The Difference between 245i and I-601a Waivers

Hi this is Kaushik Ranchod from The Ranchod Law Group for our weekly immigration video. Today we’re going to talk about a frequently asked question clients often ask during consultations and that is:

What is the difference between the I601a and 245i?

Before answering the question I’m going to talk about one of my favorite immigration legal tools: 245i.

Why do I like 245i so much? Because it waives an illegal entry and avoids you leaving the country, however you need to be eligible for this. In order to be eligible for it you needed to have been present in the United States on December 21st 2000 and you also need to have had a petition filed for you before April 30th 2001.

This could be a family-based petition or an employment-based petition. Not only do you have to meet those requirements, but also they have to have been approved when filed. If you meet one of the requirements I mentioned earlier, it will waive an illegal entry if you’re married to a U.S. citizen and you had a petition filed for you on or before April 30th 2001 and you were physically present on December 20th 2000.

You can take advantage of 245i by applying for the marriage-based green card (adjustment of status), and 245i at the same time. Consequently you will not need to leave the U.S.

That is different than I-601a Waiver which is still an awesome option. With an I-601a Waiver you have to file for a Waiver showing extreme hardship to your U.S. citizen spouse. However, at the end of the process, you must undergo an interview at the U.S. Embassy.

In principle you must leave the United States with an I601a Waiver, however the great thing about it is that you are going to have the waiver approved before you are required to leave. Previously, with the I-601 Waiver, before I-601a legislation was passed, you were required to get the waiver approved outside of the United States and that was pretty scary for a lot of people because of the fact that you would be stuck outside the U.S. if the waiver were denied.

Now with the I-601a the great news is the fact that you can get that Waivers approved if you can show extreme hardship before you leave so you’ll know whether or not your Waiver is approved before you leave, taking out a lot of the risk in that whole I-601a process, but if you’re eligible for 245i why leave the country? Apply for 245i!

So I invite you to contact our office at (916) 613-3553 or email us at info@ranchodlaw.com – we’re happy to talk to you and answer your questions: we answer questions like this all day long. I’d like to thank you for tuning in on this video, have an awesome day. Download our free books on our website at ranchodlaw.com.

I look forward to seeing you next week.