Tifton Consular Cases & Waivers
For high-quality legal help and the utmost in law firm customer service, call Shirazi Immigration Law at 229-520-8875 for help with consular cases and waivers in Tifton and surrounding area in all of South Georgia.
What Are Consular Cases?
The U.S. immigration system offers two different ways to apply for a Green Card, which is also known as lawful permanent resident (LPR) status. Consular processing is the method used for people who are applying for their Green Card from outside of the United States. You do this by applying at a U.S. Department of State consulate. While the U.S. Embassy is located in the foreign country’s capital city, U.S. consulates can be found in multiple border towns and popular tourist destinations. For instance, in Mexico, the U.S. Embassy is in Mexico City. U.S. Consulates, on the other hand, can be found in Ciudad Juarez, Guadalajara, Hermosillo, Matamoros, Merida, Monterrey, Nogales, Nuevo Laredo, and Tijuana. In India, the U.S. Embassy can be found in New Delhi, while U.S. Consulates are located in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai.
To apply for a Green Card through consular processing, you first determine your eligibility for a visa, such as through sponsorship of a family member or employer or by obtaining refugee or asylum status. Next, you file the appropriate petition with the consulate. Once your petition is approved and an immigration visa number becomes available through the National Visa Center, you will be scheduled for an interview at the consulate. The consular office will process your case and grant the visa if you are deemed eligible. You’ll be given a Visa Packet to take with you to America, and upon inspection and admission to the country, you’ll be a lawful permanent resident. Your Green Card should arrive in the mail soon afterward.
Our Tifton immigration attorneys can help see you through every aspect of your consular case, including if your petition is denied.
How Do Waivers Work in Tifton?
If you are found to be ineligible for an immigration visa while living abroad, you might still be able to obtain an immigrant visa through a consular waiver. The grounds for a consular waiver include demonstrating that you would suffer extreme hardship if your immigration visa is denied. The immigration attorneys in the Moultrie office of Shirazi Immigration Law can help you prepare and file an effective waiver application so that it is duly considered in an expedited manner by U.S. immigration.
Some of the reasons your visa might be denied (visa ineligibilities) include:
- Communicable disease (e.g. hepatitis c or tuberculosis)
- Lack of required vaccinations
- Mental illness
- Drug abuse or drug addiction
- Conviction of certain crimes (e.g. crimes involving moral turpitude, drug trafficking, prostitution)
- Multiple criminal convictions
- Espionage or sabotage
- Terrorist activity
- Membership in a Communist or other totalitarian party
- Participant in Nazi persecution, genocide, torture or extrajudicial killing
- Likely to become a public charge
- Illegal entry
- Lack of labor certification or required documentation
- Permanently ineligible for citizenship
- Previously removed from the U.S.
Waivers of ineligibility are authorized in many of the above categories. The consular officer who interviews you should let you know if you are eligible for a waiver and provide you with detailed instructions about how to apply for a waiver. You can also call our Moultrie office for a case review. Examples of eligibility for a waiver include having an immediate family member (spouse or parent) who is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, and it would cause extreme hardship to deny the waiver. Ineligibility based on certain convictions, such as simple possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana, can be waived if certain criteria are met. Waivers can be granted for required vaccinations or health issues if the alien receives the vaccination, demonstrates religious or moral objection to vaccination, or is certified by a doctor that vaccination would not be medically appropriate. Waivers can also be granted on humanitarian grounds.
These are just some of the ways that an individual’s visa ineligibility can be waived. Shirazi Immigration Law in Moultrie can help you prepare your waiver application with strong supporting evidence and documentation to ensure your application is sufficient, persuasive and likely to succeed.
Help With Consular Cases & Waivers in Tifton, Georgia
For help with consular cases and waivers, call Shirazi Immigration Law in Atlanta at 404-523-3611. We offer consultations at our Moultrie office and are eager to work with you and help you when your consular processing immigration visa is denied.
