I-601 - Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility

The I-601 is broader, and where the applicant files differs too. The I-601A waives one ground only, unlawful presence, and is filed provisionally from inside the United States before the applicant leaves for the consular interview, so the family avoids a long separation while the case is pending. The I-601 reaches further: unlawful presence plus criminal history, immigration fraud or misrepresentation, and certain health-related grounds. It is usually filed during or after consular processing, often from abroad after an inadmissibility finding, when a wider waiver is needed. Both turn on extreme hardship to a qualifying relative, so the clinical evaluation method is the same; the difference is the range of grounds the waiver has to clear. Which form applies is the attorney's call.

The person evaluated is the qualifying relative, a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident family member, not the inadmissible applicant. The I-601 standard turns on the extreme hardship that relative would suffer, so the evaluation centers on the relative's mental health, caregiving and financial role, and the consequences of separation or relocation. When a U.S. citizen or LPR parent is the qualifying relative, the parent is who we evaluate. Which relatives qualify depends on the ground of inadmissibility, and that determination stays with the attorney. The applicant who needs the waiver is not the person evaluated.

The evaluator builds the hardship picture from three sources: the relative's own account, direct clinical observation, and standardized test results. The report ties concrete detail (sleep, work, jointly managed finances, health conditions, the relative's role in the household) to the two scenarios USCIS weighs side by side: the hardship of separation if the family is split, and the hardship of relocation if the relative leaves the United States to keep the family together.

The clinical method does not change, but the framing follows the case. The evaluation documents the qualifying relative's hardship the same way whether the underlying ground is unlawful presence, a criminal record, fraud or misrepresentation, or a health-related ground. What shifts is the surrounding context the attorney supplies. The evaluator keeps to clinical evidence about the relative and does not opine on the inadmissibility ground itself; that legal question stays with the referring attorney.

Every evaluation includes the PHQ-9 for depression and the GAD-7 for anxiety. When the history calls for it, the evaluator adds the PCL-5 with the LEC-5 for trauma, the PSS-14 for chronic stress, caregiver burden, or anticipatory hardship, and the WHODAS 2.0 to quantify functional impairment across daily-living domains. Complex cases may add Beck, PAI, or MMPI measures. Diagnostic impressions follow DSM-5-TR criteria.

A standard I-601 evaluation is $750 with a 3 to 7 business day turnaround. Expedited service is $1,050 in 48 hours, and same-day emergency service is $1,650. Complex, RFE, or supplemental cases run $750 to $1,250. Pricing is flat and published, and the client pays Kipu Terra directly for the evaluation.

Kipu Terra provides the psychosocial evaluation only. It does not prepare the waiver application, the client's personal declaration, or legal arguments about admissibility; those stay with the attorney. Questions about which grounds apply, eligibility, or filing strategy are for the referring attorney.