Waivers of inadmissibility

Immigration Waiver Lawyer — a Former Immigration Judge for I-601A, I-601 and I-212 Cases

A waiver is often the one step standing between a family and a green card. Years of unlawful presence, a past deportation, an old misstatement to an immigration officer or a criminal record can make a person inadmissible, and only a waiver, in Spanish often called a perdón migratorio, lets the case go forward. Carlos Maury, a former U.S. Immigration Judge who heard cases at the Van Nuys Immigration Court, and before that served as government immigration counsel, prepares I-601A provisional waivers, I-601 waivers and I-212 applications for permission to reapply after a deportation, in English and Spanish.

Call (213) 769-0050

Carlos Maury is no longer on the bench and cannot influence any sitting judge or pending case.

Why a former immigration judge

Most waivers turn on two things a judge weighs every day: hardship and discretion. The officer or judge asks whether a U.S.-citizen or permanent-resident relative would suffer extreme hardship, and then whether the person deserves the waiver once the good in their life is set against the bad. Immigration judges decide waivers with adjustment of status in court, and they see what happens when a waiver filed with USCIS or at a consulate falls short.

Carlos Maury served as a U.S. Immigration Judge at the Van Nuys Immigration Court, appointed by Attorney General Eric Holder, hearing cases from June 2015. As a judge, he decided roughly six hundred asylum cases on their merits in recent years (TRAC judge report (opens in new tab)). From 2002 to 2015 he worked with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Los Angeles, rising to deputy chief counsel, the side of the courtroom that argues the government's case.

That experience shapes how we prepare a waiver: we build the hardship case around the evidence a decision-maker can rely on, we look for the negative factors before the government does, and we tell you plainly which waiver fits, whether one is available at all, and when the safer advice is not to travel. None of this can promise a particular outcome; every case turns on its own facts and the law.

What we handle

We handle waivers of inadmissibility from the first review of your entries and records to the consular interview or the hearing. Our guide to inadmissibility waivers explains the law in detail, and our printable waiver document checklist lists what the official form instructions ask for.

I-601A provisional waivers. The waiver of the 3- and 10-year bars for unlawful presence, filed from inside the United States before the trip to the immigrant visa interview.
I-601 waivers. The general waiver for unlawful presence, fraud or misrepresentation and certain crimes, filed after a consulate finds a person inadmissible or together with a green card application.
I-212 permission to reapply. Consent to return or get a green card after a deportation or a departure under a removal order, the perdón por deportación.
Extreme hardship cases. Gathering the medical, financial, family and country evidence that shows hardship to the qualifying spouse or parent.
Criminal waivers. The INA § 212(h) waiver for crimes involving moral turpitude and other listed offenses, with our criminal immigration lawyer page covering how a record is read.
Waivers in immigration court. A waiver requested from the immigration judge with adjustment of status, as part of the defense in removal proceedings. See our deportation defense lawyer page.
Denied or revoked waivers. What can be done after a denial, or when a consulate finds a new ground at the interview.
Family green cards that need a waiver. The petition and the waiver planned together; see our green card lawyer page.

Before you file: what to check

The wrong waiver, or a waiver filed for a person who needs a different one, can lose years and a family's time together. Gather these and review them with a lawyer first:

Every entry and departure. The dates and the manner of each one: with a visa, with a border crossing card, without inspection, or turned back at the border. They decide which bar applies.
Any deportation, removal order or voluntary departure. Under any name, including a quick return at the border. A prior order changes which forms are needed.
Every arrest, citation or charge. Certified court dispositions for each one, even if it was dismissed or expunged.
Every statement to the government. Visa applications, earlier petitions, and anything said at a border or an airport, including any claim to be a U.S. citizen.
Your qualifying relative. Proof that your spouse or parent is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, and records of their health, work, finances and family ties.
Any case in immigration court. The Notice to Appear, the court's orders and whether the case is open, closed or finished.

Call (213) 769-0050

The I-601A provisional waiver

A person who has been unlawfully present for more than 180 days and then leaves the United States is barred from returning for 3 years; one year or more brings a 10-year bar (INA § 212(a)(9)(B), 8 U.S.C. § 1182 (opens in new tab)). The bar is triggered by the departure, so a person who must travel to a U.S. consulate for an immigrant visa interview needs the waiver before the trip. The provisional waiver on Form I-601A lets them ask for it from inside the country and know the answer before leaving (8 C.F.R. § 212.7(e) (opens in new tab)).

