Fee Waiver

[Chica Yeyé 41]

I agree with you in that unemployment is something a lot of us are not ready to face. 100% agreed. However, if you enter the immigration process, you know exactly how much money you will need. And you have to be prepared to at least cover those expenses. They and -and should- try for the waiver, but be prepared for a and have a backup plan..

[rebeccajo 14]

I've read posts before of people getting the fees waived.

do you remember the grounds for waiver?

No, sorry to say I don't.

One would assume that where somebody got the AOS fee waived, there were other qualifying (humanitarian or extreme hardship?) factors that outweighed the public charge issue. The guidance doesn't say that applying for a fee waiver for public charge provision forms is impossible, it simply 'reminds' the applicant of the requirement. I think ultimately all fee waivers are at the individual discretion of USCIS aren't they?

Yes.

[rebeccajo 14]

I agree with you in that unemployment is something a lot of us are not ready to face. 100% agreed. However, if you enter the immigration process, you know exactly how much money you will need. And you have to be prepared to at least cover those expenses. They and -and should- try for the waiver, but be prepared for a and have a backup plan..

We had saved up for Wes' adjustment before he arrived. Some people make the necessary plans - some don't. It sounds to me like this guy might have had a good enough job that he could afford the adjustment on his wages but now - no luck.

Even if you make plans, the best plans have a way of falling down. Wes and I have paid all his fees so far. Citizenship is available to him in January. But he's out of work now. No affidavit of support is necessary for citizenship. If he can get his citizenship, there will be more job opportunities for him (we have a MAJOR branch of the US government here in our town). I'm seriously thinking of sending in his N-400 with a request for the waiver of fees based on his unemployment should he still be out of work at that time.

[William33 110]

The OP asked a serious question, which should garner a serious response. Please keep personal opinions and other rhetoric to yourself.

Thanks,

William

[Dakine 26]

Seems to me people that apply for a fee waiver are playing with fire and may get burnt!

On one hand the petitioner should be trying to show how well he can support the beneficiary but on the other hand the petitioner has to show how broke he is so he can get a fee waiver.

2 plus 2 my not equal 4!

[Aubrey 10]

@ OP:

We applied for a fee waiver with our AOS and had everything returned to us for lack of required fees. They don't give you a reason for it, just they return it all to you and you get to start over again.

We had to try. I was unable to get a FT job where we were living and not covering our rent/food/essentials with that job, and were finally forced to move so that I could find FT work. I mailed in all sorts of financial docs showing that we are BROKE but obviously it didn't matter. Our debt is ridiculous right now, thanks to a depressed economy and USCIS.

I was in contact with a VJ member who did have success with her fee waiver (Glorya). From what I've read, it's up to the descretion of the officer looking at your case... so it seems like "luck of the draw" applies here. Be sure that if you do a fee waiver request (it can't hurt other than delaying your case and the mailing cost), be sure to mark in LARGE PRINT "FEE WAIVER REQUEST" on the front of your package. Apparently, people are often denied because the officer doesn't realize it's a fee waiver request (and perhaps too lazy to fumble through a cover letter and papers to notice).

@ the others:

It's a legitimate question and situation. In case you haven't noticed, it's a down economy, unemployment is near 10% and underemployment (people forced to work PT) is much higher. Telling people they should know to prepare is unreasonable when you don't know the circumstances. The FT job I found is only seasonal and it had 120 APPLICANTS! IE it's not easy to find work, and people are still being laid off daily. And we aren't eligible for any public assistance because of USCIS. So don't tell me to "be prepared" when the down economy came long after we started our K-1 process.

[JERIII 8]

I've read posts before of people getting the fees waived.

do you remember the grounds for waiver?

No, sorry to say I don't.

One would assume that where somebody got the AOS fee waived, there were other qualifying (humanitarian or extreme hardship?) factors that outweighed the public charge issue. The guidance doesn't say that applying for a fee waiver for public charge provision forms is impossible, it simply 'reminds' the applicant of the requirement. I think ultimately all fee waivers are at the individual discretion of USCIS aren't they?

On the page referenced above, there is another link to the Field Guidance on Fee Waivers. In that, it says that a waiver is available for the I-485 only under a very limited set of circumstances:

• An alien in lawful nonimmigrant “T” status (victims of human trafficking), under section 101(a)(15)(T) of the Act;

• “U” status (victims of violent crime who assist in the prosecution), under section 101(a)(15) (U) of the Act;

• An asylee applying for adjustment of status under section 209(B) of the Act;

• An approved self-petitioning battered or abused spouse or child of a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA); or

• An alien to whom section 212(a)(4) of the Act, excludability due likelihood of becoming a public charge, does not apply, including:

o Applications for Special Immigrant-Juveniles; or

o Applications based on the Cuban Adjustment Act, Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act (HRIFA), and the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA).

