Re: Official I-601A Thread
 

Should I write and attach a statement of my own? Maybe a letter stating I came here as a child, grew up here, DACA recipient, see the U.S. as my home and etc....

Do you think this is helpful?

Re: Official I-601A Thread
 

The whole point is to show the hardship your US citizen relative will suffer without you here, so many advice not to write a letter cause it isn't about you. Having said that, my attorney made me write one, but the focus wasn't on me, but my parents' suffering.

Re: Official I-601A Thread
 

Wouldn't it be redundant to have 2 letters (one from your parents and one from you) to explain the same thing?

Re: Official I-601A Thread
 

That's the thing though. All the letters of support boil down to the same thing (how awesome of an asset you are, how much your relative is going to suffer) but from different perspectives. I took what they said and talked about it from my point of view. Obviously mine is based on my parents, but I can't imagine the letters based on spouses being that different.

Re: Official I-601A Thread
 

Remember the "hardship" requirement is cumulative so as many strong letters as you can get from people detailing the impact of you not being HERE with your spouse is a good thing. They will essentially point out the same thing but in different ways. As long as it is not a copy and paste and each letter is from a different person then it'll have a different impact. Have some talk about how financially beneficial it is for you to be here, "spiritually" as well if you are religious people, if you can get an assessment from a clinical psychologist that'll help as well. Again key word is CUMULATIVE.

Re: Official I-601A Thread
 

I wrote a statement at my lawyer's suggestion. Yes it is redundant but it will be in your own words, not your spouse's or family members. The person who gets assigned to your case has probably read hundreds of waivers, your statement may be a unique factor when looking at your application.

Re: Official I-601A Thread
 

What good is a lawyer when they can’t write your extreme hardship to convince the IO? We pay them big bucks.

Re: Official I-601A Thread
 

Does anyone want to share the outline of their personal statement?

Re: Official I-601A Thread
 

I'm not on my personal computer so I don't have my letter in front of me and wrote it months ago, but this is what I remember:

-I'm so and so.
-My parents are so and so
-Need this because it weighs heavily on my family
-My mom is medically depressed and sick
-My dad also has medical issues
- How I help my parents (help them set up stuff like payments, keep an eye on finances)
- He's the sole income earner and retiring in a couple of years (so I should start making money so I can help them out)
- Sending me back would cause them hardship cause I wouldn't be able to earn money and they would have to support me (ties to the following)
-Talk about how much of a shithole country Venezuela is (no food, no jobs, corruption, one of the most dangerous countries in the world, blah, blah, blah)
- More mental anguish cause I'd be sent back to Venezuela.
-Reiterate yet again how much my parents would suffer
- I'm an alright person.
-Give my parents some peace.
The end.

You can turn anything into a hardship, you just have to look at it from a different perspective. For example, my dad makes bank but he is indeed retiring in a couple of years, and won't be making the same amount of money, since this could change my parents' lifestyle, I gotta be around to help them out.

I do have to say that the big helpers in my case are my mom's health and the fact that I was born in Venezuela.

I've seen people use BUNION surgery as a hardship (and be approved), so as long as you make a compelling case and write it well you can talk about anything you want.

Re: Official I-601A Thread
 

How come Lawyers cannot write your 'Extreme Hardship' letter?