Tag Archives: America

How to Apply for a U.S. Waiver

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How-to-Apply-for-a-U.S.-WaiverHow to Apply for a Waiver Application

Many foreign nationals can be extremely frustrated when they discover that they are inadmissible to the United States. There are a wide range of reasons for inadmissibility to the United States. In many circumstances, individuals can be completely surprised by the reasons for inadmissibility and can result in not knowing what to do in order to overcome the inadmissibility. It is important to note that a foreign national must overcome their inadmissibility issues prior to travelling to the United States. Therefore, in this article, I will address the different reasons for inadmissibility to the United States and ultimately how to apply for a U.S. Waiver.

Reasons for Inadmissibility to the United States

There are a variety of reasons to be deemed inadmissible to the United States. The reasons can range from not having your passport on you to having a criminal record. Regardless of the reason, if the Immigration officer determines that you are inadmissible to the United States, you will not be allowed entry. To better understand the reasons for inadmissibility to the United States, I have listed the reasons below with detailed explanations.

Not Having Passport on You

When travelling to the United States, as well as anywhere else in the world, it is extremely important to present your passport to any Immigration officer. Your passport will show the Immigration officer your identity, including your first and last name, date of birth, citizenship, and much more. Additionally, your passport should be valid and not expired while travelling as this may cause delays and complications for your travels. Therefore, if you are travelling to the United States either by car or by plane, you should carry your valid passport to avoid being inadmissible.

Criminal Record

This is one of the most common reasons for inadmissibility to the United States. Immigration officers in the United States are extremely strict with whom they allow to enter the country. This is especially the case if the foreign national has a criminal record and may cause a threat or a risk to American society. It is important to recognize that even if the foreign national has had a criminal conviction or offence from forty years ago, they may still be denied entry into America due to the criminal record. When arriving in the United States with a criminal record, the Immigration officer can give you two options. They can either detain you or they can give you a notice of refusal of entry into America.

Insufficient Funds

It is essential to have sufficient funds when travelling to any country. In the United States, Immigration officers will assess whether the foreign national has sufficient funds in order to travel to the United States and sustain their visit. If the Immigration officer determines that they do not have sufficient funds to do so, they can deem the individual as financially inadmissible to the United States. In order to adequately prove that a foreign national does have sufficient funds for their travels to the United States, they can provide bank statements or investment statements to show their funds.

Previous Immigration Violation

An Immigration officer in the United States can deny the entry of any foreign national that has previously violated an immigration law. For instance, if a foreign national previously entered the United States and overstayed their authorized travels, they have violated U.S. immigration law and as such they would be denied entry into the United States. Another common circumstance is when a foreign national is authorized to visit the United States and they begin to work without a valid work permit. In these circumstances, they would also be violating U.S. immigration law and thus will be denied entry into the United States. Conclusively, it is important to always understand the conditions of a visa or permit that is issued to you and especially look for the expiry date. The foreign national must leave the United States prior to their authorized visa or permit expiring.

Health Reasons

When a foreign national is travelling to the United States, it is important to be healthy. There are some health circumstances that can lead to inadmissibility to the United States. For instance, if the foreign national has a disease, sickness, illness or infection that can be potentially contagious or not contained effectively, the Immigration officer has the means to deem the individual as medically inadmissible. The Immigration officer must consider the safety for all Americans and must deny the entry of any foreign national that can impose a threat of spreading disease.

How to Apply for a U.S. Waiver

In order to overcome inadmissibility to the United States, the best solution would be applying for a U.S. Waiver. It is important to note that the U.S. waiver can only be issued only if the foreign national intends on:

  • Seeking an Immigration Visa for the United States
  • Aiming to adjust their status in the United States
  • Obtaining certain non-immigrant status in the United States
  • Seeking other certain immigration benefits

If you fall under any of the above mentioned factors, then you can proceed to apply for a U.S. waiver. By applying for the U.S. waiver, the foreign national must completely fill the Waiver for Inadmissibility Form. Keep in mind, there must not be any blanks left on the application as Immigration is very strict with this. Additionally, if something does not apply to you, it is best to put “Not Applicable” then leaving it blank. Additionally, you must ensure that all of the information you provide on the form is accurate and up to date.

Contact Akrami & Associates

It is essential that you have taken all of the aforementioned factors and information into consideration, if you intend on applying for U.S. Waiver to the United States. If you want to apply for a U.S. Waiver, it is extremely important to note that these are difficult applications to pursue on your own. It is highly recommended that you seek out professional and experienced help prior to submitting the application. Here, at Akrami & Associates, we work and have experience with many different immigration matters. We have helped many of our clients obtain U.S. Waivers to successfully obtain entry into the United States with inadmissibility. If you believe that you may be eligible, please feel free to contact Akrami & Associates at our office at 416-477-2545 for more information or if you would like to book a consultation with an immigration professional for more advice.

