What is the Purpose of Form I-601?
An individual who is ineligible to be admitted to the United States as an immigrant or to adjust status in the United States and certain nonimmigrant applicants who are inadmissible must file this application to seek a waiver of certain grounds of inadmissibility.
Review the Who May File Form I-601 section of these Instructions to determine your eligibility to submit this application. This section outlines possible waivers and can help you determine if you need a qualifying family relationship to be eligible to file. Information on qualifying family members is listed in the Reasons for Inadmissibility section of these Instructions.
The Reasons for Inadmissibility section of these Instructions outlines requirements you must establish in order to have a particular ground of inadmissibility waived.
NOTE: Use Form I-601A, Application for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver, to request a provisional waiver of the ground of inadmissibility for unlawful presence in the United States under Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) section 212(a)(9)(B) only. DO NOT use Form I-601 if you are applying for a provisional unlawful presence waiver
Who May File Form I-601?
Whether you are eligible for a waiver depends on the immigration benefit you are seeking and the reason for your inadmissibility. Below is a list that details which immigrant benefits allow for a waiver of certain grounds of inadmissibility. Go to the page number listed to obtain more information.
Categories
If you are an applicant for an immigrant, K, or V nonimmigrant visa (and you are outside the United States, have had a visa interview with a consular officer, and during the interview, you were found inadmissible,) or you are an applicant for adjustment of status to lawful permanent residence (excluding adjustment categories listed below,) you may file this application to obtain relief from the following grounds:
- Health-related grounds of inadmissibility (INA section 212(a)(1))
- Certain criminal grounds of inadmissibility (INA section 212(a)(2))
- Immigration fraud and misrepresentation (INA section 212(a)(6)(c))
- Immigrant membership in a totalitarian party (INA section 212(a)(3))
- Alien smuggler (INA section 212(a)(6)(E))
- Being subject to civil penalty (INA section 212(a)(6)(F))
- The 3-year or 10-year bar due to previous unlawful presence in the United States (INA section 212(a)(9)(B))
If you are an applicant for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), you may file this application to obtain relief from the following grounds:
- Most grounds of inadmissibility listed in INA section 212(a)
If you are an applicant for adjustment of status under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) 202 or Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act (HRIFA) 902, you may file this application to obtain relief from the following grounds:
- All grounds listed for the adjustment of status applicants except the 3-year or 10-year bar due to previously unlawful presence in the United States (See pages relating to the adjustment of status applicants, listed above.)
- Aliens previously removed (INA section 212(a)(9)(A))
- Unlawfully present after previous immigration violations (INA section 212(a)(9)(C))
If you are an applicant for an immigrant visa or adjustment of status as a Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) self-petitioner or the child of a VAWA self-petitioner, you may file this application to obtain relief from the following grounds:
- All grounds listed for the adjustment of status applicants. (See pages relating to the adjustment of status applicants listed above.)
- Unlawfully present after previous immigration violations (INA section 212(a)(9)(C))
NOTE: VAWA self-petitioners (and their children) seeking adjustment have a special form of relief available if they are inadmissible under the 3-year or 10-year bar (INA section 212(a)(9)(B)(i)). VAWA self-petitioners (and their children) who are not eligible for this special form of relief, but meet the requirements for the waiver under INA section 212(a)(9) (B)(v), may file Form I-601. See the You Are an Approved VAWA Self-Petitioner or the Child of an Approved VAWA Self-Petitioner Seeking a Waiver Under INA Section 212(a)(9)(C)(iii) for Being Unlawfully Present After Previous Immigration Violations Under INA Section 212(a)(9)(C) of these Instructions.
If you are an applicant for adjustment of status based on T nonimmigrant status, you may file this application to obtain relief from the following grounds:
- Most grounds listed in INA section 212(a)
If you are an applicant for adjustment of status as a Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) based on an approved Form I-360, you may file this application to obtain relief from the following grounds:
- Most grounds listed in INA section 212(a)
How Long Is a Waiver Valid?
