What Is an I-601A Waiver? A Guide to the Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver

If you entered the United States without authorization or overstayed a visa, you may be subject to what immigration law calls the “unlawful presence bars” — a three-year bar if you were unlawfully present for more than 180 days, or a ten-year bar for more than a year. These bars, codified in INA § 212(a)(9)(B), prevent you from being admitted to the United States after departure, even if you otherwise qualify for an immigrant visa.

For years, the only way to seek a waiver of these bars was to leave the country first, attend a consular interview, be found inadmissible, and then file a Form I-601 waiver from abroad — a process that could leave families separated for months or years with no guarantee of approval. In 2013, USCIS introduced the I-601A, the provisional unlawful presence waiver, which allows eligible applicants to apply for the waiver while still in the United States, before departing for their visa interview. The change substantially reduced the risk and uncertainty involved.

Who Is Eligible

The I-601A is available to applicants who meet all of the following criteria:

You must be the beneficiary of an approved immigrant visa petition. Typically this means an approved Form I-130 filed by a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident family member as part of the family-based green card process. Employment-based immigrant visa beneficiaries are also eligible in certain circumstances.

Your only ground of inadmissibility must be unlawful presence. If you have other inadmissibility issues — fraud or misrepresentation under INA § 212(a)(6)(C), certain criminal grounds, prior removal orders — the I-601A is not available to you. You would need the broader Form I-601 waiver, which is filed abroad.

You must have a qualifying relative who would suffer extreme hardship. The qualifying relative must be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse or parent. Notably, U.S. citizen children do not count as qualifying relatives for the I-601A, even though they do qualify for other types of waivers like the J-1 hardship waiver. (For an overview of family-based immigration categories, see our family-based visas page.)

You must not be in removal proceedings. Individuals currently in immigration court proceedings are generally ineligible, with limited exceptions. (If you are in proceedings, you may need deportation defense representation instead.)

You must have a pending immigrant visa case with the Department of State. You need a case number assigned by the National Visa Center (NVC).

The Extreme Hardship Standard

The central question in any I-601A case is whether denying the waiver would cause “extreme hardship” to the qualifying relative. This is a higher standard than simple hardship or inconvenience. As the Board of Immigration Appeals noted in Matter of Cervantes-Gonzalez, 22 I&N Dec. 560 (BIA 1999), the hardship must go beyond “the common or typical results” of removal or inadmissibility.

USCIS evaluates extreme hardship under a totality-of-the-circumstances framework. Individual factors do not need to be extreme on their own — what matters is whether they add up to something that exceeds normal hardship when considered together. Per Matter of O-J-O-, 21 I&N Dec. 381 (BIA 1996), “relevant factors, though not extreme in themselves, must be considered in the aggregate.”

The factors USCIS considers include:

• Health conditions of the qualifying relative, particularly if adequate treatment is unavailable in the applicant’s home country
• Financial impact, including loss of income, inability to maintain standard of living, or disruption to a business
• Educational disruption for the qualifying relative or their dependents
• Family separation, especially where caregiving responsibilities are involved
• Country conditions in the applicant’s home country, including safety, political stability, and social circumstances
• Psychological impact on the qualifying relative — anxiety, depression, or other mental health consequences documented by a professional evaluation

Certain factors are explicitly not sufficient on their own: economic disadvantage, loss of employment, inability to maintain a current standard of living, or general cultural adjustment difficulties. See Matter of Pilch, 21 I&N Dec. 627 (BIA 1996). But these factors in combination with others can meet the threshold.

In practice, the strongest I-601A applications present a detailed, documented picture of hardship across multiple categories, supported by evidence — medical records, financial statements, country condition reports, psychological evaluations, and personal declarations from the qualifying relative and others who can speak to the hardship.

The Process

Step 1: Approved I-130 petition. Your U.S. citizen or LPR family member must have an approved Form I-130 establishing the qualifying family relationship. Current processing time for I-130s varies but is typically 6–12 months.

Step 2: Immigrant visa case with NVC. Once the I-130 is approved, the case transfers to the National Visa Center.

Step 3: File Form I-601A. You file the I-601A with USCIS, along with all supporting evidence of extreme hardship to your qualifying relative. The filing fee is $795. As of early 2026, USCIS processing times for the I-601A are approximately 28.5 months, though this varies.

Step 4: USCIS decision. If approved, USCIS notifies you and the Department of State. You can then proceed with filing an immigrant visa application by filing form DS-260 online from the United States. After the DS-260 is accepted, you can upload required the required documentation online and schedule your immigrant visa interview at the U.S. Embassy in your home country. If your I-601A application is denied, you can file a motion to reopen or reconsider, or proceed with consular processing and file the broader I-601 waiver abroad.

Step 5: Consular interview. After approval, you depart the United States and attend your immigrant visa interview at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in your home country. Because the waiver has already been provisionally approved, the time spent abroad is typically short — often just a few weeks rather than the months or years that the old process could require.

Step 6: Return to the U.S. If the consular officer approves your immigrant visa, you return to the United States as a lawful permanent resident.

What the I-601A Changed

Before 2013, the waiver process required leaving the country without knowing whether the waiver would be approved. A denial could mean being stuck abroad for three or ten years — separated from a spouse, children, and the life built in the United States. Many families simply chose not to pursue green cards at all rather than take that risk. As we covered in our analysis of immigration court processing data, the immigration system’s capacity constraints make timing and strategy increasingly important.

The I-601A addressed this by allowing the waiver decision to happen before departure. An approval means you know the biggest obstacle has been cleared before you leave. The stakes of the consular interview are substantially lower.

Timeline and Costs

The total process from filing the initial I-130 to returning to the U.S. as a permanent resident typically takes three to four years, depending on processing times and whether any complications arise.

Costs include:

• Form I-130 filing fee: $675
• Form I-601A filing fee: $795
• DS-260 immigrant visa fee: $325
• USCIS Immigrant Fee: $220
• Medical examination (required for the visa interview): varies by country, typically $100–$300
• Attorney fees: vary widely, but given the complexity of the hardship analysis, this is a case where experienced representation meaningfully affects outcomes

Fee waivers may be available for the I-601A for applicants who can demonstrate inability to pay. See USCIS fee waiver guidance for details.

When You Need an Attorney

The I-601A is a discretionary waiver. USCIS is not required to approve it even if the extreme hardship standard is met. The quality of the hardship argument — how it is framed, documented, and presented — is often the difference between approval and denial.

This is particularly true because the extreme hardship standard is inherently subjective. Two adjudicators looking at the same set of facts can reasonably reach different conclusions. A well-constructed application presents the evidence in a way that makes the hardship clear, specific, and difficult to dismiss.

If you or a family member may be eligible for the I-601A provisional waiver, consulting with an experienced immigration attorney before filing is strongly advisable. You can schedule a free consultation to discuss your case.

Chris Hammond is an immigration attorney in Houston, Texas. If you have questions about the I-601A waiver or other immigration matters, schedule a free consultation.