For many immigrant families, becoming a legal citizen is not an impossible feat, but it could be a heart-wrenchingly difficult one. This is because in most circumstances, immigrants need to return to their home country in order to obtain a visa which will allow them to come back into the United States legally. This is because travelling relatives who remain in the United States on a visa for over six months are typically considered an unlawful presence. Under the existing laws, all immigrants who apply for another visa so that they can remain in the United States legally must travel back to their country of origin for an interview as well as for some of the paperwork process.

Travelling back to their homeland can cause immigrants a lot of strife. Once there to apply for a visa, there may be a waiting period where they will need to be separated from their families. This waiting period is not typically a few days, or even a week or two, but can last years in some countries. As a result, parents never get to see their beloved children grow up as the make the effort to obtain a visa that will allow them to be near their loved ones.

This tragic situation causes untold amounts of sadness all across the United States as parents hesitantly board the plane to their homeland with no idea when they will see their families again. Because of this saddening and difficult issue, the Secretary of Homeland Security is looking into ways to minimize the amount of separation for families that are applying for their U.S. visa overseas. According to reports, there will be a new rule posted in the Federal Register that will reduce the amount oftentimes that United States citizens can be separated from their illegal immigrant relatives. If you have American citizen family members and want to seek citizenship, then you will be able to use these new statutes to shorten the time that you will be forced to remain in your homeland.

The new rules will only have to do with immediate family members of American citizens. This means that you must have a child, spouse, parent, brother, or sister who is an American citizen in order to qualify for the special exceptions. If you have a cousin, aunt, uncle, or grandparent this may not be considered immediate enough for the special cases. Those who meet this qualification have the right to apply for a provisional unlawful presence waiver. This is a waiver that will allow these men and women to return to the United States while still in the midst of the immigration or visa application process. They can come back to America undocumented and complete the visa process from the United States.

Since the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services announced this new movement for families who are applying for visas, they have received more than 4,000 comments from men and women of differing opinions. The USCIS took all l of these comments into consideration as they crafted this new statute, and then legalized the action. The law will help to avoid extreme hardship for U.S. citizens who would struggle as they missed their immediate family members during the periods of separation. The USCIS believes that there is no reason why American citizens should suffer when the pain can be avoided. The waiver provision will officially go into effect on March 4th, 2013. If you believe that you may qualify for this privilege, then you will want to file a Form 1-601A at the Department State’s National Visa Center. Talk to a local immigration lawyer if you want more information about this special waiver or believe that you apply for the process.