Need your input - Page 4

My company has also sponsored me and my i-140 has already been approved. I am also doing consular processing. I have accumulated unlawful presence, and thus I need to get an i-601a waiver approved before going for a consular processing.

Sounds like you'll need an i-601a waiver as well or else they will not approve your petition during your interview. Sure you'll be able to come back through AP, but you won't get your greencard approved during the consular processing stage.

Lawyers love to file for shit just to get money from your company. Even if they know it won't work. There are also many incompetent lawyers so you really have to be careful.

That is very interesting and aligns with what the law firm said..

To update people here.. I synced with the lawyer and was told the following.

Basically, there are two avenues to pursue my change of status, both carry a certain level of risk. And these are the only two options for me given that I don't have any qualifying relatives to sponsor me, I entered without inspection, and I accrued illegal presence

1. Perm Certification + i-140 w/ consular visit
The idea here is to try to get AP to clear my EWI so that when my i-140 gets approved, there is less of a risk of the consular officer deciding to apply the 10 year ban. However, this is entirely up to the discretion of the consular officer.

2. Sponsorship through H1B plus AP plus a 'waiver of inadmissibility'
The idea here is that because the company is willing to go to battle for me on sponsorship, we can file an H1B request accompanied by a waiver of inadmissibility which doesn't void the ten year ban but basically enables you to serve that bar while still being in the US; I need to research this one a bit more.

Anyway, it sounds like there is risk to both and eventually it's my decision to pursue one or the other.

@Demise to confirm...

@Phanu9000, let's chat

---
It doesn't look like I can use the waiver you are using. I do have US Citizen kids. But the waiver clearly says you can't do that:

NOTE to parents of a U.S. citizen or LPR child: A U.S. citizen or LPR child is not a qualifying relative for the purpose
of showing extreme hardship in this application. USCIS will not consider extreme hardship experienced by your U.S.
citizen or LPR children except to the extent that it affects the extreme hardship your U.S. citizen or LPR spouse or parent
would experience

DM me if you want me, @someone does nothing on this site.

1. That's not possible. AP is only used as an extra layer of security if some other matter of inadmissibility were to pop up (e.g. you got an I-601A for unlawful presence and then it came up in the wash that you are inadmissible for some other reason). AP lets you still come back and get paroled back in if a visa were denied. AP clearing EWI only applies in cases of AOS as an immediate relative of a US Citizen (parent, spouse, or unmarried child under 21), in all other cases the prior unlawful presence or status violations still make you ineligible to adjust. Also, you can't use 245(k) because parole is not admission for purposes of 245(k). Also, finally, whether or not to apply the 10 year ban is not up to the discretion of the consular officer. Were they cases where they screwed up, failed to notice it, issued a visa, someone got admitted on the visa, and finally likely needed an 237(a)(1)(H) waiver to not get deported once someone later caught on? Sure, but that's the severe exception and far from the rule especially these days.

2. 212(d)(3) waiver is an option but it's a long shot. Moreover, the 10 year bar stays for purposes of AOS and the problem with H-1B is that it can only be issued for a total of 6 years under most circumstances. There are certain circumstances where it can be extended further under AC21 but that requires the EB petition to be backlogged for your country of origin, so unless you're Indian you really can't use it. So by the time the 6th year comes around you'd need a change of status to something else and it might become tricky. If you marry a USC you can AOS by filing I-485 and I-601 concurrently after an admission via an 212(d)(3) waiver.

Correct, you cannot do I-601 or I-601A using USC or LPR children. You can use them for cancellation of removal and that's about it.