I-601 Waiver Under Grounds of Inadmissibility

[Poohbie10 0]

Hi I need some advice, help or opinions on my I-601 Case.

Brief History - I was arrested and charged with a crime under Moral inturpitude in my country of birth (outside US) over 12 years ago, no Conviction was recorded or Jail time served. My I-130 Petition (last Interview) I was found ineligible under the grounds of Inadmissibility. Since then I have filed a I-601 Kit with the US Embassy Tokyo, Japan and provided proof of Hardship, letters of reference and paid the processing fee. We have been advised by the US Embassy in Japan that my case has been sent to the closest USCIS Dept which is Seoul, Sth Korea. I have been advised by the USCIS Customer Service line in the US that my waiver should be approved as I was not convicted (proof provided) and it was over 10 years ago and the case is closed.

My partner is a Active Duty Service Member in the US Military and his orders if approved will expire on the 15th January 2010 then he will have to leave for the US on new orders.

My question is, has anyone had any experience with expidited I-601 waiver application to Seoul, Korea? Or does anyone know once they recieve my I-601 what time frame I am to expect for a response of approved or denied?

Thanks for any help or assistance

[Canadian in GA 34]

Hello! I just noticed your post, I wouldn't have made my own if I saw yours first! When did u send in your i-160? And you wrote that they should approve you, that's good news! Pls keep in touch about your case and ill do the same! Best wishes and best of luck!

[Poohbie10 0]

I think your situation is similiar to mine but its always good to post all of your information as some is different to mine, I hope in both of our cases people on thi site will be able to offer some insight to the process or offer information. It seems it is common nowadays to come across cases where there have been applicants who made wrong choices a long time ago and have moved on with thier lives, have families and been married for many years then hit a major road block when we do the immigration process, what was left in our distant past is now here in our present, is it fair NO, but in saying that I understand why the US refuses standard Family based Visa's, again is it fair I dont think so. I will post my timeline on here once I hear something, my concern is this process will take over 12 months, looking at being separated from my family for that long is devastating.

Good luck with you!

[Used to be broken 143]

Hi I need some advice, help or opinions on my I-601 Case.

Brief History - I was arrested and charged with a crime under Moral inturpitude in my country of birth (outside US) over 12 years ago, no Conviction was recorded or Jail time served. My I-130 Petition (last Interview) I was found ineligible under the grounds of Inadmissibility. Since then I have filed a I-601 Kit with the US Embassy Tokyo, Japan and provided proof of Hardship, letters of reference and paid the processing fee. We have been advised by the US Embassy in Japan that my case has been sent to the closest USCIS Dept which is Seoul, Sth Korea. I have been advised by the USCIS Customer Service line in the US that my waiver should be approved as I was not convicted (proof provided) and it was over 10 years ago and the case is closed.

My partner is a Active Duty Service Member in the US Military and his orders if approved will expire on the 15th January 2010 then he will have to leave for the US on new orders.

My question is, has anyone had any experience with expidited I-601 waiver application to Seoul, Korea? Or does anyone know once they recieve my I-601 what time frame I am to expect for a response of approved or denied?

Thanks for any help or assistance

There is some cases where deployment orders helped with an expedite. Are you both in Japan now? If his orders are for the US it might be a little different than if he was getting deployed to Afghanistan or Middle East. Are there children involved?

[Poohbie10 0]

There is some cases where deployment orders helped with an expedite. Are you both in Japan now? If his orders are for the US it might be a little different than if he was getting deployed to Afghanistan or Middle East. Are there children involved?

Yes we both are in Japan right now, I sent in a copy of my husbands orders with my I-601 and my partner explained in the proof of Hardship the urgency of this waiver being approved in a timely manner, we were due to leave 2nd week of Dec 2010 but there is no way the approval would be processed by then so we have requested a 30 day delay reporting to his new duty station. There are no children involved. Our orders are to the US not IA. I hope this can help our situation.

