Waiver Requests With U.S. Immigration Applications

If a person seeking immigration benefits has been found inadmissible, then in some (but not all) cases, the law allows that person to request a waiver. Asking for a waiver means that you are acknowledging that you are, in fact, inadmissible, but requesting that the immigration authorities review and recognize the counterbalancing factors in your case, forgive you, and grant the visa, green card, or other immigration benefit anyway.

Although you must pay a fee to apply for a waiver, this is not like paying a parking ticket, where handing over the money clears your record. Unless you present a convincing case showing that you deserve the waiver, it will be denied. What’s more, with many waivers, you’ll have to show specific facts within your request for relief – for example, that you have U.S. citizen relations in the U.S. and that being denied the waiver would cause them extreme hardship.

Realize also that certain grounds of inadmissibility cannot be waived. Someone who has committed certain serious crimes, or been involved in terrorism, for example, have no opportunity for a waiver under the law.