How to Prepare Form I-601 to Request a Waiver of Inadmissibility

The I-601 Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility, which is used to overcome various barriers to receiving a U.S. green card or immigrant visa (lawful permanent residence), can be found on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website. This article discusses how to prepare it for submission (referring to the version issued 04/01/2024).

General Guidance to Preparing USCIS Form I-601

This application can seem intimidating. It is many pages long and asks for a lot of information. Fortunately, most of the questions are straightforward, in that they primarily ask about you and your family in the United States.

When you complete the I-601 application, you need to either fill it in online, or print it out and type or print your answers in black ink.

If possible, answer every question where a space is provided. But no answer is needed if the question says "if any," and there's no "any" in your case. For example, the form asks for "USCIS Online Account number (if any)." If you never got such a number, you can leave the space blank. Also, if a question does not apply to your situation, you can answer with "N/A" or "None."

Completing Form I-601 Part 1. Information About You

Part 1 of the I-601 application asks for information about you. Questions 1 through 14 ask for your basic contact and citizenship-related information. Some of it might not apply to you, especially if you've never lived in the United States.

You will have an Alien Registration number (Question 1) only if you've applied for some immigration benefit through USCIS (such as a work permit) or received a U.S. green card in the past or been in removal proceedings. If you don't have a USCIS Account Number (Question 2) leave this blank. Similarly (for Question 8), you will have a Social Security number only if you've lived in the United States with a right to work there.

For Question 9 on "gender," name the sex listed on your birth certificate. If you have since transitioned, or do not identify with either the "male" or "female" category, use Part 10 of the form to provide any relevant information.

Question 15.b asks about the location of your visa application. This applies to you if you are outside the United States, applied for an immigrant visa at a U.S. consulate ("consular processing"), and were denied because of their ground(s) of inadmissibility.

If you are inside the United States and applying for a green card through the process known as "adjustment of status," say "yes" to Question 16.a and fill in your USCIS receipt number (found on the Form I-797 you received after mailing in your application packet).

Completing Form I-601 Part 2. U.S. Entry Information

This asks for details about your current as well as prior stays in the United States. If you are not currently in the United States, leave Question 1 blank.

For every U.S. stay, you will need to write in the date you entered, your immigration status then, the port of entry (for example, the city where your plane landed), the city and state you stayed in, the dates of your stay, and the date you left. If you lived in more than one place without leaving the United States, try to fit these on the same line so as not to create the impression that you had many exits and entries.

If you can't remember the specific details of each stay in the United States, include an affidavit with your application that states you recorded this information to the best of your ability.

Completing Form I-601 Part 3. Biographic Information

Within this section, fill out basic identifying information. This is related to the security checks that the U.S. government will run on you, through its biometrics appointment (in the United States) or fingerprinting (overseas).

Completing Form I-601 Part 4. Reasons for Inadmissibility

Now we come to the crux of the reason you have to submit the I-601 application. If you have already attended a visa interview or adjustment of status interview, you should have already been told the answer to this question. Common reasons to be found inadmissible include a record of criminal acts or security violations, health problems that will affect the U.S. public, and the likelihood of becoming a public charge (relying on financial-need-based government assistance). Assuming you do know the ground at issue, check the appropriate box or boxes. (If you don't know why you're being called inadmissible, consult an attorney.)

Also understand that not every category of visa or green card applicant is subject to all the grounds of inadmissibility found in U.S. immigration law. That's why there are separate sections for different categories of applicants.

At the end of Part 4, you are asked to describe the reasons why you are inadmissible in your own words. A text box is provided for this purpose. This is also the place to assert, if true, that you aren't conceding to inadmissibility in the first place: in other words, that you will be applying for the waiver at the same time that you argue that you shouldn't have to because the government is mistaken about your inadmissibility.

If your waiver is approved, it will only be for the grounds of inadmissibility that you indicated on this form. If you neglect to identify all grounds of inadmissibility, your waiver request could end up being useless.

