In this episode of The Ranchod Law Group Immigration show, managing attorney Kaushik Ranchod discusses two I-601A hardship waiver success stories for applicants from Guatemala and Central America. Getting such cases approved requires a great deal of work and attention to detail to bring cases like these approved for clients.
The details of these two I-601A Waivers
As mentioned in the opening of this article, Kaushik describes both cases. The clients are from Guatemala and Central America. The Ranchod Law Group in Sacramento can count on experienced immigration attorneys capable of handling cases from all over the world; in this video, Kaushik will concentrate on two recent I-601A hardship waivers. They are just doing a snapshot and represent typical scenarios many people face in similar situations.
Individuals who are eligible for I-601A Waiver
First of all, you’re probably asking the question: “Do I qualify for I-601A Waiver?”. So I-601A waivers are generally for individuals who entered the United States without a visa and overstayed. You may be eligible for this exceptional hardship waiver if:
- your spouse is a US citizen or a permanent resident;
- you have a parent who’s a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
For a hardship waiver, they would be the qualifying relative and need to demonstrate extreme hardship to that relative: that is the crux of the case – proving extreme hardship for that relative.
Exceptional Hardship for the Guatemalan National
The first success story is that of the Guatemalan national who was married to a U.S. citizen. Kaushik explains how the immigration attorneys at work on this case discovered how the qualifying relative had some mental health issues. In fact, the wife suffered from depression and psychosomatic issues.
The lack of status in the United States of her husband caused these mental health issues. In fact, the mental health issues were one argument that we were able to make, carefully describing and documenting the U.S. citizens health history. Her mental state required constant medical care and consequent large medical bills. By analyzing the family’s financial situation, it was clear that the client was a significant contributor to their household finances. Therefore, we were able to argue financial hardship, as well.
We could get the case approved with this combination of exceptional hardships (mental health and financial situation). We combined multiple factors to demonstrate a situation of extreme hardship for the U.S citizen.
In most situations, we identify conditions of exceptional hardship when we’re communicating with you. You may not think of your situation as having certain hardships, but that’s because you’re in the middle of your life, in the weeds of your life. When we consult with our clients, they take a step back because they communicate with a qualified third party who can reveal such hardships. That case was again for a Guatemala national.
Exceptional Hardship for a National from Central America
This client, a national from Central America, had entered the United States more than ten years ago. He had never had any trouble with the law. He, too, was married to a U.S. citizen. We’ll now examine this case and how we proved hardship.
We were able to identify exceptional hardship to the U.S. Citizen also for this client. Our immigration attorneys studied his specific situation. They used our hardship waiver matrix to identify all hardships related to real-life scenarios the couple faced on a day-by-day basis. Only when we can explain and prove such complex situations are we successful at proving exceptional hardship.
This case is also an interesting case that provides insights into what cases get approved for extreme hardship.
In this particular case, we argued that the client’s wife could not relocate to his home country because of poor social and economic conditions. We produced documentation to support the argument of developing country conditions.
Another argument that we were able to make was about the client’s wife’s health needs. In fact, he would need to attend to them if they were to reoccur. We documented how our client was also the family’s primary financial provider by analyzing their financial situation. Their financial situation represented another form of hardship we were able to prove.
We successfully argued financial hardship, and, as mentioned previously, we were also able to argue that there was a specific type of health hardship.
We also asked for a favorable exercise of discretion because our client had worked for the same employer since he was in the United States.
In this day and age where people are hopping from employer to employer, we noted how this person had not done that and was loyal to his employer and wife.
Proving harship
As you can see, we delved into many aspects of our client’s family life and that of the U.S. citizen’s life to demonstrate extreme hardship. After learning about these two cases, it should be clear how complex and articulated a case can be, based on the uniqueness of the facts and the involved people.
It is wise to consult with an immigration attorney near you to review your case and consider all the facts to identify situations that may constitute exceptional hardship, making you eligible for an I-601A hardship waiver.
If you’re not eligible for an I-601A Waiver
If you’re not eligible for the I-601A waiver because of your situation, there may be other forms of relief available to you.