Complete Guide to Form I-212
A complete field-by-field guide to applying for permission to reapply for admission after deportation or removal, including INA 212(a)(9)(A), certain INA 212(a)(9)(C) cases, removal history, unlawful presence, reentry history, family ties, discretionary factors, CBP filing information and supporting evidence.
Before You Start: Identify Why Permission to Reapply Is Required
Form I-212 is used when prior removal, deportation, exclusion or certain unlawful reentry history makes advance permission to reapply for admission necessary. The exact rule depends on your immigration history.
Approval gives consent to reapply for admission for the applicable inadmissibility ground. It does not automatically waive a separate criminal, fraud, unlawful-presence or other inadmissibility ground.
Information About You
Alien Registration Number — A-Number
Enter your A-Number if one has been assigned. Use the number shown on your immigration or removal records.
Your Full Legal Name
Enter your Family Name, Given Name and Middle Name exactly according to your current legal identity records.
GIVEN NAME: EMMA
MIDDLE NAME: SOPHIE
Other Names Used
List all other names you have ever used, including aliases, maiden names, former legal names and nicknames.
Mailing Address, Physical Address and Identity Information
Mailing Address
If you are outside the United States, provide a U.S. mailing address if available. If none is available, provide your foreign mailing address.
Is Your Mailing Address the Same as Your Physical Address?
U.S. Social Security Number
Enter your U.S. Social Security Number if one has been issued.
USCIS Online Account Number
Enter your USCIS Online Account Number if one has been assigned.
Sex
Date and Place of Birth
Provide your date of birth, city or town of birth, state or province if applicable and country of birth.
Country of Citizenship or Nationality
Provide your current country of citizenship or nationality.
Immigrant Visa or Adjustment of Status Information
Department of State Consular Case Number
Provide the DOS consular case number if available.
U.S. Embassy or Consulate
Provide the city or town and country of the U.S. Embassy or Consulate where the visa application is being or will be processed.
Adjustment of Status Application
Provide the USCIS receipt number, filing location and filing date for the adjustment application.
Form I-601 Information
Are You Submitting Form I-601 With Form I-212?
I-212 is consent to reapply after specified removal or reentry history. I-601 is a waiver application for qualifying grounds of inadmissibility. A case can sometimes require both.
Reasons You Are Filing Form I-212
The form separates different inadmissibility grounds. Select the ground that actually matches your immigration history.
Removal as an Arriving Alien
Were You Removed as an Arriving Alien?
This includes applicable expedited removal under INA 235(b)(1) or removal at the end of INA 240 proceedings as an arriving alien.
One Removal — Less Than Five Years Ago
Select the applicable box when you were removed only once as an arriving alien and the last removal occurred less than five years ago.
Two or More Removals
Select when you have been removed two or more times and your last removal was less than 20 years ago.
Aggravated Felony
Indicate if you were convicted of an aggravated felony in the United States or abroad before or after removal.
Do not decide whether an offense qualifies merely from the ordinary name of the crime.
Date and Location of Removal
Provide the removal date, city or town and state from which you were removed.
Removal as a Deportable Alien
Removal or Departure While Removal Order Was Outstanding
Select Yes when you were removed under INA 240 or another applicable provision, or departed while an order of removal was outstanding.
One Removal — Less Than Ten Years Ago
Select the applicable box when you have only one qualifying removal and it occurred less than ten years ago.
Multiple Removals — Less Than Twenty Years
Select when you were removed two or more times and your most recent removal occurred less than 20 years ago.
Aggravated Felony
Disclose applicable aggravated-felony convictions and provide the required information in Part 9.
Date and Location of Removal
Provide each relevant exclusion, deportation or removal date and the location from which you were removed.
Entry or Attempted Entry After More Than One Year of Aggregate Unlawful Presence
Did You Enter or Attempt to Enter Without Admission or Parole?
