Waiver of Inadmissibility Approved!
by Julie Kruger
Our Client is a native and citizen of Mexico. She and her now-husband, a United States citizen, first met online, and their relationship quickly blossomed into love. They married just six months after meeting, and were eager to begin the immigration process so that she could move legally to the United States and they could reside together.
Unfortunately, when our Client was at the border applying to come in to the United States for a visit, she told the inspecting Officer that she was engaged, not married. She was allowed to enter, and then she and her husband filed a Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, and a Form I-485, Application to Adjust Status, so that she could become a Lawful Permanent Resident of the United States (commonly called a green card holder).
As part of the process, our Client and her husband attended an interview at their local office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, hoping to be approved on that day. However, during their interview, the Officer determined that our Client had made a willful misrepresentation at the United States border when she said that she was not married. As a result, the local office issued a Notice of Intent to Deny to our Client, stating that they planned to deny her Adjustment of Status application because of that willful misrepresentation. Although USCIS wanted to deny her, they gave her 30 days to file an application for a waiver of inadmissibility, which if approved, would forgive her misrepresentation and allow her to obtain a green card. The waiver application required the showing of extreme hardship that our Client’s United States citizen husband would suffer if the application were denied and they were forced to be separated.
Our Client and her husband then began contacting lawyers for assistance, and were recommended to Kruger Immigration Law by another immigration lawyer who knew that Ms. Kruger handles complicated cases. Ms. Kruger met with our Client and her husband via telephone for a consultation, during which she advised the best way to go forward, what our legal fees would be, and the estimated timelines for each step of the process. They then retained our office to work on the case.
Ms. Kruger advised our Client through every step of the waiver process. Because USCIS only allowed 30 days for our Client to submit the waiver application, we needed to work on an expedited basis. We prepared and timely filed a Form I-601, Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility, with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, on our Client’s behalf. We then also prepared and timely filed a response to the Notice of Intent to Deny to advise the local office of the filing of the waiver application. Our waiver package, more than 320 pages, included a detailed legal brief in support of the application and extensive documentation to establish the extreme hardship our Client’s husband would experience if her adjustment application was not approved.
In just a few months later (lightening speed for immigration purposes!), our Client’s waiver application was approved. This meant that our client was no longer inadmissible to the United States, and was able to adjust her status to that of a lawful permanent resident. Our Client now has the right to live and work in the United States with her husband permanently. In three years, she will be eligible to apply for United States citizenship.
We are so happy for our Client and her husband for their successful result! We love helping our Clients achieve their Dreams Without Borders. Here’s what our Client and her husband had to say about working with our firm: “We felt like we had a million weights lifted off our chest and we began actually living life not having to worry about immigration matters since we had you guys to take care of everything!”