With Akrami & Associates, there is always a way!

US Supreme Court May Enforce Travel Ban

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Supreme Court Rules Trump May Enforce Travel Ban

Since Donald Trump has become the President of the U.S., there has been continuous speculation about travel bans towards Muslim-majority countries. This has caused an enormous amount of discussion and concern for many Americans as several of them have immigrated to America from these countries. Recently the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Trump’s travel ban, which targets six Muslim-majority countries, may possibly go into effect. This is specifically with respect to any foreign national who lacks any bona fide relationship with a person in the United States. Therefore, in this article, I will address who will be affected by this travel ban and when it will come into effect.

Who will be affected & when will it come into effect

The travel ban is specifically targeting citizens from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The travel ban, as stated by Donald Trump, will come into effect within three days of the court ruling. The travel ban excludes any foreign nationals, from these designated countries, in relationships with citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. However, any foreign national that wishes to travel to the U.S. with an accompanying visa, who had never visited the U.S. before, has no family in the U.S., or any business or other ties, may be prohibited from entering.

The new order is speculated to explain the ties each of the six countries has with terrorist organizations. For instance, Iran’s support of terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, ISIS activities in Libya, al-Qaeda offshoot operating in Yemen, and the active combat ongoing in Syria and Libya have made these countries targets of the travel ban. Therefore, as a result of these ties, immigrants from these countries cannot be adequately vetted.

It is important to note that the U.S. Supreme Court can overturn lower court orders that have attempted to block the implementation of the travel ban; the U.S. Supreme Court is the highest federal court in the U.S. and therefore is permitted to do so.

There was an order made on March 6, which followed an order previous made that included Iraqi citizens, announced a 90 day travel ban on travellers from the six aforementioned countries, as well as a 120 day ban on all refugees. Going forward, Syrians will no longer be subject to an indefinite ban, as they were in the first order. Additionally, Iraq will not be included in the newest travel ban as there have been negotiations between the Iraqi government and the American government. Iraq has consequently vowed to improve the security of its travel documents and share more information on its citizens with the U.S. government. This order was supported by the U.S. government as they believed it would enforce stronger vetting procedures to be implemented going forward. Furthermore, the U.S. Supreme court will hear a handful of cases in which lower courts have blocked the travel bans; however, there is no guarantee that these arguments will come out successful. The previous bans are said to be going into effect this summer.

Consequences of the Travel Ban

This travel ban unfortunately will cause confusion and concern for many Americans and prospect visitors to the U.S. Due to the previous speculation and discussion within the past few months of Trump’s administration, there is no doubt that there will be more confusion and discussion going forward. Two justices from the U.S. Supreme court have confirmed that it will be very difficult to determine who exactly has a bona fide relationship with the U.S. A bona fide relationship includes parents, children, in-laws and step-relations but does exclude grandparents, nephews, nieces, cousins, and others. Additionally, fiancés were originally placed in the excluded group of family members, however, as of recently they are now determined to be a bona fide relationship. Therefore, it is extremely important for the individual to have a clear understanding of who classifies under a bona fide relationship. This will place a significant burden on any executive official who is entitled to decide whether an individual who is attempting to enter the country from any of the six aforementioned countries indeed has a sufficient and genuine connection to a person or entity within the U.S.

In the U.S., there have been several cases where individuals who had valid visas to enter the U.S. were denied entry and in some extreme cases, their visas were cancelled. These decisions were ultimately made by U.S. border officials. Trump is extremely enthusiastic and adamant about the travel ban. He states that it is in fact a victory for American security.

On the other hand, for Americans and American travellers, this travel ban can be extremely detrimental. Many individuals believe that the travel ban is, in contrast, illogical, discriminatory, and very un-American. Others find it extremely exclusionary to determine which relationships are bona fide and which are not. This can cause extreme heartbreak if grandparents or grandchildren are banned from the U.S. due to their relationships not being bona fide. As a result, there are several sentiments from individuals who believe that these exclusions will not make the country safer and it will cause further conflict going forward.

Contact Akrami & Associates to Petition for your Spouse

For more information on U.S. matters and different visa applications you can submit, please refer to our different blogs. For any visa in the U.S. it is highly recommended that you seek out professional and experienced help before attempting to submit the application. Here, at Akrami & Associates, we work and have experience with many different immigration issues. We have helped many of our client visit the United States. If you believe that you may be eligible to apply for a visa to the U.S., please feel free to contact Akrami & Associates at our office at 416-477-2545 for more information or if you would like to book a consultation with an immigration professional for more advice.

With Akrami & Associates, there is always a way!