What is Exactly a 245i?

Hi this is Kaushik Ranchod here with Brian and today we’ll answer the question: what is a 245 i? That’s what we’re going to be talking about, then family based form I-130 petitions. 245 i is just an awesome powerful tool that can overcome entering the United States without inspection: entering without inspection means you didn’t come in with a visa and if you have questions you can call us at (916) 613-3553 . So 245 i, what the heck is it¹? Well if you had a petition filed for you April 30th 2001 or earlier, that would be like an form I-130 petition also in some certain kinds of employment-based green card applications, depending upon what was filed, that may qualify as well. So in that kind of situation it can overcome entering without inspection which would allow you to apply for a green card in the United States instead of having to a file for a Waivers. So you might be asking well why do I care? Why do I want to file for 245 i instead of like just doing an I-601A Waivers? Well there’s a couple of benefits:

1. You don’t need to show exceptional hardship
2. You gotta stay in the United States
3. The processing times for 245 i are faster than if you did exceptional hardship Waivers case

So I know you might be asking well I had a petition filed, I meet the requirements for the dates, but I’m getting married now and the petition was filed by my brother or my parent do I qualify for 245 i? Well I’m gonna answer that question in just a second. The great news is in that situation you would qualify for 245 i, so I don’t want you to worry and if you have questions you can call us at (916) 613-3553 to learn about your options. We do see mistakes that notarios sometimes make or people who are less experienced ignoring the physical presence requirements. I want to make sure you’re aware of the physical presence requirement, so if your application was filed on or after January 14, 1998, you need to have shown physical presence. But when do you need a shop physical presence? This is extremely important you need to show physical presence on December 21st 2000. Now this is where an attorney can really help you to explain and guide you through all the physical presence requirements we don’t have time for that today, but we’ll do a video on that sometime in the future. Just keep in mind that there is a physical presence requirement with that date that I talked about earlier. All right I want to thank you, if you have something you want to know about post it because we want to be there to help you. You can also throw your questions out now, you can call us at (916) 613-3553 . Thank you and have an awesome day.

[editorial note: Section 245(i) is a provision of the Legal Immigration Family Equity Act(LIFE Act). Section 245(i) allows certain persons, who have an immigrant visa immediately available but entered without inspection or otherwise violated their status and thus are ineligible to apply for adjustment of status in the United States, to apply if they pay a $1,000 penalty.] Back to blogpost