Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for a provisional unlawful presence waiver you must fulfill ALL of the following conditions:

• Be 17 years of age or older.
• Be an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen (not a preference category immigrant who has a visa available). An immediate relative is an individual who is the spouse, child (unmarried and under 21), or parent of a U.S. citizen.
• 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 DOS for the approved immediate relative petition and have paid the DOS immigrant visa processing fee (IV Fee).
• Be able to demonstrate that refusal of your admission to the United States will cause extreme hardship to your U.S. citizen spouse or parent.
• Be physically present in the United States to file your application for a provisional unlawful presence waiver and provide biometrics.
• DOS did not initially act before January 3, 2013 to schedule your Immigrant Visa interview for the approved immediate relative petition upon which your provisional unlawful presence waiver application is based.
• Meet all other requirements for the provisional unlawful presence waiver, as detailed in 8 CFR 212.7(e) and the Form I-601A and its instructions.

You are not eligible for a provisional unlawful presence waiver if any of the following conditions apply to you:

• You may be subject to one or more grounds of inadmissibility other than unlawful presence.
• DOS 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.

Note: The date and time that you are scheduled to appear for your immigrant visa interview at the designated U.S. embassy or consulate is not the date USCIS will use to determine if you are eligible for Form I-601A. If DOS initially acted before January 3, 2013, to schedule your immigrant visa interview, you are not eligible for Form I-601A, even if you failed to appear for your interview or if you or DOS cancelled or rescheduled your interview for a date on or after January 3, 2013.

Instead, you may file a Form I-601, Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility, from outside the United States after you have been interviewed for your immigrant visa, and the consular officer has found that you are inadmissible for a ground that may be waived.

• You are in removal proceedings that have not been administratively closed.
• At the time of filing, you are in removal proceedings that have been administratively closed but have been placed back on the EOIR calendar to continue your removal proceedings.
• You do not meet one or more of the requirements, as outlined in the Form I-601A and its instructions.