Hi everyone---
I just wanted to say hi to everyone and to meet some people on here who may be in a similiar situation and who might be able to give me some advice..
I recently was denied my k-1 visa and banned from the states for 10 years!! My fiance is american and in 2002-2004 I overstayed a visa- I had origionally thought that I would have been banned for 3 years but much to my surprise on Thursday a CO in dublin took my fingerprints- told me I was banned for 10 yrs and not to try and enter the states!!
He did say that I was eligable to apply for an I 601 but to me it really seems like a shot in the dark!! Has anyone on here been granted a waiver and under what circumstances??

I was denied too and should go through the I-601 thing. My reason was a very old conviction.
You should start right away to file this because it can be a very long waitingtime.

so sorry to hear that-- it really sucks- did you get any help in fining your I-601?? Have you gotten a response as of yet?? We are just trying to make our case as strong as possible but it seems that unless you have really harsh circumstance that you can forget it??

I strongly recommend a consult (via phone or email) with attorney Laurel Scott www.visacentral.net.

First you need to clarify if there was indeed an overstay -- consulates make mistakes and recently there was a poster here who was told they required a 212 and 601 waiver -- they went through the process, submitted everything, paid, did fingerprints and several months down the road the consulate discovered it was an error and was never required.

If you need a waiver, you'll find a lot of guidance on Laurel's site -- she has a memo outlining exactly what is required.

All you can do is present your hardship evidence when filing the waiver and go from there. No one here can speculate as to what they will/won't consider a 'harsh circumstance'.

There is no guarantee that you will be approved for a waiver if you submit one.
There is a guarantee that you will not be approved if you do not submit one.

It would be an enormous waste of your time to start planning, researching, and writing a hardship letter if you don't need one. Why not clarify this issue FIRST?