Among the many bars to adjusting status while in the U.S., the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS") has declared that certain bars do not apply to immediate relatives, and therefore are not a barrier to the adjustment process. One common bar to adjustment is the accrual of unlawful presence. If you have remained in the U.S. without legal status, you typically must request a waiver from the government in order to adjust; however, as an immediate relative, the USCIS will look past your unlawful presence and allow you to adjust status, so long as you are otherwise eligible. Although the USCIS has limited which bars do not apply to immediate relatives, there are still other bases, grounds of inadmissibility and factors that can hold up the adjustment process and prevent these individuals from obtaining a greencard.
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