Who can file. A person present in the United States, at least 17, with an immigrant visa case pending with the State Department, who would be inadmissible only because of the 3- or 10-year bar.
The hardship that counts. Extreme hardship to a U.S.-citizen or permanent-resident spouse or parent. Hardship to the applicant's own children counts only through its effect on that spouse or parent.
Who cannot file. A person in removal proceedings, unless the case is administratively closed; a person with a final removal order, unless USCIS has already approved an I-212; and a person with a green card application pending with USCIS.
What happens next. There is no appeal from a denial. An approval takes effect only when the person leaves, attends the consular interview and is found otherwise admissible; if the consulate finds another ground, the provisional waiver is revoked.

Since August 13, 2026, a trip abroad on advance parole also counts as a departure for these bars (Matter of Delcarmen-Lara, 29 I&N Dec. 830 (BIA 2026) (opens in new tab)). Anyone with unlawful presence should get advice before traveling.

The I-601 waiver and extreme hardship

Form I-601 is the general waiver form. It is filed from abroad after a consular officer finds a person inadmissible, or inside the United States with a green card application, including before an immigration judge. It covers grounds the provisional waiver does not:

Fraud or misrepresentation, under INA § 212(i), with extreme hardship to a U.S.-citizen or permanent-resident spouse or parent. A false claim to U.S. citizenship is a different ground, with no waiver except a narrow statutory exception.
Certain crimes, under INA § 212(h), where a citizen or resident son or daughter also counts, or where the offense is more than 15 years old and the person is rehabilitated. Most drug offenses cannot be waived, except a single offense of simple possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana.
Unlawful presence, when it is found at the consulate rather than waived in advance.

Extreme hardship is more than the common consequences of separation or a move abroad. The USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 9, Part B (opens in new tab) weighs family ties, health and medical care, economic impact, country conditions and social and cultural factors together, both if the relative stays in the United States and if they relocate. The Board of Immigration Appeals set out the leading factors in Matter of Cervantes-Gonzalez, 22 I&N Dec. 560 (BIA 1999) (opens in new tab). Even when hardship is proved, the waiver remains discretionary, and the statute bars court review of the decision itself.

Call (213) 769-0050

After a deportation: Form I-212

A person who was deported, or who left while a removal order was outstanding, cannot return for a set period: 5 years after an expedited removal or a removal at arrival, 10 years after an order from an immigration judge, 20 years after a second removal, and at any time after an aggravated felony conviction (INA § 212(a)(9)(A) (opens in new tab)). The way back before that period ends is the government's consent to reapply for admission, requested on Form I-212 (8 C.F.R. § 212.2 (opens in new tab)).

With a green card application, the I-212 is filed together with it, and before the immigration judge if the case is in court.
Before leaving with a final order, a person can ask for a conditional approval that takes effect with the departure. That approval is also what opens the I-601A to a person with a final order.
The permanent bar. A person who was unlawfully present for more than a year in total, or was ordered removed, and then entered or tried to enter without inspection, is under the permanent bar of INA § 212(a)(9)(C). An I-212 does not cure it until the person has spent 10 years outside the United States, and VAWA self-petitioners are the main exception.

The exact dates of every entry and departure decide which of these rules applies, so they are reconstructed from records before anything is filed. Our article on waivers of inadmissibility walks through more examples.

Waivers in immigration court

When a person is in removal proceedings, the immigration judge generally decides the green card application and any waiver that goes with it (8 C.F.R. § 1245.2(a)(1)(i) (opens in new tab)). The judge hears testimony, weighs the hardship evidence and decides discretion, and a denial can be appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals. The provisional waiver is different: USCIS alone decides it, and a person in court can file it only if the case is administratively closed. In 2026 that route narrowed, after a federal court vacated the immigration courts' 2024 administrative closure rule on June 22, 2026, and the Board held in Matter of Medina Madrid, 29 I&N Dec. 514 (BIA 2026) (opens in new tab) that a plan to file an I-601A alone did not justify keeping a long-closed case closed. A person in court who hopes to use the provisional waiver needs a plan that fits the court's calendar and their own history.

Serving Los Angeles & Southern California

Our office is in Van Nuys, in the San Fernando Valley, close to the Van Nuys immigration court where Carlos Maury once heard cases. Provisional waivers and I-212 applications are decided by USCIS, and the visa interview takes place at a U.S. consulate abroad; but when a waiver is part of a case in removal proceedings, it is heard in the immigration court that covers the person's home. We regularly handle cases in the Southern California immigration courts:

See all Los Angeles-area immigration courts. For the paths to legal status by entry, record and family, see our guide to fixing your immigration status.

Our page on the Southern California immigration courts covers all eight court locations, including the border courts in San Diego, Otay Mesa and Imperial.

