USCIS Seeks Comments on Proposed Expansion of Eligibility for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is seeking public comments on a proposed rule that would expand eligibility for provisional waivers of inadmissibility based on the accrual of unlawful presence. The proposed rule would expand eligibility to all foreign nationals who are statutorily eligible for an immigrant visa and for a waiver of inadmissibility based on unlawful presence.
Currently, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) allows certain immediate relatives—specifically certain parents, spouses, and children of U.S. citizens—who are in the United States to request a provisional unlawful presence waiver before departing for consular processing of their immigrant visas. The waiver currently is only available to those immediate relatives whose sole ground of inadmissibility would be unlawful presence under INA § 212(a)(9)(B)(i) and who can demonstrate that the denial of the waiver would result in extreme hardship to their U.S. citizen spouses or parents.
Under the proposed rule, USCIS may grant a provisional waiver to foreign nationals if they are statutorily eligible for immigrant visas and for waivers of inadmissibility based on unlawful presence. The proposed rule also would expand who may be considered a qualifying relative for purposes of the extreme hardship determination to include lawful permanent resident spouses and parents.
The changes, which USCIS said it is proposing “in the interests of family unity and to enhance customer service,” would take effect on the date indicated in the final rule when the final rule is published in the Federal Register. USCIS said that foreign nationals should not submit applications now requesting provisional unlawful presence waivers based on the proposed changes. USCIS may deny any such application filed before the effective date indicated in the final rule.
Comments are due by September 21, 2015. To submit comments, follow the instructions in the notice.
See also,
- The USCIS announcement
- The related proposed rule
- USCIS’s Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers page with additional information