This section applies when, after accumulating more than one year of unlawful presence in the aggregate on or after April 1, 1997, you later entered or attempted to enter the United States without being admitted or paroled.
Periods of Unlawful Presence
List every applicable period of unlawful presence, beginning with the most recent. Include periods when you overstayed an authorized stay where those periods count under the law.
Departure After Unlawful Presence
Provide the date and location of the departure following the unlawful-presence period.
Reentry or Attempted Reentry
Provide the location and date of the later entry or attempted entry without admission or parole.
The current form asks applicants under this ground to provide evidence that they remained outside the United States for ten years after the last departure before requesting consent to reapply, subject to the specific legal rules that apply.
Entry or Attempted Entry After Removal
Did You Enter or Attempt to Enter Without Admission After Removal?
All Prior Removal Dates
List every applicable date on which you were excluded, deported or removed.
Later Entry or Attempted Entry
Provide the city or town, state and date of the later entry or attempted entry.
Reasons for Your Request for Permission to Reapply
What Immigration Status Will You Seek?
Explain Why You Want to Reenter the United States
Explain the genuine reason you are seeking permission to return. Connect the request to your immigration process, family ties, employment, education, or other actual circumstances.
I am requesting permission to reapply for admission so that I may complete my lawful immigrant visa process and reunite with my qualifying family in the United States.
U.S. Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident Family Members
Relative's Full Legal Name
Provide the Family Name, Given Name and Middle Name of each relevant U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident family member.
GIVEN NAME: JOHN
MIDDLE NAME: ALEXANDER
Relationship
State the actual relationship, such as spouse, parent, son, daughter or another family relationship.
Relative's Immigration Status
Biographic Information
Ethnicity
Race
Select every race category that applies.
Height and Weight
Enter height in feet and inches and weight in pounds.
Eye Color and Hair Color
Select the applicable eye-color and hair-color options.
Additional Information if Filing With CBP
This section requests a much more detailed address, employment and marital history.
Physical Address History for the Last 10 Years
Current Physical Address
Begin with your current residence. Provide the full physical address and the dates you lived there.
Previous Physical Addresses
List every place you physically lived during the previous ten years, inside or outside the United States.
Employment History for the Last 5 Years
Employer or Company Name
List your current or most recent employer first, then continue backward for the required five-year period.
Employer Address
Provide the employer's complete address, including city, state or province, postal code and country.
Occupation and Dates of Employment
State your occupation and the beginning and ending dates of the employment. Mark the current job appropriately where applicable.
Information About Your Current Marriage
Current Spouse's Full Legal Name
If currently married, provide the current spouse's complete legal name.
Current Spouse's A-Number
Provide the spouse's A-Number if one has been assigned.
Date of Birth and Date of Marriage
Provide the spouse's date of birth and your legal marriage date.
Spouse's Place of Birth
Provide city or town, state or province where applicable, and country of birth.
Place of Marriage
Provide the city or town, state or province and country where the current marriage took place.
Information About Prior Marriages
Prior Spouse's Legal Name
If previously married, provide the prior spouse's legal name, including the family name before marriage where requested.
Prior Spouse's Date of Birth
Provide the prior spouse's date of birth.
Date and Place of Marriage
Provide the date and location where the prior marriage took place.
Date and Place Marriage Legally Ended
Provide the legal termination date and location for divorce, annulment or another applicable termination.
Applicant Contact Information, Certification and Signature
Daytime Telephone Number
Provide your current daytime telephone number.
Mobile Telephone Number
Provide your mobile telephone number if applicable.
Email Address
Provide your current email address if applicable.
Applicant Certification
By signing, you certify under penalty of perjury that the responses and information submitted are complete, true and correct.
Applicant Signature and Date
An incomplete application or missing required documentation can result in denial.
Interpreter Contact Information, Certification and Signature
Interpreter Full Name
Provide the interpreter's Family Name and Given Name.
