Immigration Corner | How do I reapply for a visa after a five-year ban?

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,

How can I reapply for a visitor visa after my five-year removal order has been completed?

TF

Dear TF,

Not everyone who has been removed from the United States is able to return – temporarily or permanently.

Frequently, whatever made you removable from the United States also makes you inadmissible – whether you wish to return as a visitor or as a permanent resident. Additionally, no one is entitled to a non-immigrant US visa, whether you were previously removed from the United States or not. Being removed indicates that you ran afoul of US immigration laws, and that raises the prospect that you would not be found eligible for another non-immigrant visa.

Technically, anyone can apply for a non-immigrant visa waiver in seeking permission to return to the United States. You would be required to explain the circumstances that caused your removal in your waiver, and why you would not present a danger to the citizens of the United States. A waiver is also discretionary, and the decision would rest with the consular officer and their supervisor as to whether to grant you the privilege of another US visa.

The five years that people are told they need to wait to reapply is a waiting period. It does not mean that at the end of those five years you will regain your US visa. If you apply for admission to the United States (temporary or permanent) within the five-year bar, you are required to apply for permission to apply for admission before the expiration of the five-year bar.

Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington, Esq, is a Jamaican-American attorney who practises immigration law in the United States; and family, criminal and international law in Florida. She is a mediator, and former special magistrate and hearing officer in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com