If U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services denies your permanent residency, you might have the option to appeal with an extreme hardship waiver. Extreme hardship waivers allow potential immigrants to become residents even after the USCIS rejects your application.
Foreign nationals who want to become U.S. residents need to know about extreme hardship waivers. Continue reading if you face rejection for your green card.
Common consequences
According to the USCIS’s official website, rejection does not mean you face extreme hardship. You must prove other factors to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). These do not include expected consequences. Common consequences might consist of economic pain, separation from family, poor educational opportunities, poor healthcare or lack of employment.
Cumulative consequences
The individual consequences listed above do not warrant extreme hardship. However, the BIA considers the cumulative factors. So even though particular expected outcomes do not qualify, multiple problems taken together might lead to an approved permanent residency. For example, poor healthcare options in another country do not grant extreme hardship. However, this might qualify if you have a severe medical condition and your country of residence cannot give you the necessary care. The officer who determines extreme hardship considers every factor individually and then considers the cumulative cost.
The USCIS gives a list of factors that might grant an extreme hardship waiver. The existence of difficulties in your country of residence does not guarantee the Board of Immigration Appeals will give you a waiver. If immigration services reject your permanent residency, consider appealing for extreme hardship.