Have you spent more than 180 days in the U.S. without lawful status since you turned 18?
In short
**More than 180 days but less than one year of unlawful presence = 3-year bar** under INA § 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(I). **One year or more = 10-year bar** under INA § 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(II). Both attach at the moment of *departure* from the U.S. The fix is the I-601A provisional unlawful-presence waiver, requiring proof of *extreme hardship* (a higher standard than ordinary hardship) to a U.S. citizen or LPR spouse or parent — not to the beneficiary, not to the children.Context & Examples
Real example — Adriana & Tomás, Sacramento. Adriana entered without inspection in 2009 at age 22 and has lived in California ever since. She married Tomás (USC) in 2022. Pure math: she has 16 years of unlawful presence — a clear 10-year bar will trigger at her Juárez interview.
The hardship build: Tomás has Type 1 diabetes managed at UC Davis Health and cannot relocate to a country without insulin pump infrastructure. His mother lives with them and is in early-stage Alzheimer's. We documented all of it: endocrinologist letters, country-conditions evidence on Mexican diabetes care access, geriatric-psychiatry letters on his mother's deterioration without primary caregivers. I-601A approved in 8 months.
The trap to avoid: Filing the I-130 alone, getting it approved in 11 months, scheduling the Juárez interview, and only then learning about the 10-year bar — at which point the beneficiary is already abroad and the waiver process has to happen from there. We file the waiver first, every time.
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