Question?

[mmmoreno]

My brother in law recieved his citizenship in 2001. He applied for his family in 2002. He applied for his sisters, brother, and mother. Since they applied after the April 2001 deadline, is it not a good idea to continue with the process. They would be able to get the waiver, right. They would be denied and given the 10 year bar with no exceptions. Is there anyway of getting the bar lowered or not?

[kitkat1]

In order to be eligble for a waiver, you need a qualifying relationship with a US citizen or permanent resident. Brother, sister or son do not qualify. Only spouse or parent do. Once they go to the interview, they will be in Mexico until the 10 years have passed. There is no way to get a ban "lowered".

A waiver for prior unlawful presence (INA 212(a)(9)(B)(v)) or misrepresentation (INA 212(i)) requires it to be established that "the refusal of admission to such immigrant alien would result in extreme hardship to the citizen or lawfully resident spouse or parent of such alien," whereas a waiver for criminal history (INA 212(h)) requires it to be established "that the alien's denial of admission would result in extreme hardship to the United States citizen or lawfully resident spouse, parent, son, or daughter of such alien."

[Laura]

Hmm... They are all in the U.S. illegally right now?

If so, then no, he would not be a qualifying relative for the purpose of the waiver, so if they went to their interviews in CDJ and admitted they had been living in the U.S. illegally all that time, they would not be able to get a waiver.

They don't have to cancel their petitions yet though, if by some unlikely chance the laws change for the better, they might as well leave them pending and see.

[mmmoreno]

That is what I thought. Thanks for the replies. His brother is a us citizen but was illegal at one time. But he is the brother or son, so it doesn't make a difference. Thanks