I-601 waiver of criminal inadmissibility question:

simsim12001

New Member
Hello all!
I have the following situation:
In 2008 I was convicted in two felonies: Home invasion 2nd degree and attempted home invasion 2nd degree and sentenced to 12 months in county jail. This sentence later got reduced to 11 months due to my request for a reduction of jail sentence, to the judge, of which I served 8. (Please note that my request for a reduction of jail sentence was specifically based on my fear from possible deportation and the honorable judge Paula Manderfield granted it, which brings me to the conclusion that she does not object to my stay in the U.S.) Prior to my incarceration I was working on my Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at Michigan State University, and as of right now I am only 6 credits away from being done with me degree. Two months after my release from jail, I was picked up by immigration and once again incarcerated. At my court hearing, the immigration judge decided that my crimes were not aggravated and granted my request for a voluntary departure. So, I was not deported. As of right now, I am back in my home country of Bulgaria; however I would very much like to come back to the U.S. for the following two reasons:
I have a fiancé (born and raised U.S. citizen) and we would like to get married. She is even willing to come and live here in Bulgaria with me, but not only that she doesn’t speak the language but also she wouldn’t be able to find a job since the Bulgarian economy is deteriorating, and given that I am also currently unemployed, we will be struggling to survive if we stay in Bulgaria.
I would like to come back and finish up my doctorate at Michigan State. A degree which I must have in order to find a job related to my field of study.

I also hold a Master of Music Performance Degree from Central Michigan University (2002-04) and I am the winner of several very prestigious trombone competitions plus I have been performing with a number of symphony orchestras from all over the world. As you can see, I am far from the carrier criminal image and on the top of that I am able to provide a huge amount of character reference letters from people such as: Dr. Robert Lindahl-Central Michigan University, prof. Ava Ordman-Michigan State University, Dr. Daniel Steele-Central Michigan University, etc.

Based on all the above, I would greatly appreciate, if you could give me your professional opinion regarding my chances of returning back to the U.S. by the means of I-601 waiver of inadmissibility. My current plan is to apply for a K-1 fiancé visa which I am pretty much sure will be rejected due to my felonies, and then apply for the I-601 waiver of inadmissibility. Another option which I and my fiancé discussed is also to get married here in Bulgaria this summer and then apply for a K-3 spouse visa. We were going to go with the second option until she got discouraged by an immigration attorney she recently met with, that getting married so soon after my release from jail (I was released on Jan. 14, 2010), is a negative factor and he thinks that my waiver application will not be approved.

I am aware that in order to win his waver of criminal inadmissibility case, one must prove that the U.S. relative will suffer an extreme hardship if the waiver applicant is denied reentry in to the U.S. This is why I feel strongly that the following examples of extreme hardship arguments apply one hundred per-cent to my particular case:

-Relative has debts they wouldn't be able to pay if they moved abroad;
-Alien's country has a high unemployment rate and wages are low;
-Alien's country has a high rate of violent crime and kidnapping;
-Alien's country has one of the very worst economies in the world;

At the end I’d like to thank you in advance for taking the time to evaluate my case. All comments, suggestions, or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Have a great day!
 
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If no one is able to answer your question on this forum I would highly recommend posting your query on this forum http://immigrate2us.net/forum/content.php This forum specializes in waivers.



One thing about the extreme hardship though (as far as Im aware) is that the USC needs to be able to prove that not having you with her in this country would prove to her to be an extreme hardship. From my understanding they dont really care about the hardship that would be incurred if you both lived in Bulgaria.....they're just bothered about the extreme hardship that would be inflicted on the USC while residing in the US without you here, so you need to gear your evidence in this direction. Of course I could be completely off the ball here as I'm not well versed in hardship waivers, but from my reading this is what I have understood so far.
 
My honest opinion, your case is complicated enough to warrant competent legal representation. Do not rely on advice from this portal to suffice your needs. Good luck and keep us posted.

At the end I’d like to thank you in advance for taking the time to evaluate my case. All comments, suggestions, or advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
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