontrolled, rampant crime.

The second relevant point highlighted by this case is the importance of supporting documents. I-601, I-601A, and I-212 waiver cases are won with solid supporting documents that confirm the statements made in the waiver memorandum.

In this case, the AAO specifically cites the following evidence as persuasive in approving this I-601 waiver application:

The letter from the mother’s physicians corroborating that she has borderline hypertension, cataracts bilaterally, osteoarthritis, and problems with her right knee, to the extent that she requires continued treatment and was ordered complete rest with daily assistance for thirty days.
U.S. Department of State issued a Travel Warning for Honduras (U.S. Department of State, Travel Warning, Honduras, dated November 21, 2012).
U.S. Department of Homeland Security extended Temporary Protected Status for Honduran nationals through July 2013.
Letter from the Applicant’s son’s physicians
Applicant’s mother is sixty seven years old and moving to Honduras would disrupt the continuity of her medical care. Re-adjustment to life in Honduras would be difficult given her advanced age and long absence from the country.
Applicant’s daughter provides her mother with food, shelther, financial support, and takes care of her. They have been living together for the past ten years.

Client Approval: I-601A Provisional Waiver Approved for Honduran Spouse

AAO Approves I-601 Extreme Hardship Waiver for Honduran Deemed Inadmissible Based on Fraud and Misrepresentation

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