Waivers
Waivers of Inadmissibility
- Waiver Application for Refugees
An asylee or refugee may submit a Form I-602 , Application By Refugee For
Waiver of Grounds of Excludability, concurrently with the submission of the Form I-485 ,
Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. The grant of asylee or refugee status
does not automatically waive any ground of inadmissibility. Each waiver request
or application must be evaluated and adjudicated on a case-by-case basis. T he
grant and other information available to the adjudicator may provide a
sufficient basis for determining that a waiver is warranted on humanitarian,
family unity, or other public interest grounds.
In adjudicating a discretionary waiver application un der 209(c) of the Act, the humanitarian,
family unity, or public interest considerations must be balanced against the
seriousness of the offense that rendered the alien inadmissible. In making this
determination, the adjudicator should recognize that the alien has established
past or a well-founded fear of future persecution, which is an extremely strong
positive discretionary factor. Therefore, unless there are negative factors
that outweigh the positive ones, the adjudicator should generally approve the
waiver application.
If an alien is inadmissible under section 212(a)(2) of the Act because he or
she committed a violent or dangerous crime, the adjudicator should not grant a
waiver under section 209(c) of the Act except in extraordinary circumstances,
such as those involving national security or foreign policy considerations, or
cases in which an alien clearly demonstrates that denying adjustment of status
would result in exceptional and extremely unusual hardship. Depending on the
gravity of the alien’s underlying criminal offense, such a showing of
exceptional and extremely unusual hardship might still be insuffici ent. See
Matter of Jean, 23 I&N Dec. 373 (A.G. 2002).
Neither section 209 of the Act nor 8 CFR 209 requires submission of Form
I-602 in all cases where an alien is found inadmissible under a ground that may
be waived. Paragraph (b)(1) below specifies when USCIS may grant a waiver
without requiring the applicant to file Form I-602. Paragraph (b)(2) below
specifies how to process a case when a Form I-602 is required.