Except as provided below, if you are granted a waiver of grounds of inadmissibility in connection with your immigrant visa or adjustment of status application, the waiver is valid indefinitely. This is true even if you do not obtain your immigrant visa, immigrant admission, or adjustment of status or if you lose your legal permanent resident (LPR) status.
NOTE: If this Form I-601 is approved, the waiver that is granted will apply only to the grounds of inadmissibility and those crimes, incidents, events, or conditions that you have included in your application. For this reason, it is important that you disclose all conduct or conditions that may cause you to be inadmissible and list all grounds of inadmissibility for which you seek a waiver.
The following waivers are either conditional or limited to certain benefits:
Convention Adoptee.
If you obtain a waiver in connection with Form I-800, Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relative, the approval of your waiver is conditioned upon the final issuance of an immigrant or nonimmigrant visa based on the final approval of Form I-800.
K Nonimmigrant Visa Applicant.
If you obtain a waiver in connection with an application for a K-1 or K-2 nonimmigrant visa, the approval of your waiver is conditioned upon the marriage of the K-1 visa applicant and the K-1 visa petitioner after the K-1 nonimmigrant visa applicant is admitted to the United States. Conditional Resident. If you obtain a waiver in connection with an application for lawful permanent residence on a conditional basis under INA section 216 or INA section 216A, the validity of the waiver automatically ceases with the termination of such residence. No separate notification of termination of the waiver is needed, and you cannot appeal the termination of the waiver. However, if the immigration judge determines that you are not removable based on the termination of your conditional resident status, the waiver will become effective again.
TPS Applicant.
If you obtain a waiver in connection with Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status, the waiver is only valid for the TPS application. If granted, the waiver will apply to subsequent TPS re-registration applications but not to any other immigration benefit requests.
Checklist of Required Initial Evidence (for informational purposes only)
Please provide the following:
- Evidence that establishes why you may qualify for a waiver of inadmissibility, which depends on the ground(s) of inadmissibility that apply to you and should include evidence to show why we should grant you a waiver of inadmissibility as a matter of discretion.
- Evidence to support your claim of extreme hardship (if applicable)
- If applying for a waiver that requires you to a showing of extreme hardship to a spouse, parent, son, or daughter of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, you must submit evidence establishing the family relationship and evidence that shows the denial of admission would result in extreme hardship to your qualifying relative.
- If you are a VAWA self-petitioner seeking a waiver for immigration fraud or misrepresentation, you may show how the denial of admission would result in extreme hardship to your qualifying relatives or yourself.
- Evidence to support a waiver for inadmissibility due to a communicable disease of public health significance (if applicable).
- Evidence to support your request for a vaccination exemption (if applicable).
- Evidence to support a waiver of inadmissibility due to physical or mental disorder and associated harmful behavior (if applicable).
- Evidence to support a waiver of criminal grounds of inadmissibility found in INA section 212(a)(2) (if applicable)
- Evidence to support waiver for immigration fraud or misrepresentation (if applicable).
- Evidence to support a waiver for inadmissibility because of your membership in a Totalitarian Party (if applicable).
- Evidence to support a waiver for inadmissibility due to alien smuggling (if applicable).
- Evidence to support a waiver of inadmissibility due to being the subject of a civil penalty under INA section 212(a)(6)(F) (if applicable).
- Evidence to support a waiver of the three-or 10-year unlawful presence bar under INA section 212(a)(9)(B)(v) (if applicable).
- If you are a TPS applicant, provide evidence that a waiver is warranted.
- If you are seeking adjustment of status under NACARA section 202 or HRIFA section 902, and inadmissible under INA section 212(a)(9)(A) or (C), evidence that you warrant a waiver of inadmissibility based on factors that would be considered if you were seeking consent to reapply.
- If you are an approved VAWA self-petitioner or child of an approved VAWA self-petitioner and inadmissible under INA section 212(a)(9)(C)(i), evidence that shows connection between the battery or extreme cruelty that is the basis for the VAWA claim and the self-petitioner’s removal, departure from the United States, reentry or re-entries into the United States, or attempted reentry into the United States.
- Evidence to support waiver if you are an applicant for adjustment of status as a Special Immigrant Juvenile (if applicable)
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