[Used to be broken 143]

Yes we both are in Japan right now, I sent in a copy of my husbands orders with my I-601 and my partner explained in the proof of Hardship the urgency of this waiver being approved in a timely manner, we were due to leave 2nd week of Dec 2010 but there is no way the approval would be processed by then so we have requested a 30 day delay reporting to his new duty station. There are no children involved. Our orders are to the US not IA. I hope this can help our situation.

Did you get help with your hardship letter and evidence? Did you hire an attorney? You may have to stay behind while they process the application unless the hardship is one they could expedite for, or the job your husband has could have some potential for national security implications if you stay behind in Japan. Does he have a high level security clearance?

[Poohbie10 0]

Did you get help with your hardship letter and evidence? Did you hire an attorney? You may have to stay behind while they process the application unless the hardship is one they could expedite for, or the job your husband has could have some potential for national security implications if you stay behind in Japan. Does he have a high level security clearance?

No we did it all ourselves, there was not an Immigration attorney here on our base or any other nearby for us to utilize and we could not get a translator to get a Japanese attorney. We did however have a 6 page Proof of Hardship and to be honest with you we gave then EVERY point of Hardship that any attorney could have offered us. He does not have special Clearance, all we know is the that US Embassy in Tokyo Japan has expedited our case to Seoul Korea, if his 30 day delay goes through we are hoping this would have given the Seoul Embassy 8 weeks to process my I-601. If its not here by then, then he will go onto the States and I will return to my country and transfer my file from Japan to my home country and wait I guess.

[mmjm 0]

Hi, I am also filing for I-601 since Embassy forwarded our case to USCIS Seoul, Korea field office on Nov 9th.

we live by base in japan too. my husband is civilian though. we are checking out base on 15th.

We didnt hear anything for a month about our I-601(eventhough at the interview they told me process is gonna take in couple of weeks) so we called Korea Office to expedite our case, then next we found out they havent even touched our case nor found one. Director was so nice , after he told his staff to look for our case and found our paperwork he is taking care of our case .

Our flight is scheduled to fly on dec 17th and I will be missing the flight and kids and husband will be away for time i dont even know how long too.

I think my case is not complicated as yours , Director even said that I didnt really need it but because it is in computer I have to file it to clear the case. after a phone call he review the case then called us and then emailed us for official response. said that our hardship were made (we have kids, my husband is injured when he was serving in military and need surgery in states, I need to take care of family ) but more evidence of medical was needed.

Director told me that approx. wait time for this is 3 months. I asked if there is any chance I would be waiting for 9 months or even longer and he told me that is rare to be happened. He is ordering our document that was made after I got denied entry at airport(POE?) due to missing spouse visa. Good luck to you and I will update if I hear anything for my case timeline etc.

[Poohbie10 0]

Hi mmjm,

Thanks for sharing your post. I in fact called the USCIS dept today in Seoul to ask if they had received my I-601 sent from Tokyo 19th Nov 2010 and of course they had not recieved it and said that it can take up to 3 weeks to recieve. But I will say my phone call was worth my while for a change.

I had become so frustrated with the lack of answers the US Consulate in Japan gave me on a pay as you go service (I still cannot believe we spent over $200USD on phone calls and emails to this embassy in less than one month!) But it was wonderful to talk to someone who actually answered and assisted me in 30 mins than the entire 2 months I have been dealing with Tokyo. I found out today the timeline for Seoul currently is 6 months for i-601 with an approval if expedited from Seoul to the US estimated 90 days. This was a big relief to me as the I-601 waiting time within the US is around 26 months. They also told me that what will help my husbands proof of Hardship is if he can get letters of Proof of Hardship from Doctors, Chaplian and Counsellors who can support my husbands claims of severe Hardship. We will be making appointments with the above people this coming week that is for sure.

In our case we have to make a decision if my husband leaves on new orders next month and I go back to my country for 3-6 months or he can try to extend here for 12 months if the Military allows this.

I too wish you and your family all the luck in the world for you to be approved and YES please continue to let me know how you progess and I will post on here as well for mine.

