Waivers of inadmissibility and deportability
A waiver asks the government to forgive a specific ground that would otherwise keep you out or send you back. Each waiver reaches a fixed list of grounds and no others, each has its own test, and most have to be filed together with something else, usually an application for a green card. This page lists the waivers that matter in immigration court, what each one covers, and which page to read next.
Current as of September 2026. We re-check this page every quarter and after any rule change.
Waivers are narrow by design. Each one names the grounds it reaches, and a ground not named cannot be waived by it, however sympathetic the case. The work is matching the ground the government has charged, or the ground that would block your green card, to the waiver that covers it, and then proving the test that waiver sets. This page is the map. It is one part of the full list of relief from removal.
The waivers, compared
| Waiver | What it forgives | The test | Who decides in a court case | Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 212(h) | Crimes involving moral turpitude, a single simple possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana, multiple convictions, prostitution, and serious crimes with immunity, under 212(a)(2) | 15 years and rehabilitation; or extreme hardship to a citizen or LPR spouse, parent, son or daughter; or VAWA | Judge, with adjustment | 212(h) |
| 212(i) | Fraud or willful misrepresentation under 212(a)(6)(C)(i) | Extreme hardship to a citizen or LPR spouse or parent; or VAWA. A child does not count | Judge, with adjustment | 212(i) |
| Former 212(c) | Most grounds, for an LPR whose plea predates April 1, 1997 | 7 years of lawful unrelinquished domicile; less than 5 years served for an aggravated felony; discretion | Judge | 212(c) |
| 237(a)(1)(H) | Deportability for fraud or misrepresentation at the time of admission | Spouse, parent, son or daughter of a citizen or LPR, and otherwise admissible; or VAWA. No hardship showing | Judge | 237(a)(1)(H) |
| 212(a)(9)(B)(v) | The 3-year and 10-year unlawful-presence bars | Set by the statute; the provisional version is at 8 C.F.R. 212.7(e) | USCIS, on Form I-601A | This page |
| 212(a)(9)(A)(iii) | Consent to reapply for admission after a removal order | Discretion, on Form I-212 | USCIS | This page |
Forms I-601, I-601A and I-212 each carry a USCIS filing fee, which is not our legal fee. We have not confirmed the current figures against the USCIS schedule for this page and do not print them; Form G-1055 is authoritative. Applications filed with the immigration court may also carry an EOIR fee, on the EOIR fee page.
The waivers the judge grants
212(h) is the criminal waiver. It reaches five grounds in INA 212(a)(2) and no others: crimes involving moral turpitude, a single offense of simple possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana, multiple convictions, prostitution, and serious crimes where immunity was asserted. It never reaches murder or criminal acts involving torture. There are three routes in, and a bar for residents who entered as residents and were later convicted of an aggravated felony or lack seven years of lawful residence, which under Matter of J-H-J-, 26 I&N Dec. 563 (BIA 2015), does not reach a person who adjusted inside the country. In proceedings it must accompany an adjustment application, under Matter of Rivas, 26 I&N Dec. 130 (BIA 2013). The full page is the 212(h) waiver.
212(i) is the fraud waiver. It reaches fraud or willful misrepresentation under 212(a)(6)(C)(i), on a showing of extreme hardship to a citizen or resident spouse or parent, or for a VAWA self-petitioner. Hardship to a child does not count. It does not reach a false claim to citizenship under 212(a)(6)(C)(ii), which has no waiver apart from a narrow statutory exception for certain children of citizen parents. The full page is the 212(i) waiver.
Former 212(c) was repealed effective April 1, 1997, but under INS v. St. Cyr, 533 U.S. 289 (2001), remains available to permanent residents who pleaded guilty before that date in reliance on it. Seven consecutive years of lawful domicile, and, for pleas taken between November 29, 1990 and April 24, 1996, a bar for anyone who served five years or more for an aggravated felony. In 2026 it is a remedy for old cases, and old cases are exactly the ones that resurface when a resident travels or applies to naturalize. The full page is former 212(c) relief.
237(a)(1)(H) is the only one of these that waives deportability rather than inadmissibility. It forgives fraud or misrepresentation at the time of admission for the spouse, parent, son or daughter of a citizen or resident who was otherwise admissible, disregarding the visa and documentation grounds in 212(a)(5)(A) and (7)(A) that flowed from the fraud, and for VAWA self-petitioners. No hardship is required. Under Matter of Fu, 23 I&N Dec. 985 (BIA 2006), it also reaches a charge of lacking a valid visa that results directly from the fraud; under Matter of Tima, 26 I&N Dec. 839 (BIA 2016), it does not reach a separate crime-based ground arising from the same fraud. The full page is the 237(a)(1)(H) waiver.
