Form I-601 - Application for a Waiver of Ground of Inadmissibility

Filing the Application

In certain circumstances, applicants who have been found ineligible for an immigrant visa under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) may file an  Application for Waiver of Ground of Inadmissibility (Form I-601).

Jurisdiction for adjudicating the I-601 Application

The London Field Office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has jurisdiction for adjudicating I-601 applications filed in the following countries: (1) Denmark; (2) Finland; (3) Iceland; (4) Republic of Ireland; (5) Norway; (6) Sweden; and (7) the United Kingdom.

For applicants residing in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Republic of Ireland, Norway, and Sweden, the I-601, Extreme Hardship Statements (PDF - 13Kb) are filed with the Consular Officer at the Embassy where the beneficiary of the petition applied for the Immigrant Visa.  The Consular Officer will then review the application for the waiver and all the required supporting documentation and forward it to USCIS Field Office London for adjudication.

For applicants who reside in the United Kingdom; the I-601 and all supporting documentation must be mailed to the London Field Office using the following checklist to file your I-601; they contain easy-to-follow detailed instructions.

• I-601 Checklist for applicants residing in the United Kingdom (PDF - 70Kb)
  

Forms

• Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility (Form I-601)
• Application for Permission to Reapply for Admission into the United States After Deportation or Removal (Form I-212)
• E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance
  (although instructions on the form relates to the Lockbox filing, please use this form to advise the London Field Office of your email address so that we can properly notify you of your filing of the I-601)
  
• Biographic Information (Form G-325A - PDF, 570Kb)
• Extreme Hardship Statements (PDF, 50Kb)
  
• Credit Card Payment Form (only for U.S. Consulate in London - PDF, 35Kb)

Tracking the status of your I-601 On-Line

Upon receipt of the I-601, USCIS will send a postcard to the applicant confirming when the I-601 was filed with the USCIS Field Office London.   Applicants can track the status of their pending I-601 applications submitted to this office for adjudication. Applicants will need their Immigrant Visa Case Number, (e.g. LND2005 000000, STK2005 000000) to be able to use this service.

• Check the Status of I-601's (PDF - 16Kb)
  
  

Processing Times

Upon receipt of the I-601, USCIS will send a postcard to the applicant confirming when the I-601 was filed with the USCIS London Sub-office. We ask that you please refrain from contacting this office for status checks while your application is pending. Your cooperation will help us ensure that we maintain our exceptional processing times.

If the waiver is approved, USCIS will send the approval notification to the appropriate Embassy for issuance of the immigrant visa.  If the waiver is denied, the applicant will be notified in writing of that decision and the immigrant visa will not be issued.

Request to Expedite I-601

• All requests to expedite will be reviewed within five (5) business days of receipt of the request and, if the decision is to approve the request to expedite, the applicant or attorney or record (if so designated) will be notified within ten (10) business days of receipt of the request.
• In particular urgent cases, this office will make every effort to notify the applicant or attorney of record (if so designated) as soon as the decision to expedite has been made.
• Because of limited overseas resources and concerns that responding to all requests to expedite will divert those limited resources from timely adjudicating all applications, this office will not provide negative responses to requests to expedite
• Therefore, applicants who do not receive a response to their request to expedite within fifteen (15) days from the the date of notice of receipt of the request, their request to expedite should be presumed to be denied.