Under the current immigration law, a foreign national must not only have a visa petition filed on their behalf to apply for permanent residence, they must also prove that they are admissible (eligible to enter) the United States as a permanent resident. There are many provisions that make a foreign national inadmissible, however depending on the foreign national’s specific case, some are able to be waived (forgiven) upon application to the United States Citizenship & Immigration Service (CIS), State Department or Immigration Judge.

The most common waivers applied for pertain to the three and ten year bars. If a foreign national has been unlawfully present in the United States for more than 180 days, but less than one year, upon departing he is ineligible to reenter the United States three years; if the foreign national has been unlawfully present for one year or more they are ineligible to reenter the United States for ten years after departing. These bars to admission are waivable if the foreign national has a spouse or parent who is a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident that will experience extreme hardship if the foreign national is not eligible to adjust status.

There are other waivers of grounds of inadmissibility potentially available to foreign nationals who may be inadmissible under the immigration law.  The options pertaining to each individual should be discussed with an attorney in our office on a case-by-case basis.