I-601 Waiver

In 1996 an Indian National was brought to the U.S. by a smuggler who made arrangements for him to fly to the Dominican Republic. After he arrived in the Dominican Republic he boarded a boat that was loaded with other smuggled passengers, which was to sail to Puerto Rico. Once they arrived in Puerto Rico the U.S. Border Patrol observed the boat and its passengers. After setting foot on the beach the Border Patrol immediately approached the passengers and apprehended all the smugglers and the passengers. While searching the boat the Border Patrol found large quantities of illegal drugs and everyone was arrested and charged with criminal possession and transportation of narcotics. While being held at the Federal Prison awaiting the criminal charges, the U.S. Attorney realized that my client had nothing to do with the alleged possession and transportation of the narcotics found on the boat. As a result the criminal charges were eventually dropped and the individual was turned over to the custody of the immigration authorities. After his release he was scheduled for a Immigration Court hearing but he did not appear and was Deported in 2002. The alien then married a U.S. citizen and retained a lawyer to reopen the Immigration Court Proceedings. The motion filed was denied. Approximately three years later the alien divorced his wife. In 2006 he was arrested for selling untaxed cigarettes in a store he worked at. He was criminally charged and given a fine. In 2008 the individual met another woman, an Indian National who was also a U.S. Citizen whom he later married. They lived together as husband and wife and she gave birth to a U.S. citizen child. In the spring of 2010 the Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents came to his home and arrested and Deported the Indian National. He was held approximately for three weeks in Atlanta Georgia and subsequently removed from the U.S. When Mr. Nicelli Esq., was retained the individual had already been deported and his current wife had not filed anything on his behalf. Mr. Nicelli then filed a Visa Petition on behalf of the aliens U.S. citizen wife which was later approved. At the time of the interview an I-601 waiver was filed based on the extreme and unusual hardship his wife would suffer by his absence and trying to raise a child as a single mother. The application was approved and early 2011 the individual was granted his Permanent Residence. He now continues to live with his wife and child and has started his own business, a Grocery Store in North Carolina.