Completing Form I-601 Part 5. Information About Your Qualifying Relatives

Here's one of the biggest barrier to obtaining a waiver of inadmissibility: they are ordinarily available only to people who have a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse, parent, or child in the United States who qualifies under the Immigration and Nationality Act (I.N.A.) for the particular ground(s) of inadmissibility—and in most cases, who would suffer a high level of hardship if the would-be immigrant were denied the waiver.

Form I-601 initially asks for basic biographic information about one qualifying relative. If you have more than one qualifying relative, you must check the box that's immediately under Question 8 and provide information about them in Part 10.

If applying for a waiver as the fiancé of a U.S. citizen, you will write "prospective spouse" as your answer to Question 5 of this section, which asks you to identify your relationship with the qualifying relative. If you are the child of a fiancé of a U.S. citizen and you will be less than 18 years old at the time your parent marries, you will write "prospective stepchild" for Question 5. If you will be at least 18, but less than 21 years old, you will write "child" for Question 5.

Question 9 offers a bit of space to describe the hardship your U.S. relations will experience—but this is the most important part of the application, and this space is way too small to give a full answer. Your best bet is to prepare a separate statement. An attorney can help with this important task.

Completing Form I-601 Part 6. Information About Your Other Relatives With Ties to the United States

Part 6 of the I-601 asks for information about any other relatives you have in the United States, other than the ones whose prospective hardship you'll be describing. Even though they are technically not qualifying relatives, they can help your case by showing your connections to people in the United States; particularly if they are your children who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

Completing Form I-601 Parts 7 - 9

You must sign Part 7 of the form. If you used an interpreter, that person must fill out and sign Part 8. If you had an attorney, paralegal, or other third party complete the application for you, that person will complete and sign Part 9 of the form.

Completing Form I-601 Part 10. Additional Information

This simply provides extra space where you can enter information that didn't fit elsewhere, as in some cases described above.

Completing Form I-601 Part 11. Statement for Applicants With a Class A Tuberculosis Condition

This part of the I-601 application needs to be completed, signed, and submitted only by applicants who have a Class A Tuberculosis Condition and are therefore applying for a waiver of this health-based ground of inadmissibility.

It includes three statements that must be signed by you, your physician, and a local or state health officer who recognizes your physician for the purpose of providing care for tuberculosis and is willing to cooperate with your waiver request.

This page also asks for the address where you plan to reside while in the United States.

Supporting Documentation to Include With Form I-601

Your I-601 application must include documentation that supports your claim for a waiver. The instructions for Form I-601 provide an overview of the types of supporting documents that must be submitted for the waiver you are applying for.

When and Where to Submit Form I-601

How exactly you submit the Form I-601 depends on what type of application for a visa or immigration benefit you are submitting. In some cases, where you know in advance that you will be found inadmissible, you might be allowed to submit it before the immigration authorities have requested it, in conjunction with your visa or other application.

In other cases, you will need to follow instructions from whatever immigration-related agency or consulate told you that you were inadmissible and offered you the opportunity to apply for a waiver.

You will also need to pay a fee, unless you fall into an exception (mostly for humanitarian categories such as T or U visa, Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJS), or Afghan or Iraqi interpreter applicants) or you successfully apply for a fee waiver. That fee as of April 1, 2024 was $1,050.

Always double check the latest fees before filing, because USCIS fairly regularly raises them.

How Long It Will Take USCIS to Process Form I-601

U.S. immigration agencies are almost always backed up, so don't expect an immediate answer. Go to USCIS's Check Case Processing Times page to find out how long you'll likely wait for approval or denial of your application. In the case of the Form I-601, processing times of 27 months were typical in mid-2024.

Also see How Worried Should You Be If Your Immigration Case Is Seriously Delayed?.

Seeking Legal Assistance With Preparing Form I-601

It is always a good idea to consult with an experienced immigration attorney when preparing an I-601 Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility. An attorney can assist in collecting the best evidence to support your arguments showing family hardship and why you deserve a special approval of your U.S. visa application. An attorney can also prepare a legal summary to support your waiver case and to serve as a guide for the adjudicating officer.