Misrepresentation Waiver Costs

Misrepresentation waivers can be expensive. You can view the costs of a misrepresentation waiver as belonging to three categories: government application fees, waiver package preparation costs, and attorney fees.

 Misrepresentation Waiver Government Application Fees

$585 I-601 application fee. For most applicants, there is no fee waiver available. This means that you’ll likely need to wait to submit your I-601 misrepresentation waiver application until you can include the fee with the application.

Misrepresentation Waiver Package Preparation Costs

Supporting document costs: You’ll probably have to spend some money to obtain the supporting documents needed for your waiver application. The actual cost will depend on the documents you need to collect.

Translation costs: You are required to submit English translations of any documents that are not in English. You may need to hire a translator to assist you with preparing any required translations. The actual costs will depend on the documents you need to translate and the fees charged by your translator.

Copy costs: If you’ve ever had to copy a lot of documents, you already know that copy costs can add up quickly. It is not unusual to have to copy hundreds of pages as part of preparing a good misrepresentation waiver application. No matter the cost, you should make sure that you keep a copy of your entire waiver application package.

Postage costs: You’ll need to pay for the postage costs of submitting your waiver application to the correct government office.

Expert witness fees: Not all waiver cases require the assistance of an expert witness. But an expert witness can be very helpful for certain types of waiver applications. For example, you may want to include an evaluation by a psychologist, counselor or licensed social worker to help demonstrate the emotional hardship in your case. You may also want to consider including a report by a country condition expert that explains the unique hardships of your situation because of the conditions in the foreign country where you would have to live if the waiver is not granted.

Lawyer Fees

Although you are not required to hire a misrepresentation waiver lawyer to help with your waiver application, many people decide to work with a lawyer. The information on this website and in the Immigration Waiver Guide will help you understand how an immigration lawyer may be able to help you with your waiver application. Lawyer fees will vary from lawyer to lawyer. The difficulty of the legal issues in your case will also make a difference on the lawyer fees that you may need to pay.

I strongly recommend that you focus your search for a lawyer on finding the best misrepresentation waiver lawyer for your you. It is almost always a mistake to  simply try to find the lowest lawyer fee. The knowledge and skill of your immigration lawyer are very important in a misrepesentation waiver application. Focusing on the lawyer fee may lead you to overlook the lawyer who could best represent you and give you the best chance of winning your case. Find the best misrepresentation waiver lawyers for you, and then evaluate the value that each offers for the fee quoted to you.

Other Costs Associated With The Misrepresenation Waiver Process

You may expericence other costs as part of the misrepresenation waiver process. The expenses described above do not include the costs of applying for an immigrant visa or adjustment of status. Those applications will have their own government filing fees and costs. If you are in immigration court proceedings, you may experience additional costs because of the added complexity of applications involving immigration court cases.

Assuming that your misrepresenation waiver is approved, you may also need to budget for travel costs to be able to return to the United States.