The chances that your 601 waiver will be granted depends on the facts of your case. It is important to understand that in almost every case, there is some element of hardship, which is what we have to prove. The important thing in these types of cases is to show that the hardship is extreme. For that, it is very important to take the time to analyze the whole case to show all the factors that demonstrate that there is going to be extreme hardship. Only after analyzing the facts of the case is it possible to determine what the chances are of the case being approved. It is also necessary to ensure that there aren’t any negative factors, such as criminal records, violations of immigration laws or that type of things, at the time the officer is exercising discretion. For a person to have a better idea of the likelihood of the waiver to be approved, it is necessary for them to consult with an experienced immigration lawyer to evaluate their case and give them an opinion.

A qualifying relative does not need to be the U.S. petitioner for provisional waiver purposes. For example, you may have a case in which the spouse is a petitioner and since the spouse is a United States citizen, there is a visa available immediately. Maybe the spouse does not have any health problems. If the person has any other relative, let’s say a parent that has serious health problems, we can do the petition through the spouse to get a visa available immediately and then we can show that the qualifying relative is the parent who has the health problems.

The children, themselves, are not going to be qualifying relatives for the provisional waiver. However, if the children have any health problems or they have any circumstances that make the life of the qualifying relative harder, then we can indirectly use the condition of the children to show that. For example, there may be a situation where a parent is needed to help take care of a child or because of their financial situation they do not have the ability to take care of the child or get medical attention to the child.

We have to show both hardship because of the separation of the immigrant leaving to the other country or also we have to show hardship because of the relocation of the whole family. It is important to be able to show both things in the provisional waiver. It is more how the immigrant leaving the country is going to affect the family here maybe because now he is not being able to support the family anymore or he is not going to be able to take care of the children.

Another important thing that we should also cover about the 601 provisional waiver is that these type of decisions are discretionary. When an officer is making a determination in this case, he is going to be considering all the positive factors and the negative factors. Just showing that there is going to be extreme hardship is not automatically going to mean that the case is approved. The officer is also going to be looking at the positive factors. It is important for a person that is planning to apply for these types of waivers to ensure that they highlight or they stress all the positive factors, such as if they have been volunteering at the church or if they have been feeding the homeless. All the things that they have been doing that we can show are positive for the community need to be highlighted in the case.

If they are not doing any of these things, it is a good moment to start. At the time of filing this application, it is going to be very important to show that this person deserves their opportunity to remain in the United States because of all the positive factors that are in the case. It is very important for people who are going to be doing these types of waivers to work with an experienced immigration lawyer to stress all the positive factors. They also need to make sure that all the factors related to extreme hardship are reflected in the application as both are going to help at the time the officer makes a decision on the case.