Non-Immigrant Waiver for Deported Aggravated Felon

From Rachel Rosenbloom:

Dear Listmates:

For once, some good news!  One of our clients, a former LPR who was removed as an aggravated felon in 1998, was recently granted a non-immigrant waiver through the London embassy to visit her children and her parents in Texas.  As far as we know, this is the first time that someone in this situation has been allowed back in on a non-immigrant visa (if anyone knows of a similar case, please get in touch with me.)

Our client is a classic post-IIRIRA story:  immigrated to the US as a young child, grew up here, married a USC, had two kids.  Parents are naturalized USCs, but she remained an LPR.  After a messy divorce, she spiraled into drug addiction and had one very bad year in which she and her addict boyfriend committed various crimes to support their habit.  She was removed in 1999 on the basis of two CIMTs (theft/burglary), one of which was an aggravated felony.  Her kids remained in the US with their father, and her parents (one of whom is now in failing health and unable to travel) also remained here.

She has been clean for ten years and has created an entirely new life for herself in England, going back to school and launching a successful career there.  Although her kids visit her in the summers, it has been very hard on them that she can’t see their school, meet their friends, etc.  And she has been worried about her parents’ failing health and not being able to visit them if there is a medical emergency. 

Now that she’s gotten one waiver recommendation, it’s likely that she’ll be able to visit at regular intervals — the Foreign Affairs Manual provides that the consulate, once it recommends a waiver, must continue to do so in the future unless there is a material change in circumstances. We are hoping that down the line we will be able to get her a multiple-entry visa that will really give her the peace of mind to know that she can travel at the drop of a hat if the need arises.

Have a good weekend!

Rachel E. Rosenbloom
Supervising Attorney
Post-Deportation Human Rights Project
Center for Human Rights and International Justice at Boston College

Congratulations!
bh