Immigration law is federal, so we prepare waivers for families across the country. We appear in immigration courts in all 50 states, in person or by video where the court allows. Find your court among all 77 immigration courts. Meetings at the Van Nuys office are by appointment only.

Carlos Maury is licensed in Florida. Practice limited to federal immigration law; we represent clients in all 50 states.

Mistakes that can hurt a waiver case

Leaving for the interview without a plan. The departure itself triggers the 3- or 10-year bar.
Filing an I-601A when another ground applies. A prior removal, a misrepresentation or a crime is not covered, and the consulate will find it.
A hardship case without evidence. Statements alone rarely show extreme hardship; records of health, finances and family do.
Focusing on the children's hardship. For most waivers, only the citizen or resident spouse or parent counts directly.
Returning without permission. An unlawful re-entry after a removal or a year of unlawful presence can bring the permanent bar.
Letting a notario handle it. A "notario" is not a lawyer and cannot give legal advice about which waiver applies.

About Carlos Maury

Carlos Maury served as a U.S. Immigration Judge at the Van Nuys Immigration Court, appointed by Attorney General Eric Holder, hearing cases from June 2015 (EOIR announcement (opens in new tab)). From 2002 to 2015 he worked with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Los Angeles, rising to deputy chief counsel. Before that he was district counsel for the former Immigration and Naturalization Service in Miami from 2000 to 2002, and an assistant public defender in Florida's Eleventh Judicial Circuit from 1993 to 2000.

He earned his J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law in 1992 and his B.A. from City College of the City University of New York in 1989. He is a member of The Florida Bar (No. 964239) and works with clients in English and Spanish. Read more about Carlos Maury.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Form I-601 and Form I-601A?

Form I-601A is the provisional waiver: it covers only the 3- and 10-year unlawful presence bars and is filed from inside the United States before the trip to the immigrant visa interview. Form I-601 is the general waiver, filed after a consulate finds a person inadmissible or with a green card application, and it also covers fraud and certain crimes.

Who counts as a qualifying relative?

For the unlawful presence waiver and the fraud waiver, only a U.S.-citizen or permanent-resident spouse or parent counts. For the criminal waiver under INA 212(h), a citizen or resident son or daughter also counts. VAWA self-petitioners have their own rules.

Does hardship to my U.S.-citizen children count?

Not directly for the unlawful presence or fraud waivers, where only a citizen or resident spouse or parent counts. The effect on the children counts through its effect on that spouse or parent. For the criminal waiver under INA 212(h), a citizen or resident son or daughter is a qualifying relative.

What is extreme hardship?

It is hardship to the qualifying relative beyond the common consequences of separation or a move abroad. USCIS weighs family ties, health and medical care, economic impact, country conditions and social and cultural factors together, both if the relative stays in the United States and if they relocate.

Can I get a waiver after being deported?

Often, yes. A person who was removed can ask for permission to reapply for admission on Form I-212 before the 5-, 10- or 20-year period ends. But if the person returned without inspection after the removal, the permanent bar applies, and consent is possible only after 10 years outside the United States.

Can I file an I-601A if I am in immigration court?

Only if the case is administratively closed and not back on the calendar when you file. A federal court vacated the immigration courts' 2024 administrative closure rule on June 22, 2026, and the Board has held that a plan to file an I-601A alone does not justify keeping a long-closed case closed, so this route needs careful review.

Does travel on advance parole trigger the 10-year bar now?

It can. On August 13, 2026 the Board of Immigration Appeals held in Matter of Delcarmen-Lara that leaving on advance parole is a departure for the unlawful presence bars, and USCIS applies this to departures from that date. Anyone with unlawful presence should get advice before traveling.

Do you handle waiver cases in Los Angeles?

Yes. Our office is in Van Nuys, and we prepare provisional waivers, I-601 waivers and I-212 applications for families in the Los Angeles area. When a waiver is part of a removal case, we present it in the Los Angeles, West LA, Van Nuys and other Southern California immigration courts.

Can Carlos Maury influence USCIS, a consulate or a judge?

No. Carlos Maury is no longer on the bench and cannot influence any sitting judge or pending case, or any USCIS or consular officer. What he offers is preparation and experience, not access.

What should I have ready when I call?

Have the dates of your entries and departures, any deportation or court papers, any arrest records, and any notice from USCIS, the National Visa Center or a consulate. Carlos Maury speaks English and Spanish.

Talk with a former immigration judge before you travel

If you need a waiver, the time to plan it is before anyone leaves the country or files a form, not after. Call to discuss your case. Hablamos español.

Call (213) 769-0050

Last reviewed: October 2, 2026.