SUCCESSFUL I-601A FOR PRIMARY CARETAKER APPLICANT

• Applicant: Mrs. Gonzalez
• Nationality: Mexico
• Case: I-601A, Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility
• Processing Time: 3 Months
• Challenges:
  1. Gonzalez had one biological daughter that her petitioning spouse had adopted, and she was the step-mother for three of his children from his previous relationship.
  2. Gonzalez was the primary caretaker for her husband’s father who was recovering from a heart-attack.

BACKGROUND

Mrs. Gonzalez had entered without inspection and had accrued 21 years of unlawful presence in the United States. Mrs. Gonzalez had been married to Mr. Gonzalez, a U.S. Citizen for 10 years. Mr. and Mrs. Gonzalez had no children together, however, Mr. Gonzalez adopted Mrs. Gonzalez’s daughter. Mr. Gonzalez also had 3 other children from a previous marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Gonzalez were the primary caregivers of Mr. Gonzalez’s elderly father, who recently suffered from a heart attack.

KEYS TO SUCCESS

Upon taking this case, we searched for the most compelling reasons to prove that the waiver should not be denied. During our strategy session, we discovered that Mr. Gonzalez’s extended family would face extreme hardship if Mrs. Gonzalez’s waiver were denied. We helped Mr. Gonzalez collect the documentation proving the poor medical state of his elderly father, who relied upon the care that the couple provided. Ultimately, we established that if Mr. Gonzalez was forced to relocate, it would be difficult for both father and son to cope. Furthermore, as Mr. Gonzalez relied upon Mrs. Gonzalez’s income to help assist his father, a waiver denial would clearly result in extreme hardship for both Mr. Gonzalez and his father.

Beyond family hardship, we assisted Mr. Gonzalez in proving his financial and medical hardship, as well as the fact that the Mexican drug war posed a real threat to Mr. and Mrs. Gonzalez. We also asserted that Mrs. Gonzalez was an upstanding member of her community, and had committed no crime while in the United States.

We further proved that Mrs. Gonzalez’s daughter’s education would be affected if the waiver was not granted. Mrs. Gonzalez’s daughter was accepted into CSU Long Beach, and would not be able to afford tuition without the help of both of her parents in the United States.

OUTCOME

Our client’s waiver was accepted and approved within 3 months.

*Name has been changed to protect client identity