Although USCIS always has discretion to waive, the guidance makes it clear that the waiver is generally not available to "ordinary" adjusters, merely on the basis of inability to pay.

[Kittykisses73 1]

I don't know who took a wee in your cheerios today, but what happened to this site being about helping each other out??? There is enough stress in this process without people being nasty. They asked a question, they need an answer, NOT people being unkind & rude! Hope you have a lovely day!

Anyone here tried the Fee Waiver? how does it work? what are the documents i needed to prove that we can't afford to pay for the AOS?

Just got married last Sept.4 and my I 94 will expired this Oct. 26,my husband used to work in the Wind Turbine Company but currently

they don't have work anymore for some reason guess its really because of the bad economy right now,and we didn't

expected all this to happened.Anyway i have my 2 kids with me

they were in K2 Visa. Plus another fee for me,im so sad,depressed and worried that i am gonna be out of status if we dont file for it soon.

Anyway, My husband trying really hard to find a new job,send a bunch of resume online everyday but no luck yet.

while he is at it, find a joint sponsor because if he doesn't have a job and a way to support you (or a joint sponsor) then you are going bye-bye anyway and you may as well save the AOS fee. I suggest your husband find a co-sponsor and borrow the money

[vfrflyboy 0]

Hi Jowayne

This actually happened to one of my customers,

he got laidoff in the k-1 process and the clock was ticking.

1st, some of these post/replies dont listen to them.

they dont know what there talking about.

I wont promise anything, but here what you do

No special forms needed, ask for the fee to be waived.

In MS word write a letter to the service center you are dealing with.

Tell them YOUR situation, send proof (documentation) that no income.

Be Very personal in your letter, copy/paste a picture of you and your spouse

on this letter (and children too) {by doing this , your putting a face to with the words}

Also send copies of documents so USCIS know what your taking about.

This letter should be the best letter you have ever wrote!

This worked for the person I am talking about.

He paid nothing..... his job did called him back to work.

He and his wife are doing great now.

Nothing to lose...............everything to gain

Only cost some time and a few bucks to mail (alway mail cert.)

Hope this helps.

[NCWife 0]

My husband and I are one of the people that waited reallllllllly long to file for AOS. We did save the money for AOS but because of bad timing, my husband's auto business was going down the drain last August. His family in Michigan wasn't doing too great either to co-sponsor for us and close friends were getting laid off.... We had to use the savings we had to pay for rent, food, and stuff that are more important than AOS at that time. I have only filed for AOS just last month, one year overdue. It was not a choice, more like something we had to do.

As for the OP, try to find a co-sponsor for your AOS while researching about the fee waiver thing. Not much advice I can offer you but I wish you all the best and good luck.

Cheers...

I've read posts before of people getting the fees waived.

do you remember the grounds for waiver?

No, sorry to say I don't.

It sounds to me from the original post like the OP and her husband are trying to do the right thing - they want to adjust her status as soon as possible, rather than waiting around till he is gainfully employed again. How many times have we read of people waiting realllllllllllllllllly long times to file using the excuse of finances? At least this couple realizes the importance of getting it done as soon as possible.

There are a lot of people losing work right now through no fault of their own. If the sponsor has been gainfully employed and can show a last years tax return over the necessary poverty figure the affidavit MIGHT fly. If it doesn't, but the waiver of fees is accepted, they will be RFE'd for a joint sponsor. It really cannot hurt to try.

[Glorya 0]

Hiya,

Don't worry about what these people are saying, most of them are clueless and sentimental anyway. I know all too good what it feels like to lose income and go from making decent living to barely surviving off unemployment benefits. Nobody can plan that in advance, especially not with the high cost of living nowadays. That's why I'm back in school spending money I don't have so I could be able to make a lot of it someday lol.

Unfortunately, I don't have good news for you. I got the fee waiver approved in 2006, just before they changed the waiver policies. I just noticed on the USCIS website that as of 2007, it seems that every family based AOS fee waiver will be denied by default unless you belong in one of the categories specified by the USCIS' field guidance (like battered ladies, trafficking victims, refugees.) I don't know exactly why, but I suspect this has to do with their fear of people becoming public burden. Read more about it here: http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/FeeWaiver072007.pdf

Sorry about that. When we applied, we were making just enough to pay our bills. We were also making enough to qualify for their sponsorship requirements, so they approved my petition without a problem. Fee waiver was never questioned during two of my green card interviews.

Again, I'm sorry but things will find the way to work themselves out.

Good luck!

Glorija