Business or Organization
Provide the interpreter's business or organization name where applicable.
Telephone and Email
Provide the interpreter's daytime telephone, mobile number and email address where applicable.
Interpreter Certification
The interpreter certifies fluency in English and the language used to interpret the application, then signs and dates the section.
Preparer Contact Information, Declaration and Signature
Preparer Full Name
Provide the preparer's Family Name and Given Name.
Business or Organization
Provide the preparer's business or organization name where applicable.
Telephone and Email
Provide daytime telephone, mobile telephone and email information where applicable.
Preparer Certification and Signature
The preparer certifies that the application was prepared at the applicant's request using information supplied or authorized by the applicant, then signs and dates the section.
Additional Information
Applicant Name and A-Number
Provide your identifying information at the top of each additional-information page.
Page Number, Part Number and Item Number
Identify exactly which question each continuation or explanation relates to.
PART NUMBER: 2
ITEM NUMBER: 14
Additional Sheets
If additional pages are necessary, place your name and A-Number at the top, identify the related page, part and item, and sign and date each additional sheet as required.
Supporting Evidence and Final Checks
Removal and Deportation Records
Provide relevant removal orders, expedited removal records, immigration-court decisions, departure records and other documentation establishing your immigration history.
Entry and Departure Evidence
Where relevant, provide passport records, I-94 records, travel history, border records and evidence showing dates outside the United States.
Evidence of Ten Years Outside the United States
Provide reliable records demonstrating the applicable continuous period outside the United States after the relevant departure.
Criminal Records
Provide official police records and court records required by the instructions. The current instructions state that official police records from relevant countries generally must be recent enough to satisfy the filing requirements.
Evidence of Family Ties
Provide birth certificates, marriage certificates, proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residence, and other documents establishing relevant family relationships.
Evidence of Rehabilitation
Where applicable, provide evidence of rehabilitation, law-abiding conduct, treatment, community involvement and responsible conduct since the adverse immigration or criminal history.
Evidence of Hardship
Where hardship is a favorable discretionary factor, provide reliable medical, financial, family and other evidence showing the actual consequences of continued inadmissibility.
Other Favorable Discretionary Factors
USCIS or CBP weighs favorable and unfavorable circumstances. Provide evidence supporting genuine positive factors such as family ties, rehabilitation, length of lawful residence, employment, community ties and other circumstances relevant to your case.
Explain adverse immigration or criminal history accurately and address why favorable factors should outweigh the negative factors.
Legal Name Change Evidence
If your name changed, include applicable marriage certificates, divorce decrees, adoption decrees, naturalization records or court orders.
Foreign-Language Documents
Every foreign-language document submitted must include a complete English translation and the required translator certification.
Final Review Before Filing
A-Number
Full legal name
Every other name used
Mailing address
Physical address
Social Security Number if applicable
USCIS Online Account Number
Sex
Date and place of birth
Citizenship or nationality
DOS case number if applicable
Embassy or Consulate location
I-485 receipt information if applicable
I-601 filing information
Correct INA 212(a)(9)(A) or 212(a)(9)(C) basis
Every removal date
Every removal location
Aggravated felony information if applicable
Every unlawful-presence period
Departure after unlawful presence
Later unlawful entry or attempted entry
Requested immigration status
Reason for wanting to return
U.S. citizen and LPR relatives
Biographic information
CBP Part 5 if applicable
10-year address history for CBP filing
5-year employment history for CBP filing
Current marriage information for CBP filing
Prior marriage information for CBP filing
Applicant telephone and email
Applicant signature and date
Interpreter section if applicable
Preparer section if applicable
Additional-information pages
Removal and travel records
Criminal and police records
Family relationship evidence
Rehabilitation evidence
Discretionary evidence
Certified English translations
Form I-212 must reflect your actual removal history, unlawful presence, entries and attempted entries, criminal history, family ties, intended immigration status and supporting evidence.