USCIS Holds Teleconference on I-601 Waivers

On November 13, 2012, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) held a teleconference to discuss the transition to centralized Lockbox filing of Form I-601, Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility, filed by applicants outside the United States.

As background, on June 4, 2012, USCIS phased in a new requirement that I-601s and associated Forms I-212 and I-290B be filed and adjudicated in the United States. An exception (PDF) was made for applications filed at the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, for six months. Beginning December 5, 2012, I-601s and associated forms must be filed in the United States unless the applicant meets criteria allowing him or her to file at an international USCIS office. The criteria include circumstances such as applicants residing in Cuba, or applicants facing urgent issues such as a medical emergency, a threat to personal safety, being close to aging out of visa eligibility, or having adopted a child locally and needing to depart the country imminently.

See USCIS announcement for more info.