Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers of Inadmissibility for Certain Immediate Relatives

Under the proposal, USCIS would grant a provisional unlawful presence waiver that would become fully effective upon the alien’s departure from the United States and the U.S. Department of State (DOS) consular officer’s determination at the time of the immigrant visa interview that, in light of the approved provisional unlawful presence waiver and other evidence of record, the alien is otherwise admissible to the United States and eligible to receive an immigrant visa. USCIS does not envision issuing Notices to Appear (NTA) to initiate removal proceedings against aliens whose provisional waiver applications have been approved. However, if USCIS, for example, discovers acts, omissions, or post- approval activity that would meet the criteria for NTA issuance or determines that the provisional waiver was granted in error, USCIS may issue an NTA, consistent with USCIS’s NTA issuancepolicy, as well as reopen the provisional waiver approval and deny the waiver request.