I-192 & I-212 Waiver Approvals

Our office recently received notices of approval of both a Form I-192, Application for Advance Permission to Enter as a Non-Immigrant, and Form I-212, Application to Reapply for Admission into the United States After Deportation or Removal. Our client required both waivers based upon a long and complicated immigration history.

Our client is a citizen of Canada who originally entered the United States as a visitor. Prior to our representation, our client submitted an application for asylum that contained false information. This asylum application was later referred to a U.S. Immigration Judge. When our client failed to appear before the Immigration Judge as required, our client was ordered deported from the United States. Our client thereafter departed the U.S. and settled in Canada.

Unaware of the in absentia deportation order, our client attempted to enter the U.S. as a visitor at a land border port-of-entry. At that time, he was informed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) officials that he was inadmissible to the United States under three (3) different sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”). Specifically:

•· INA § 212(a)(6)(C)(i) due to the fraud/willful misrepresentation;

•· INA § 212(a)(9)(A)(i) as an alien previously removed or deported; and

•· INA § 212(a)(7)(A)(i)(I) as an immigrant without a valid entry/travel document.

Our client then contacted our office for assistance with completing and filing the necessary waivers of inadmissibility.

In order to overcome the INA § 212(a)(6)(C)(i) ground of inadmissibility [fraud or willful misrepresentation], our client needed a waiver under INA § 212(d)(3)(A)(ii). This waiver is applied for by submitting Form I-192, Application for Advance Permission to Enter as a Non-Immigrant, together with the appropriate filing fee and supporting documentation.

In reviewing these waiver applications, the CBP Admissibility Review Office applies an analytical framework that was set forth by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) in a precedent decision, Matter of Hranka, 16 I. & N. Dec. 491 (BIA 1978). According to the BIA, the following three factors should be considered and weighed when adjudicating waiver applications submitted on Form I-192:

1. The risk of harm to society if the applicant is admitted;

2. The seriousness of the applicant’s immigration or criminal law violations; and

3. The nature of the applicant’s reasons for wishing to enter the United States.

In order to properly address the Hranka criteria, it is our practice to prepare a comprehensive legal brief in support of all Form I-192 waiver applications, which addresses each of the factors listed above in the context of the specific facts of each individual case.

We take the same approach for all Forms I-212, Application to Reapply for Admission into the United States After Deportation or Removal. Our recently-approved client required this waiver in order to enter the United States due to a prior in absentia order of deportation entered by an Immigration Judge.

In reviewing waiver applications submitted on Form I-212, the government should consider all pertinent circumstances relating to the applicant. These factors include, but are not limited to, the basis for the prior removal/deportation, recency of the removal/deportation, the applicant’s moral character, his respect for law and order, evidence of reformation and rehabilitation, family responsibilities, any other grounds of inadmissibility, hardship involved to himself and others, and the need for his services in the U.S. See generally, Matter of Tin, 14 I. & N. Dec. 371, 373 (RC 1973).

We are pleased to have been able to assist our client with obtaining these two (2) non-immigrant waivers. This individual will now be able to enter the U.S. on temporary visits for business or pleasure for the first time in approximately seven (7) years.