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January 6, 2012
USCIS has announced its intent to change the policy for the filing and processing of certain unlawful presence waivers. The proposed change would apply to individuals seeking permanent residency through immediate relatives who are United States citizens, enabling these individuals to file for provisional approval of their unlawful presence waiver before traveling outside of the United States for their consular interview.
“Finally!” says Stephen Manning, an attorney at Immigrant Law Group PC, “this is a change that we have advocated for a long time.” By allowing immediate relative waiver applicants to remain in the United States while their waivers are processed, the new policy would significantly reduce the amount of time these applicants are required to spend outside of the United States, and thus the amount of time they spend separated from their families and work. Applicants would travel outside of the United States for a consular interview only after a provisional approval of the waiver. Thus, in addition to reducing time spent waiting outside of the United States, the policy would also provide families with a clearer sense of what outcome to expect from the consular interview.
“We are disappointed that family members of lawful permanent residents are exluded from this new program,” Manning says. “While we applaud USCIS for taking this small step, they should take the bigger step and include all individuals who are trying to get right with the law.” USCIS will publish additional details on the rules of this policy in the coming months, and implement a final version of the rule after this time. The policy will apply only to individuals who file for a waiver after publication of the final rule.
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