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Today, the US Citizenship & Immigration Service announced a fix to one of the more serious problems with the provisional waiver process for unlawful presence.  As you may know, the CIS instituted the I-601A provisional waiver process last year to allow immigrants who are immediate relatives of U.S. citizens but are also ineligible to seek residence in the U.S. due to unlawful entry to seek a provisional waiver of inadmissibility in anticipation of seeking a visa at the U.S. embassy abroad.  The provisional waiver, sought on form I-601A, only waives inadmissibility due to unlawful presence (i.e., entering without inspection and remaining more than 6 months in the U.S.).  The waiver does not waive any other ground of inadmissibility such as inadmissibility due to criminal convictions or fraud.  To address this issue, the CIS decided early on that where another ground of inadmissibility may be present, such as due to criminal convictions, the CIS would deny such applications because there was a reason to believe that inadmissibility might apply.  This approach left a lot of people out of eligibility for the provisional waiver, many of whom are not, in fact, inadmissible despite having criminal convictions.  This is because not all convictions create inadmissibility.  The largest class of crimes that cause inadmissibility are those that are considered to involve “moral turpitude.”  Crimes involving moral turpitude are those offenses that are inherently base, vile, or depraved.  They usually involve theft, dishonesty, or violence.  However, many crimes, such as trespass, disorderly conduct, or a simple driving under the influence, clearly do not involve moral turpitude.  In addition, there is an exception to inadmissibility for “petty offenses.”  A petty offense is one in which the maximum possible sentence does not exceed one year and the individual is sentenced to less than 180 days in prison.  A crime involving moral turpitude that falls within the petty offense exception does not cause inadmissibility.  However, under the reason to believe standard, CIS was denying waiver applications simply because an offense could create inadmissibility, which was patently unfair to those who were not, in fact, inadmissible.

In an email today, U.S. CIS stated that on January 24, 2014, it issued Field Guidance to its offices instructing officers not to find a reason to believe someone might be inadmissible where the applicant is clearly not inadmissible.  The Field Guidance provides:

USCIS officers should review all evidence in the record, including any evidence submitted by the applicant or the attorney of record. If, based on all evidence in the record, it appears that the applicant’s criminal offense: (1) falls within the “petty offense” or “youthful offender” exception under INA section 212(a)(2)(A)(ii) at the time of the I-601A adjudication, or (2) is not a CIMT under INA section 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) that would render the applicant inadmissible, then USCIS officers should not find a reason to believe that the individual may be subject to inadmissibility under INA section 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) at the time of the immigrant visa interview solely on account of that criminal offense. The USCIS officer should continue with the adjudication to determine whether the applicant meets the other requirements for the provisional unlawful presence waiver, including whether the applicant warrants a favorable exercise of discretion.