I-601 Waivers and Challenges to 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) Decisions

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Heartbreaking are the immigrant visa cases when, because of a youthful indiscretion or transgression, the applicant is denied the visa to join a spouse or parent or child in the United States under Section 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.  This section of the law renders a person permanently inadmissible because of a conviction or admitting to committing a crime of moral turpitude. Thankfully, there are solutions. One solution is to challenge the decision.  In a case we recently handled, the applicant had been denied an immigrant visa as the husband of a Lottery winner on these grounds, and then 10 years later, denied again as the parent of a US citizen on these same grounds.  But the criminal case which was the basis for this visa refusal decision had been terminated before a final decision was made by the judge because of an amnesty. We challenged the 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I)…

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Just Because They Say So, Doesn’t Make It True

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 I received a frantic call from a client recently at her naturalization interview.  She was being advised by the interviewing officer that her application was going to be denied because she did not meet the residency requirements.  In the run-up to the interview, the client and I had reviewed all of the relevant legal issues, including the physical presence and continuous residence requirements, and I assured her that she met the requirements for naturalization.  The officer was kind enough to speak with me over the phone, but remained unpersuaded from her position that the residency requirements were not met. The client left the USCIS office and went home extremely upset, notwithstanding my attempts to calm her down and assurances that we were in the right and would be able to challenge any adverse decision. And then, two hours after the interview, something strange happened: I received an e-mail notification from…

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Lagosland: US Visa Odyssey of a Nigerian Student

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Last year we wrote about a student visa applicant in Russia going through 7 interviews to receive a US visa. Not to fall behind their brethren in Russia, US consular officials in Nigeria are no slouches in running Nigerian students through the visa gamut, a veritable Lagosland of adventure, obstacles, and consular vengeance.  Consider the case of Yvonne. Yvonne comes from a well-to-do family of professionals and is an honors science student at a US university.  During her junior year, she was caught shoplifting at a store, with the value of the merchandise less than $100. She was convicted under the state’s 1st time shoplifting statute.  When she returned to Nigeria and filled in a visa application, she failed to indicate that she had been cited for shoplifting. The initial consular officer at the consulate in Lagos orally approved the application.  Upon discovery of the shoplifting, the same officer called…

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