Chapter 3 - Admissibility and Waiver Requirements

Derivative asylees and derivative refugees are subject to different grounds of ineligibility. These bars and grounds of inadmissibility are summarized below.

Derivative asylees are subject to most asylum bars while derivative refugees are subject to certain grounds of inadmissibility. Both derivative asylees and refugees are subject to the persecutor bar.

A. Following-to-Join Asylee Bars to Asylum

Following-to-join asylee (FTJ-A) beneficiaries are subject to the first five asylum bars noted in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).^[1] The sixth bar regarding firm resettlement does not apply.^[2] The five applicable bars include:

• Persecution of another person on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion;^[3]
• Convicted of a particularly serious crime that makes the noncitizen a danger to the community of the United States;^[4]
• Serious reasons to believe the noncitizen has committed a serious non-political crime outside of the United States before the noncitizen arrived in the United States;^[5]
• Reasonable grounds for regarding the noncitizen as a danger to the security of the United States;^[6] and
• All terrorism-related inadmissibility grounds (TRIG) in INA 212(a)(3)(B)(i)(I) - (IV), INA 212(a)(3)(B)(i)(VI) and INA 237(a)(4)(B) (encompassing all TRIG except for INA 212(a)(3)(B)(i)(V)), unless in the case of a noncitizen described in INA 212(a)(3)(B)(i)(IV), the Attorney General determines in their discretion that there are not reasonable grounds for regarding the noncitizen as a danger to the security of the United States.^[7]

B. Following-to-Join Refugee Grounds of Inadmissibility and Waivers

Following-to-join refugee (FTJ-R) beneficiaries must not have ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in the persecution of another, and must be otherwise admissible as an immigrant.^[8] A few exemptions to admissibility requirements apply and FTJ-R beneficiaries may seek a waiver for other applicable inadmissibility grounds.

1. Exemptions

The following grounds of inadmissibility do not apply to refugees, including derivatives:

• Public charge;^[9]
• Labor certification;^[10] and
• Documentation for immigrants.^[11]

2. Applicable Inadmissibility Grounds

• Health-related;^[12]
• Crime-related;^[13]
• Security-related;^[14]
• Illegal entrants and immigration violators;^[15]
• Ineligibility for citizenship;^[16]
• Noncitizens previously removed;^[17] and
• Miscellaneous.^[18]

3. Waivers

USCIS may waive all applicable inadmissibility grounds listed above for humanitarian purposes, to assure family unity, or when it is in the public interest, except for controlled substance traffickers^[19] and security-related grounds.^[20]

Footnotes

[^ 1] See INA 208(b)(2)(A)(i)-(v). See 8 CFR 208.21(a).

[^ 2] See INA 208(b)(2)(A)(vi).

[^ 3] See INA 208(b)(2)(A)(i).

[^ 4] See INA 208(b)(2)(A)(ii).

[^ 5] See INA 208(b)(2)(A)(iii).

[^ 6] See INA 208(b)(2)(A)(iv).

[^ 7] See INA 208(b)(2)(A)(v). See the Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds (TRIG) webpage.

[^ 8] See INA 207(c)(2)(A).

[^ 9] See INA 212(a)(4).

[^ 10] See INA 212(a)(5).

[^ 11] See INA 212(a)(7)(A).

[^ 12] See INA 212(a)(1).

[^ 13] See INA 212(a)(2).

[^ 14] See INA 212(a)(3).

[^ 15] See INA 212(a)(6).

[^ 16] See INA 212(a)(8).

[^ 17] See INA 212(a)(9).

[^ 18] See INA 212(a)(10).

[^ 19] See INA 212(a)(2)(C).

[^ 20] See INA 212(a)(3)(A), INA 212(a)(3)(B), INA 212(a)(3)(C), and INA 212(a)(3)(E).