Form I-601A, Application for a Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver, which is also known as the stateside waiver, will be published by the USCIS in March 2013.
Purpose of Form I-601A
Though Form I-601A is related to Form I-601, these forms are not the same. An individual who is inadmissible into the United States or a person who is ineligible for adjustment of status, must file Form I-601, to request a waiver. But the new Form I-601A, is meant for the immediate relatives of US citizens. Undocumented immigrants in the United States who are immediate relatives of US citizens, may file this form to request waivers.
Currently, immediate relatives of US citizens who overstay their visas and remain in America as undocumented immigrants will not be able to get into the country for three or ten long years. Now the eligible dependents of US citizens who are undocumented immigrants, may apply for provisional waivers and they need not return to their home countries to apply for this waiver and they can file their applications while in America. If they are granted waivers, they just need to get back to their native countries to obtain their immigrant visas and that may not take a very long time. Law enforcement authorities have also stated that they will not use this process to identify and deport undocumented immigrants. However, all the immigrants who are eligible for lawful status in the United States, may not become eligible for this waiver.
In order to become eligible to file Form I-601A, an undocumented immigrant must be above age 17 and must be the spouse, parent or an unmarried child of a US citizen. Other categories of relatives and derivatives of Green Card holders are ineligible for this waiver. Moreover, an eligible dependent of a US citizen must file Form I-601A, while in the country and must not be abroad at the time of filing this petition. Similarly, undocumented immigrants who file this form, may not request waivers for other grounds of inadmissibility. If they are found to be inadmissible into the country on some other grounds, their applications for provisional waivers will not be considered. However, USCIS will grant provisional waivers to people who establish that their immediate relatives who are US citizens will suffer extreme hardship, if they are separated from their family members.
Form I-601A, Application for a Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver
USCIS has not yet published Form I-601A and is likely to publish this form on March 4th, 2013. You need not pay for this form and you can download it from the website. You need to enter information about you, such as your name, alien registration number(if you have one), mailing address, etc. However, it is mandatory to provide your actual address, telephone number and email address and USCIS will not use these details to identify and deport you.
You will also be required to enter the name of your home country and information about the visa with which you got into the United States. Detailed information about your criminal history, must also be provided. This form also requires information about your US citizen relatives. Similar to other immigration forms, you will also be given space to provide additional information.