Individuals who are inadmissible are not permitted by law to enter or remain in the United States. The Immigration and Nationality Act sets forth grounds for inadmissibility. The general categories of inadmissibility include health, criminal activity, national security, public charge, lack of labor certification (if required), fraud and misrepresentation, prior removals, unlawful presence in the United States, and several miscellaneous categories. For certain grounds
of inadmissibility, it may be possible for a person to obtain a waiver of that inadmissibility. In some cases, exceptions are written into the law and no waiver is required to overcome the inadmissibility because the inadmissibility does not apply if the individual meets the exception. Examples include exceptions for aliens who have been battered, abused or subjected to extreme cruelty, who are victims of severe forms of trafficking, and who are minors. Our immigration waiver lawyer has extensive experience representing clients in various grounds of inadmissibility. Examples of the immigration scenarios that require an immigration waiver are below.
Inadmissibility due to fraud or misrepresentation
Any person who seeks admission to the United States, a visa or other immigration travel or entry document, or any immigration benefit by fraud or willfully misrepresenting a material fact is inadmissible.
Inadmissibility due to criminal reasons
The following are grounds for inadmissibility due to criminal reasons:
1. Crimes involving “moral turpitude.” The term moral turpitude is not defined under federal law. However, courts in the United States have defined it generally as an act that is inherently base, vile, or depraved, and contrary to the accepted rules of morality and the duties owed between persons or to society in general. Due to the term’s complicated meaning and the various laws that must be reviewed to determine if an individual has committed a crime involving moral turpitude, consultation with an experienced immigration attorney is recommended for any person to whom this section may apply.
2. Violation of any controlled substance law. Any violation of any laws, foreign or domestic, relating to illegal drugs can be a ground of inadmissibility.
3. Multiple Criminal Convictions. Any person convicted of two or more crimes is inadmissible if the person was sentenced to five or more total years in prison (counting the sentences in the aggregate). This applies regardless of whether the crimes involved moral turpitude or the multiple convictions arose from a single trial or scheme of misconduct.
4. Drug trafficking. If any immigration officer “knows or has reason to believe” that a person has been involved in trafficking in controlled substances, that person is inadmissible to the United States. This includes individuals who aid, abet, conspire, or collude with others in illicit drug trafficking.
5. Prostitution. Any person coming to the United States to engage in prostitution, or any person who has engaged in prostitution within ten years of his or her application for a visa, adjustment of status, or entry into the United States, is inadmissible. This section also applies to those who have made a profit from prostitution.
6. Commercialized Vice. Any person coming to the United States to engage in any unlawful commercialized vice is inadmissible.
7. Commission of a serious crime in the United States where a person has asserted immunity from prosecution. Any person who has committed a serious criminal offense and is granted immunity from criminal prosecution is inadmissible if he or she leaves the United States and fails to return and submit him or herself to the jurisdiction of the federal court overseeing the criminal case.
8. Violations of Religious Freedom. Any person who, while serving as a foreign government official, was responsible for or directly carried out particularly severe violations of religious freedom is inadmissible.
9. Human Trafficking. Any person who commits or conspires to commit human trafficking, or aids, abets, or colludes with an individual who is a trafficker in the United States or outside the United States is inadmissible.
10. Money Laundering. Any person who is engaged, is engaging, or seeks to enter the United States to engage in an offense relating to laundering of financial instruments is inadmissible.
Please consult with an experienced Immigration Attorney to analyze your goals and situation and advise you on your eligibility for an immigration waiver. You may need a waiver if you have been previously deported from the US and need to re-enter on a new visa; you have a criminal conviction (felony or misdemeanor), committed immigration fraud (entered with false visa or false travel document) or have other grounds of inadmissibility or deportability.
