One of the most prevalent I-601 waivers of excludability sought for Thai fiancées and wives is the waiver of a finding of inadmissibility based upon the consular officer's presumption that the beneficiary has engaged in the practice of prostitution (or directly benefited from the fruits of prostitution) within the previous 10 years.

Many people become confused at the idea of a waiver because they believe that a waiver is an "appeal." In point of fact, a waiver is not an appeal. United States Consular Officer's decisions cannot be appealed if they are adjudicating the facts of a visa case. Thus, if a consular officer adjudicates a visa petition and decides that based upon the factual evidence presented he or she believes that it is logical to presume that the prospective visa beneficiary has enjoyed the fruits of prostitution within the past 10 years, then that presumption and subsequent finding of inadmissibility cannot be appealed.

A waiver is often mistaken for being an appeal because the waiver application is filed after the consular officer has made his or her decision. In the case of a waiver, the underlying finding of a ground of inadmissibility (presumption of engaging in prostitution) is not disputed. Conversely, the party trying to obtain a waiver is admitting that the finding of inadmissibility is correct and, in turn, asking to have the finding waived due to the fact that to not do so would cause an "extreme hardship," for the Us Citizen spouse.

A finding of "extreme hardship," may not be necessary to obtain all types of waivers of excludability. Most notably, and HIV waiver is based upon a finding that the visa seeker will have adequate private medical care and coverage in the USA that will not come from government resources. At the same time, some grounds of inadmissibility have no waiver available. Two examples of grounds of inadmissibility with no waivers are a finding that a visa seeker has fraudulently claimed US Citizenship to obtain any type of benefit in the past and also a finding that the visa beneficiary has a criminal record involving drugs (under the current law, there is a waiver if the drug conviction was for less than a certain statutorily prescribed amount of marijuana).

In order to obtain the prostitution waiver it is advisable to retain the services of a competent attorney. In order to obtain a waiver the US Citizen must show that if the waiver application is denied, then the US Citizen must move in order to make a home with the beneficiary outside of the United States. It must be shown that this situation would cause "extreme" hardship for the US Citizen. The hardship must be over and above everyday hardship and rise to a level that would put the US Citizen in a nearly unbearable situation.

Nothing in this article should be used in lieu of legal advice from a duly licensed US attorney in your jurisdiction.