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FAQ
A: There is no way of knowing whether the firm will take your case until after the consultation. We charge $150 for the consultation but we will apply the fee to the cost of legal services if you hire us. In that event, your consultation is free. Generally speaking, the firm will take a foreign-filed waiver of inadmissibility case as long as the alien actually needs one, is eligible to apply for one and the chances of success are 25% or greater in our sole discretion. Determining necessity, eligibility and chances of success are the very point of the consultation.
A: You need a waiver of inadmissibility if any of the following apply to you: you have been unlawfully present for more than a year and are not eligible to adjust status from within the US (e.g. entered without inspection less than ten years ago and did not have 'papers filed' for you before April 30, 2001), you have committed misrepresentation or fraud, you have been convicted of a crime for which the maximum possible penalty is greater than one year, you have been convicted of
simple possession of marijuana under 30 grams, or you have HIV. This is not a complete list of things for which you would need a waiver, but they are the most common. If you entered lawfully on most types of visas, went out of status and later married a citizen, you probably don't need a waiver.
A: You would not be eligible to apply for a waiver in several circumstances: you made a false claim of US citizenship, you were unlawfully present for more than a year after April 1, 1997 then left and returned without inspection, you were deported and returned without inpsection after April 1, 1997, you were previously a member of a gang, you have a drug conviction for something other than simple possession of marijuana under 30 grams, you have been out of the United States for less than five years after previously failing to attend a deportation hearing, you have a previous finding of marriage fraud, or you have a previous finding of frivolous asylum claim. This is not a complete list of things that make you ineligible to apply for a waiver, but they are the most common things.
Q: What types of factors are considered when in evaluating my chances of approval?
A: Your chances of approval have more to do with your mitigating and aggravating factors than with your hardships. Mitigating factors include, but are not limited to: commencing your continuous period of unlawful presence when you are under age 14, government error or excessive processing times played a role in your accumulation of unlawful presence, your misrepresentation (if any) was actually committed by another party on your behalf without your actual knowledge, you have US citizen children, or you have been married to a US citizen for more than two years. Aggravating factors include, but are not limited to: any arrests even if the charges were dismissed, multiple instances of fraud, denied asylum claim even if there was no finding of frivolous claim, remaining in the US after an order for deportation has been entered, and remaining in the US after being granted voluntary departure. If you have several aggravating factors, presume your chances of approval are low. If you have several mitigating factors and no aggravating factors, presume your chances of
approval are high.
A: No. If we got one such request a month, we would probably agree to do so, but our firm gets literally dozens of such requests by phone each and every month. If we answered 'quick questions' for free, this would cut too much into our time and would not be fair to our paying clients. We therefore maintain a very strict policy of not agreeing to take such calls.