[Used to be broken 143]

Hi mmjm,

Thanks for sharing your post. I in fact called the USCIS dept today in Seoul to ask if they had received my I-601 sent from Tokyo 19th Nov 2010 and of course they had not recieved it and said that it can take up to 3 weeks to recieve. But I will say my phone call was worth my while for a change.

I had become so frustrated with the lack of answers the US Consulate in Japan gave me on a pay as you go service (I still cannot believe we spent over $200USD on phone calls and emails to this embassy in less than one month!) But it was wonderful to talk to someone who actually answered and assisted me in 30 mins than the entire 2 months I have been dealing with Tokyo. I found out today the timeline for Seoul currently is 6 months for i-601 with an approval if expedited from Seoul to the US estimated 90 days. This was a big relief to me as the I-601 waiting time within the US is around 26 months. They also told me that what will help my husbands proof of Hardship is if he can get letters of Proof of Hardship from Doctors, Chaplian and Counsellors who can support my husbands claims of severe Hardship. We will be making appointments with the above people this coming week that is for sure.

In our case we have to make a decision if my husband leaves on new orders next month and I go back to my country for 3-6 months or he can try to extend here for 12 months if the Military allows this.

I too wish you and your family all the luck in the world for you to be approved and YES please continue to let me know how you progess and I will post on here as well for mine.

The paid phone line is worthless, but expensive. The operators are local nationals and they don't know anything about I601 or anything other than the normal tourist / business visa process and scheduling.

Not sure where you got the idea an I601 is taking 26 months stateside, that sounds more like APPEAL process if denied.

Most overseas consulates are taking less than 6 months, if you go to I2us.net you might be able to find a couple people with cases that are moving through and that will give you an idea of processing times. If there is no "A-file" previous immigration history that they have to send to the states for your processing time might be less.

If they have to send for the A-file it adds a few weeks. Depending on how the consulate deals with it, puts it in the back of the line or suspense's it and starts working on it next in line when the a-file shows up effects processing time too.

Oh, and don't forget its Christmas and New year is coming, depending on local country customs and Embassy Holidays, you could be adding quite a bit of waiting this time of year. Lots of adjudicators offices only have one or two employees, if they both go back to US for holidays, no one works on I601 files. You can get an idea of how many days they will be off by looking at the Embassy website.

I see much discussion on expedites on this board, just so you know this is not very common and unless imminent financial, physical damage is involved or a military DEPLOYMENT to a war zone, there is not much chance of getting one. After all its a "hardship waiver" everyone who is waiting in line is suffering a hardship.

good luck

Edited December 4, 2010 by brokenfamily

[Poohbie10 0]

The paid phone line is worthless, but expensive. The operators are local nationals and they don't know anything about I601 or anything other than the normal tourist / business visa process and scheduling.

Not sure where you got the idea an I601 is taking 26 months stateside, that sounds more like APPEAL process if denied.

Most overseas consulates are taking less than 6 months, if you go to I2us.net you might be able to find a couple people with cases that are moving through and that will give you an idea of processing times. If there is no "A-file" previous immigration history that they have to send to the states for your processing time might be less.

If they have to send for the A-file it adds a few weeks. Depending on how the consulate deals with it, puts it in the back of the line or suspense's it and starts working on it next in line when the a-file shows up effects processing time too.

Oh, and don't forget its Christmas and New year is coming, depending on local country customs and Embassy Holidays, you could be adding quite a bit of waiting this time of year. Lots of adjudicators offices only have one or two employees, if they both go back to US for holidays, no one works on I601 files. You can get an idea of how many days they will be off by looking at the Embassy website.

I see much discussion on expedites on this board, just so you know this is not very common and unless imminent financial, physical damage is involved or a military DEPLOYMENT to a war zone, there is not much chance of getting one. After all its a "hardship waiver" everyone who is waiting in line is suffering a hardship.

good luck

The 26 month waiting time information was a PDF file that the USCIS released and it has ALL of the type of timelines for Immigrant and Non Immigrant timelines and on this is said I-601 - 26 months nothing about an appeal. I dont have a A-File thats already been established with the officer i spoke with, all the information I have put in my previous post was ALL factual from this Officer now if he is not doing his job and telling me BS I find that hard to believe, in his words quote "Most cases will me expidited for a shorter processing time if the petitioner is Military" I have never have said we as a Military couple should hold any special treatment over and above everybody who is trying to provide proof of severe hardship, I am merely quoting what the actual USCIS Officer has told me about military petitioners,I am offended that anyone would think I am saying we are more important than anyone else because we are Military because that is a false accusation, I am too assume that he is giving me correct information. We dont expect our case to be touched until January 2011 because of holidays coming up anywways.

