I-601A Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver For Low Income Client
Client: Mr. Garcia
Applying for: I-601A Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver
Nationality: Mexico
Length of Marriage: 10 years
Number of Children: 1
Challenges:
- Mr. Garcia previously filed at another office and was denied.
- Mr. Garcia was earning a meager income.
BACKGROUND
Mr. Garcia came to Tsang and Associates desperately needing assistance in obtaining an unlawful presence waiver. Mr. Garcia first came into the United States unlawfully when he was 23 years old from Mexico and now strongly desired to become a lawful U.S. resident. Without it, Mr. Garcia would suffer tremendous losses of opportunity in the United States and would lose eligibility to come to the United States for 10 years while potentially leaving behind a U.S. citizen wife and son. Distressed, Mr. Garcia sought our help in his waiver application that was previously denied. After sitting down with him and his family during a strategy session, we were able to compile evidence and submit the application on June 16, 2015. It was approved on August 24, 2015.
KEYS TO SUCCESS
When Mr. Garcia first came to us and explained his situation, we were confident that we could prove that should Mr. Garcia be denied a waiver and face deportation, detrimental consequences would occur. According to USCIS regulation, the waiver would only be approved if we were able to show that extreme hardship would occur subsequent to the denial. Although extreme hardship is not explicitly defined by USCIS, some factors of interest include the presence of a lawful permanent resident or U.S. citizen spouse or parent in this country, the qualifying relative’s family ties outside the U.S., the conditions in the country or countries to which the qualifying relative would relocate and the extend of the qualifying relative’s ties in such countries, the financial impact of departure from this country, and significant conditions of health.
In establishing extreme hardship in the event of deportation, we first highlighted that Mr. Garcia had a wife and son. We showed through documents such as a marriage certificate, work verification, various photos, and the son’s report cards and awards, that the family indeed had an established life here in the United States. Mrs. Garcia had been working for 17 years and their son was doing well in school.
We stressed that should Mr. Garcia be forced to leave the United States, his family would have two options: either go with Mr. Garcia to Mexico or remain in the United States. In looking at the first option, we researched and proved that Mexico would be dangerous for both Mr. Garcia and his family due to the high crime rates and political corruption. We also showed that Mexico’s crumbling education system would be inadequate for their son who had special educational needs and speaks little Spanish. In addition, we provided hospital records and doctor’s letters indicating the severity of Mrs. Garcia’s anxiety disorder, ovarian cyst condition, and high cholesterol, all of which would be further exacerbated with a move to Mexico. We highlighted that Mexico’s limited healthcare system would be detrimental for Mrs. Garcia. Moreover, we explained that both of Mrs. Garcia’s parents had significantly demanding medical conditions that require daily attention and are accompanied with expensive medical bills. We noted that presently, Mr. Garcia and his family were heavily involved in providing for them; should they be unable to do so, there would be a significantly heavy financial burden and emotional pain for the family. The family would also be separated from all the friends they had made in the United States up to this point.
Furthermore, we proved that should Mrs. Garcia and her son remain in the United States in the event of Mr. Garcia’s departure, Mrs. Garcia would indeed suffer greatly with emotional struggles and physical ailments. Being away from her husband would most certainly entail greater severity of anxiety and difficulties. We also stressed that she would lack the support from her husband which would bring financial difficulties as well. We proved through bank statements and personal statements from friends and family the importance of Mr. Garcia’s financial contributions to both his immediate family as well as his extended family, most notably Mrs. Garcia’s parents who required great medical attention. In addition, we researched the risks of Mrs. Garcia’s ovarian cysts and the disastrous effects of their potential rupture or enlargement, all of which would be made much worse without Mr. Garcia’s presence in the United States.
Thus we established that every consequence of Mr. Garcia’s potential departure from the United States would bring about significant and extreme hardship to both his immediate family and extended family as well. We proved that it would result in devastating health problems for his wife and in-laws in addition to bringing about emotional pains and financial sufferings for his family. Ultimately, we proved that the social, financial, and familial ties for Mr. Garcia were simply too strong to break apart; if they were broken, extreme hardship for the family members would be sure to occur.
OUTCOME
We filed the petition on June 16, 2015 and it was approved on August 24, 2015 without any request for evidence. Our client was extremely grateful as he could continue living a blessed and joyful life with his family.