Attorney Carlos E. Sandoval Informs Immigrants About Expanded Eligibility for Provisional Waivers Going into Effect in August

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced a final rule expanding the existing provisional waiver process to allow certain individuals who are family members of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents (LPRs) and those who are statutorily eligible for immigrant visas to more easily navigate the immigration process. The new law promotes family unity by reducing the time that eligible individuals are separated from their family members while they complete immigration processing abroad.

“Until now, only the immediate relatives of American citizens were eligible to seek provisional waivers before departing the U.S. for the processing of their immigrant visas,” said attorney Carlos E. Sandoval, founder of Carlos E. Sandoval, P.A., a fully bilingual law firm that focuses on immigration. “The law now expands eligibility to all individuals who are statutorily eligible for the waiver of the unlawful presence ground of inadmissibility.” What this means in practical terms is that if an applicant can demonstrate extreme hardship to a United States citizen or legal permanent resident spouse or parent, that applicant may apply for and receive a provisional waiver, whether the basis for the immigrant visa is a family-based petition or an employment-based petition, or even to diversity lottery or special immigrant classifications.

The final rule goes into effect on August 29, 2016, and builds on a process established in 2013. Under that process, certain immediate relatives of U.S. citizens could apply for provisional waivers of the unlawful presence ground of inadmissibility, based on the extreme hardship their U.S. citizen spouses or parents would suffer if the waiver was not granted.

USCIS will update its Policy Manual to provide guidance on how it makes “extreme hardship” determinations. The updated form will be posted on the the USCIS website at http://www.uscis.gov/i-601a on August 29, 2016. Applicants should not submit a request for a provisional waiver under the expanded guidelines until the final rule takes effect. “If you do so before that date, USCIS may deny the application,” said Sandoval.

About Carlos E. Sandoval, Attorney at Law 
Carlos E. Sandoval is a member of the Florida Bar, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Broward County Hispanic Bar Association and the Broward County Bar Association. Carlos, who speaks fluent English and Spanish, is licensed to practice law by the Florida Supreme Court and the Federal Court for the Southern District of Florida. He focuses his practice in all areas of immigration, naturalization and removal. For more information or a consultation, call (954) 306-6921, or visit http://www.carlosesandoval.com. The law office is located at 450 N. Park Road, Suite 803, Hollywood, FL 33021.

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