Obtained Green Card for Past Member of Communist Party Without Filing an I-601 Waiver Application (March 2021)

Mar 09, 2021

In March 2021, our office successfully assisted a client obtaining her green card without filing an I-601 Waiver Application. Our client is a beneficiary of an approved employment-based petition. Client was seeking to adjust her status from H1B to Permanent Residency. Client previously joined Chinese Communist Party as a student. Our client has no belief or convictions of communism.

Pursuant to Immigration laws and regulations, past membership of a totalitarian party, such as the Communist Party, results in an applicant being inadmissible to the U.S. and ineligible to receive permanent residency. USCIS routinely issues Request for Evidence for an approval of I-601 Waiver application, Notice of Intent to Deny, and Denial Decision. This results in additional delays to clients seeking to adjust their status in the U.S.

At the time of filing the I-485 green card application, our client's Party membership was not terminated at least 5 years before the date of filing the application. Thus, client was not eligible for the Five Year Exception of Past Membership. Regardless, we submitted a substantive legal memo and supporting documents to establish that our client meets the requirements for Relief for Non-meaningful Association and Relief for Non-voluntary Membership.

We are pleased that we were able to persuade USCIS that our client is not inadmissible because she is qualified for the exceptions to overcome the presumption of inadmissibility. Thus, USCIS issued an approval of our client's green card application and did not request our client to first obtaining an I-601 Waiver, or attending an interview.

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