Imagine you’ve just married the love of your life. You’re a United States citizen. He’s from Ireland. You’ve decided that you’d like to make a life in America and contact an immigration lawyer to discuss how to go about getting a green card through marriage for your husband so that he can move to the US.
An immigration lawyer will likely discuss all the ways he can get a green card including adjustment of status (if he’s already in the US), consular processing of the spousal visa, and consular processing of a K-3 visa. The conversation comes to a screeching halt, however, when you offhandedly mention that your new hubby was charged with misrepresentation during his last attempt at entering the United States because he lied about the purpose of his visit. Now the conversation turns from how wonderful it is to be a newlywed to the need for a 601 waiver in order to get a green card through marriage.
Needing a 601 waiver to get a green card through marriage is no insignificant thing. The proper preparation of a waiver will require many hours of work on the part of both the immigration lawyer and his clients. And yes, you should hire a lawyer to prepare the waiver. If you go it alone, and get rejected, you must start all over again if you want your husband to ever be able to get his green card.