Undocumented immigrants face significant challenges when they want to visit or stay in the U.S. One way they can bypass some of the immigration obstacles set up by the government includes claiming extreme hardship.
The extreme hardship waiver can help immigrants keep their permanent resident status or gain visas or green cards. However, extreme hardship is difficult to prove, but these are examples to consider.
Conditions within the home country
Immigrants from especially violent countries or those with civil unrest may constitute a hardship. In addition, if the U.S. military has operations in the country or the government has sanctioned the country, the government is unlikely to return them. Extreme hardship may occur in countries suffering from a natural disaster, political unrest or socioeconomic conditions.
Consider whether the Peace Corps has withdrawn or the government has issued travel warnings or temporary protected status to these immigrants.
Family impact
Separation from minor children, the children’s length of residency in the U.S., and their status. Immigrants should be primary caregivers of family members, such as children or elderly or disabled adults. Whether the children or elderly have lived in their home country and for how long. The impact on the person left in the U.S., including their cognitive, emotional and social challenges due to the replacement of the caregiver who gets deported.
Social challenges
Social and cultural challenges may include no access to the U.S. justice system, persecution and discrimination, no access to social institutions, integration difficulty, challenges maintaining relationships with relatives in the U.S., language differences and educational opportunities. In addition, some countries may persecute individuals who lived in the U.S. Additional persecution for gender, religion, sexual orientation, race, politics, etc.
To get the best results, immigrants need to have clear documentation and research to prove their extreme hardships.