February 22-- The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service has temporarily suspended the process for the I-601 provisional hardship waiver until it finalizes changes to the program’s procedures with the publication of a final rule in the Final Register denoting the effective date.  The I-601 provisional waiver allows immediate relatives such as spouses and children of U.S. citizens seeking entry to the U.S. to overcome bars of inadmissibility through the demonstration of “extreme hardship” due to separation from their U.S. citizen relative.

USCIS intends to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking on the procedure for hardship waivers and welcomes public comments on the matter before a final rulemaking. Because these procedures are now in moratorium, the USCIS advises persons requesting a provisional waiver to hold off on submitting such requests until the process change becomes effective.

The USCIS still encourages persons with scheduled immigrant visas interviews at consular offices abroad to attend, as the Department of State may cancel the immigrant visa registration if the applicant fails to appear at the interview.