A waiver concedes the ground
Applying for a waiver tells the judge that the ground exists and asks for forgiveness. Before that, the question is whether the ground exists at all. A conviction that is not a crime involving moral turpitude under the categorical approach needs no 212(h). A statement that was not willful, or not made to obtain a benefit, may not be a misrepresentation at all. The waiver is filed in the alternative, after the ground has been contested. See contesting removability.
Unlawful presence: the 3-year and 10-year bars
INA 212(a)(9)(B) makes a person inadmissible for three or ten years after a departure that follows a period of unlawful presence in the United States. The bar is triggered by the departure. A person who has never left is not yet subject to it, which is why it matters most to people who would have to leave for a consular interview. A waiver exists at 212(a)(9)(B)(v), and the provisional waiver at 8 C.F.R. 212.7(e), filed on Form I-601A, lets USCIS decide that waiver before the person departs. Both are USCIS processes; the immigration judge does not grant them.
For fourteen years, under Matter of Arrabally and Yerrabelly, 25 I&N Dec. 771 (BIA 2012), a trip abroad on advance parole was not a "departure" that triggered the unlawful-presence bar. On August 13, 2026 the Board overruled that decision in Matter of Delcarmen-Lara, 29 I&N Dec. 830 (BIA 2026): a departure on advance parole is a departure under 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(II). For a person in proceedings who traveled on advance parole and returned, that change can be the difference between needing a waiver and not needing one. Whether the court of appeals for your circuit follows the Board on this is a question we check case by case, and any advance-parole travel has to be raised with us before the hearing.
Consent to reapply after removal
A person who was removed, or who left while a removal order was outstanding, needs the government's consent to apply for admission again, under INA 212(a)(9)(A)(iii). The application is Form I-212, governed by 8 C.F.R. 212.2, and it is decided by USCIS in discretion. It comes up on this site in two places: for a person with an old order who now has a path to a green card, and for a person facing reinstatement after a reentry. It carries a USCIS filing fee, not our legal fee, and the current amount is on Form G-1055.
How waivers are filed in court
Waivers of inadmissibility are filed with the application they support, which in court is almost always adjustment of status under 8 C.F.R. 1245.2(a)(1). The adjustment application, the waiver on Form I-601, the hardship evidence and the supporting declarations go in together by the deadline the judge sets, and the judge decides them at the same individual hearing. The 237(a)(1)(H) waiver and 212(c) relief are requested in the removal case directly. Filing deadlines are on the deadlines page.
Hardship is proven, not described
Every hardship waiver turns on evidence about the qualifying relative: medical records, a treating professional's letter, financial records, school records, the relative's own declaration, and country-conditions evidence on what that relative would face in the country of return or here without you. A waiver filed on a declaration alone is a waiver filed to be denied.
Read next: the 212(h) waiver, the 212(i) waiver, the 237(a)(1)(H) waiver, or adjustment of status in court.
Common questions
What is the difference between a waiver of inadmissibility and a waiver of deportability?
Inadmissibility grounds in INA 212(a) apply to a person seeking admission or a green card. Deportability grounds in INA 237(a) apply to a person who was admitted and is being removed. Most waivers, including 212(h) and 212(i), waive inadmissibility, which is why in court they are filed with an application for adjustment of status. The 237(a)(1)(H) waiver is different: it waives deportability directly, for fraud at the time of admission, and needs no adjustment application.
Can the immigration judge decide my waiver?
For the waivers filed with an adjustment application in court, yes: the judge decides the adjustment and the waiver together. The 237(a)(1)(H) waiver and former 212(c) relief are also decided by the judge. The provisional unlawful-presence waiver on Form I-601A and consent to reapply on Form I-212 are USCIS processes, and the judge cannot grant them.
Is there a waiver for a false claim to United States citizenship?
No. A false claim to citizenship under INA 212(a)(6)(C)(ii) has no waiver, apart from a narrow statutory exception for certain children of citizen parents. The 212(i) waiver covers fraud and willful misrepresentation under 212(a)(6)(C)(i), a different subsection. Whether what happened was a false claim to citizenship or a misrepresentation of something else is often the whole case.
Are there government fees for waivers?
Forms I-601, I-601A and I-212 each carry a USCIS filing fee, which is not our legal fee. We have not confirmed the current figures for this page, so we do not print them. Form G-1055, the USCIS fee schedule, is authoritative, and we confirm the amount with you before anything is filed. The 237(a)(1)(H) waiver and 212(c) relief are requested from the judge in the removal case.
Tell us where your case is. We will tell you what is still possible.
You get a free case review with an attorney, in your language. We speak English, Russian, Spanish and Uzbek in-house, and we bring in a live interpreter for anything else. We will tell you what stage you are at, which forms of relief are open to you, what your deadlines are, and whether we can help. If we cannot, we will say so.