Apr 26 2007

InfoPass Pilot Program Speeds Up Waiver of Excludability Process in Consular Offices Abroad

Earlier this year, USCIS’s Ciudad Juaraz, Mexico office, in collaboration with the State Department, started a new pilot program that would allow for same-day adjudication of many Waivers of Excludability (Form I-601). Immigrants that need consular immigrant visa processing and have been found inadmissible to the U.S. by a consular officer are, in many cases, allowed to file a waiver to explain various inadmissibilities (e.g.: immigration and criminal violations and health-related issues).

Waiver applicants in the Ciudad Juarez office are able to use InfoPass, USCIS’s online appointment system, to select a date and time when they can return to the consulate to file their waiver. The online service is available online at www.infopass.uscis.gov. An USCIS adjudication officer will review that waiver and its supporting documents at the time it is submitted by the applicant. The officer then will either approve the waiver or refer it to further review.

As part of the waiver process, the applicant will need to show that his or her spouse/parent would suffer “extreme hardship” if he or she were not allowed to return to the U.S. Prior to approval of the waiver and issuance of the visa, a detailed set of security checks would be made.

The pilot program has, so far, been able to speed up the process and enable these immigrants to return to care for their families in a reasonable amount of time.

“This ground making pilot program makes sense and ensures that qualifying immigrants return to their families without unnecessary delays,” said Warren Janssen, the Officer-in-Charge of the Ciudad Juarez office. “Those applicants that file a well prepared I-601 and who otherwise do not have any serious adverse issues to be addressed will, in many cases, be approved and be able to receive their visas on the same day.”