I-601A waiver is meant for the eligible dependents of US citizens who have accumulated unlawful presence in America. You can file Form I-601A if you are a US citizen’s immediate relative and if you have been living in America as an undocumented immigrant. Make sure that you are not considered to be inadmissible into America for any other reason and an undocumented relative of a US citizen who is inadmissible into America due to unlawful presence alone can file Form I-601A and you cannot apply for this waiver if you are inadmissible for some other reason. Moreover, if you are an immediate relative of a Green Card holder, you cannot apply for this provisional unlawful presence waiver and you will have to wait until the USCIS implements some other program that would grant unlawful presence waivers to the immediate relatives of Green Card holders.
Though you are an undocumented immigrant, you can apply for this waiver while you are in America and you need not go back to your country of citizenship, to apply for this waiver. After Form I-130, that was filed on your behalf is approved, you can go ahead and file this petition. Similarly, if you were required to appear of an immigration interview prior to January 3, 2013, you cannot file this form. At the same time, you will have to remember that the provisional unlawful presence waiver will not change the immigration process and it will only permit the eligible dependents of US citizens to apply for waivers while in America. After filing petitions for waivers, applicants will be required to go to their home countries to get their immigrant visas.
To file a petition for a provisional waiver, your US citizen relative must have filed Form I-130 for you and that petition must have been approved by the USCIS. If your immigrant petition is not approved, you cannot file Form I-601A for a waiver. After the approval of your immigrant petition, you can notify the National Visa Center that you are planning to file a petition for a provisional waiver. You can then pay the required fee and file Form I-601A. After the approval of your petition, you will be notified by the NVC about the approval of your application for a provisional unlawful presence waiver.
Before filing Form I-601A, you will have to be aware of the eligibility requirements as you can apply only if you are a US citizen’s child, parent or a spouse. No changes have been made to the other requirements and a US citizen can sponsor his parents only if he is above age 21. If you have a criminal history and if you are inadmissible into the country due to that reason, you cannot apply for this waiver and you need to be above age 17, at the time of filing Form I-601A.