I hope that everyone is treated fairly with their I-601.

[Used to be broken 143]

The 26 month waiting time information was a PDF file that the USCIS released and it has ALL of the type of timelines for Immigrant and Non Immigrant timelines and on this is said I-601 - 26 months nothing about an appeal. I dont have a A-File thats already been established with the officer i spoke with, all the information I have put in my previous post was ALL factual from this Officer now if he is not doing his job and telling me BS I find that hard to believe, in his words quote "Most cases will me expidited for a shorter processing time if the petitioner is Military" I have never have said we as a Military couple should hold any special treatment over and above everybody who is trying to provide proof of severe hardship, I am merely quoting what the actual USCIS Officer has told me about military petitioners,I am offended that anyone would think I am saying we are more important than anyone else because we are Military because that is a false accusation, I am too assume that he is giving me correct information. We dont expect our case to be touched until January 2011 because of holidays coming up anywways.

I hope that everyone is treated fairly with their I-601.

I hope you aren't taking my comment about expedites personally. I was speaking generally about expedites. I do think because the petitioner is military that you should get a faster answer, your spouse has enough to worry about without this going on. Military couples have different financial, emotional and life hardships that don't need to compounded by immigration woes. Hopefully by now they have laid out a process that is a little more straightforward to get your application looked at sooner. I know they had a special program for expedites for deployments in some situations, but not sure if they will give you the benefit of this as this is not a deployment but a stateside rotation. Hoepfully the adjudicator will consider your spouses military service and current active duty as a positive equity in exercising discretion when the time comes to decide yes or no if you have established extreme hardship.

As far as USCIS or Consulate officers telling you BS, well I don't think they intentionally tell people BS, depending on who you are talking to and what point in the process you are in , the information can be "bad". I think the chart or graph you looked at on the USCIS website concerning processing times for I601 might be misunderstood. Generally like I said, its taking most overseas consulates under 6 months to process an I601. Please post what you were looking at.

I certainly hope you get your case resolved quickly and keep us updated on your progress.

[Poohbie10 0]

I am nopt even depending on our case getting approved just because my husband is Military, I know they have to treat cases where the petitioner is Military slightly different, I get that, but I feel I just fall under the same waiting times and deciding factors along with everyone else.

So we continue to wait, we have requested a cancellation of orders and a extension of 12 months where we are so we do not have to live apart for the processing stage of my I-601, we will see any day now if thats approved, it will certainly take alot of pressure off our shoulders.

I want to send out a Christmas message to everyone who is separated over the holidays from thier loved ones, keep praying and keep your hope alive that you all will be together soon.

[Sergi9 110]

I am nopt even depending on our case getting approved just because my husband is Military, I know they have to treat cases where the petitioner is Military slightly different, I get that, but I feel I just fall under the same waiting times and deciding factors along with everyone else.

So we continue to wait, we have requested a cancellation of orders and a extension of 12 months where we are so we do not have to live apart for the processing stage of my I-601, we will see any day now if thats approved, it will certainly take alot of pressure off our shoulders.

I want to send out a Christmas message to everyone who is separated over the holidays from thier loved ones, keep praying and keep your hope alive that you all will be together soon.

There was an article in the Chicago paper yesterday that Guiterrez is going to bat for a military family, you should call his office.

[Poohbie10 0]

I just recieved an email today, my Visa Waiver was approved so now I can leave Japan with my husband and start 2011 in America, thanks to everyone who guided me and helped me through this process, I honestly did not think it would take the USCIS Dept 2 weeks to approve my case!

Good luck to those who are going through the same process as I did, never give up!