TAG

Admissibility

Grounds of inadmissibility, bars, and waivers.

IMM-02 · 01

Form I-864 Affidavit of Support: Household Size, Income, Assets, and Joint Sponsors

9 MIN · IMM

The affidavit of support is an enforceable contract with the government and the immigrant, not a formality. Household arithmetic decides most cases, and the obligation outlives the marriage that created it.

The sponsor must show income at or above 125 percent of the federal poverty guidelines for a household size the form defines precisely.
Household size counts the sponsor, dependents, the intending immigrants, and anyone still covered by a prior affidavit the sponsor signed.
Assets may fill a shortfall, but the required multiple of the gap differs depending on the immigrant's relationship to the sponsor.

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IMM-03 · 02

The Public-Charge Ground of Inadmissibility Under Current U.S. Rules

9 MIN · IMM

The list of benefits that actually count against an applicant is short. The list that does not count is long, widely misunderstood, and the reason families forgo help they are lawfully entitled to receive.

The test asks whether a person is likely to become primarily dependent on government for subsistence, judged on the totality of the circumstances.
Only cash assistance for income maintenance and long-term institutionalization at government expense are treated as counted benefits under the framework in force.
Nutrition, most health coverage, housing, school, disaster, and tax-credit programs are not counted, and neither are benefits received by other family members.

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IMM-05 · 03

Unlawful Presence Bars: Three-Year, Ten-Year, and Permanent-Bar Risks

9 MIN · IMM

Time alone does not create a bar. A departure does. This brief maps how unlawful presence accrues, which act triggers which bar, and where the exceptions and tolling rules apply.

Unlawful presence and unlawful status are different concepts; a person can be out of status without accruing unlawful presence at all.
More than 180 days but under a year, followed by a qualifying departure, triggers a three-year bar; a year or more triggers ten.
The permanent bar comes from reentering or attempting to reenter without admission after a year of aggregate unlawful presence or a removal order.

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IMM-06 · 04

The I-601A Provisional Waiver: Eligibility, Hardship Proof, and the Consular Step

8 MIN · IMM

The provisional waiver removes one obstacle — accrued unlawful presence — before a person leaves the United States for an immigrant visa interview. It does nothing about any other bar.

Form I-601A waives only the unlawful-presence ground of inadmissibility. Every other bar survives approval and can still stop the visa abroad.
The hardship must be suffered by a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse or parent — not by a child, and not by the applicant.
Approval is provisional: it takes effect only on departure, after a consular officer finds the applicant otherwise admissible.

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IMM-19 · 05

Visitor Status: Extensions, Change of Status, and Overstay Risk

7 MIN · IMM

The date that governs a visitor's stay is on the admission record, not the visa. This brief covers extending that date, changing category from inside the country, and the cost of getting the timing wrong.

The admission record, not the visa expiry date, sets how long a visitor may remain; the visa only controls travel to the border.
Requests to extend or change status are filed on Form I-539 and must be received before the authorised stay expires.
A timely, non-frivolous request generally suspends the accrual of unlawful presence while it is pending, with accrual resuming on denial.

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