What Happens If My Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver is Approved?

After all, it may be the goal of many applicants to secure the waiver so that they will not be barred from reentering the U.S. for up to a ten-year period. However, many individuals may not realize what happens next after their waivers are approved. So it may come as a shock that they will in fact need to pack their bags and depart the country despite being approved for the waiver.

Attending Your Visa Interview Abroad

After the USCIS approves an I-601A application, it will notify the National Visa Center (NVC) of its decision. The NVC will then send you documentation setting up a visa interview usually at your home country.

You will not be able to schedule a visa interview in the U.S. and you must depart the country to participate in the interview. However, the benefit of having the provisional unlawful presence waiver is that you will be allowed to reenter the U.S. following the interview even if a bar to reentry would have previously applied.

If you don’t leave the U.S. to attend the interview, your provisional unlawful presence waiver will not take effect and it may no longer be considered valid.

What Happens if My I-601A is Denied

If your provisional unlawful presence waiver is denied, you still have a couple options:

• Reapply for the Waiver in the U.S. Your application may have been denied for a variety of reasons not having to do with your basic ineligibility for the waiver. For example, you may have failed to provide evidence proving an extreme hardship or you may have made other mistakes in the application. In this case, you may want to work with a hardship waiver attorney in Sacramento to help you complete a new I-601A waiver application.
• Leave the Country and Apply for an I-601 Waiver. Another option may be to leave the U.S. and attend your visa interview abroad without any guarantee that you can reenter the U.S. immediately. You can then apply for an I-601 waiver for any reasons barring your entry to the U.S. You will want to talk to any attorney before taking this step