I-601A Waiver for Client Seeking To Rectify Mistake
Applying for: I-601A Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver
Nationality: Mexico
Length of Marriage: 12 Years
Challenges:
- Mr. Ramirez was earning a modest income, part of which was being sent to his family in Mexico
- No children
- Mrs. Ramirez’s mother had previously passed away and her father had a job to provide for himself
- Mrs. Ramirez suffered from a common medical condition
BACKGROUND
Extremely distressed, Mr. Ramirez came to us at Tsang and Associates hoping that we would be able to help him apply for an I-601A Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver. He had previously entered the United States without inspection in 1996 when he was 19 years old and had been living in the United States ever since. He had been happily married to Mrs. Ramirez for nearly 12 years but had always been ashamed and embarrassed of his immigration status. Now he strongly wished to resolve this massive regret of unlawfully entering and residing in the United States. If he was unable to obtain a waiver, he would suffer from numerous losses of opportunity in the United States and potentially be forced to leave his U.S. citizen wife of 12 years. Desperate, Mr. Ramirez sought our assistance in establishing the basis for his waiver. After sitting down with him and his family, we strongly believed that we would be able to help him have his waiver approved. We compiled the evidence and submitted the waiver petition on February 10, 2016. We received approval on August 10, 2016.
KEYS TO SUCCESS
When Mr. Ramirez first came to us, we were confident that we would be able to demonstrate that he was qualified for the unlawful presence waiver. According to USCIS regulations, the waiver would only be approved if we proved that Mr. Ramirez’s U.S. citizen wife would suffer from “extreme hardship” if the waiver is denied. 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 extent of the qualifying relative’s ties in such countries, the financial impact of departure from this country, and significant conditions of health.
In order to tackle the grounds for extreme hardship, we first highlighted the life in the United States that Mr. Ramirez and his family had already established. One of the challenges we faced in detailing the family life was that Mr. Ramirez and his wife did not have any children. Commonly, the connections with children and the difficulties posed to them are used to supplement other forms of extreme hardship that the U.S. citizen would face. However, in this case we instead heavily emphasized the union of Mr. Ramirez and Mrs. Ramirez. We showed using a marriage certificate, family photos, and personal statements, that they had been madly in love ever since they first met in 2003. We emphasized that throughout their nearly 12-year marriage, they were constantly in a state of bliss, happy and satisfied. We showed further using work certificates, that they had firmly established careers leading them to have a stable and peaceful lifestyle that would only be ripped apart and crushed in the event of Mr. Ramirez’s potential deportation.
We noted that should Mr. Ramirez be forced to leave the United States, Mrs. Ramirez would have two options: either accompany Mr. Ramirez to Mexico or remain without him in the United States. We first broke down the first option of Mrs. Ramirez going to Mexico with her husband. After extensive research, we proved that Mr. Ramirez’s home in Mexico would be extremely dangerous for the both of them. With one of the highest murder rates in Mexico, a high poverty rate, and a bounty of political corruption, we proved that a move there would unquestionably account for “extreme hardship” to Mrs. Ramirez, constantly fearing for her life and living in a life of poverty. Moreover, we were able to establish emotional, physical, and financial hardships that Mrs. Ramirez would face in Mexico.
In proving the emotional toll, we focused on her family. We highlighted the fact that Mrs. Ramirez’s mother had passed away recently and if she was forced to leave the United States, she would suffer additional losses in leaving behind her aging father and teenage sister, an emotional toll that would be tough for anyone to bear. Even though her father was still working and her sister was 16 years old and nearly an adult, we proved using personal affidavits and school records that Mrs. Ramirez was in fact the main line of support for the both of them; she was even her sister’s legal primary caregiver. In addition, Mr. and Mrs. Ramirez were named the godparents of 8 children in the United States though they had none of their own. Furthermore, we focused on the financial impact if Mr. and Mrs. Ramirez were led to Mexico. We proved using bank statements and receipts combined with vast research, that not only would the couple likely be living in poverty, but the financial support for Mrs. Ramirez’s father and sister would essentially dissolve. We underlined that Mr. and Mrs. Ramirez no longer would be able to act as the financial cornerstone for their extended families. In addition, we noted the severity of Mrs. Ramirez’s medical condition, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. Although this condition is rather common, found in 1 out of 10 women, we were able to speak to the magnitude of suffering that Mrs. Ramirez endured as a result. We emphasized that she had already suffered from many symptoms such as extreme pelvic pain, sleep apnea, and cysts on the ovaries among many more. We were able to obtain doctor’s verification and Mrs. Ramirez’s medical records indicating the tremendous suffering, including intense vaginal hemorrhaging, far beyond the norm. With this, we indicated that should Mrs. Ramirez traveled to Mexico, her condition would be sure to worsen due to Mexico’s subpar medical facilities and her ensuing inability to obtain the proper medication due to financial difficulties.
Furthermore, we proved that Mrs. Ramirez would also suffer extreme hardship should she remain in the United States while Mr. Ramirez is deported. First of all, we highlighted the emotional toll she would suffer because of being separated from her husband of nearly 12 years. We stressed that the strain of being away from the love of her life without the capability of visiting him often due to financial concerns would be a tremendous cause for undeniable extreme hardship. Further compounding this, we proved that Mrs. Ramirez along with her sister and father would suffer hardships; using tax returns of both Mr. and Mrs. Ramirez along with various bank statements, we demonstrated the vital contributions that Mr. Ramirez gave financially in order to support the immediate and extended family despite the fact that his income was meager and that part of his salary also went to support his own family in Mexico. In piling on to these extreme hardships, we also noted that without Mr. Ramirez’s presence and financial contributions, Mrs. Ramirez would not be able to afford the proper treatment and medication needed for her Polycystic Ovary Syndrome; also, her symptoms such as anxiety and depression would undoubtedly worsen without Mr. Ramirez by her side.
Ultimately, we showed that regardless of whether or not Mrs. Ramirez accompanied Mr. Ramirez to Mexico, his deportation would cause extreme hardship to fall upon Mrs. Ramirez and her family. We proved that the emotional ties would be severed, the health of family members would decline tremendously, and the financial difficulties would be too great to overcome, constituting extreme hardship.
OUTCOME
We filed the petition on February 10, 2016 and received approval on August 10, 2016.