Latest update March 29th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jul 31, 2011 News
By Attorney Gail S. Seeram
In applying to become a lawful permanent resident of the United States, there are many requirements that must be met by the petitioner and beneficiary. In most cases, the petitioner must prove income eligibility and the qualifying relationship (i.e. spouse, child, parent). On the other hand, the beneficiaries must prove that they do not have a criminal record, are in good health (hence the medical exam) and do not face any type of bar from entering the United States.
Many beneficiaries of an immigrant visa (that leads to issuance of green card) are unaware of the three-and-ten-year bars from returning to the U.S. The “three-and ten-year bars,” provisions of the U.S. immigration law prohibit applicants from returning to the United States if they were previously in the U.S. illegally. Thousands of people who qualify for green cards based on their relationships to U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident relatives leave the U.S. to return to their home country to obtain their green card, when they discover the three-and-ten-year bars.
Under the current law they must leave the U.S. to apply for their green card abroad at the U.S. Embassy, but as soon as they leave, they are immediately barred from re-entering the U.S. for three or ten years.
The Secretary of Homeland Security may waive the bar to admission if extreme hardship to a spouse or parent can be established. But there are no waivers available for others, even if it would mean hardship for U.S. citizen children. Unfortunately, current policies and interpretations of these provisions have made it difficult—and sometimes impossible—for many deserving applicants to obtain a waiver, especially if they initially entered the country illegally.
Under current policy, applicants must apply for the waiver from abroad, sometimes waiting months or years in another country before they learn whether the waiver has been granted and whether they will be permitted to return to their loved ones in the United States.
In other words, immigrants who have a chance to legalize their status are not able to do so because of a combination of overly punitive immigration laws and the rigid interpretations of those laws currently followed by the Department of State. Immigrants have to choose between leaving the country and taking the risk they might not be able to return, or remaining in the country illegally.
Where waivers are available, many of the immigrants most likely to be able to show extreme hardship are afraid to leave the country precisely because of that hardship. For example, a wife with a disabled husband must choose between departing the United States to get right with the law or taking care of her U.S. citizen husband.
Many have argued that the process needs not be so complicated or unforgiving and that changes in existing policy could allow for the consideration of waivers before the applicant departs the United States.
The current system for processing and adjudicating these waiver requests requires immigrants to leave the U.S. and receive a formal determination of inadmissibility by a U.S. consular officer before a waiver application can even be submitted. Then the immigrants must apply for waivers of the three- or ten-year bar from outside the United States.
The waiting time for that waiver review can vary significantly, but averages at least another twelve months. Of course, not all waivers are granted, and those immigrants may not reunite with their family members for years. An appeal of a denied waiver can take up to 28 months or longer before the Administrative Appeals Offices.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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