AAO Extreme Hardship Waiver Victory: Pakistan

"The AAO finds the record to establish that the applicant's spouse would experience extreme hardship if she were to relocate to Pakistan to reside with the applicant due to his inadmissibility. The applicant's spouse has lived in the United States for more than 20 years, becoming a U.S. citizen in 2004, and has strong family ties in the United States. She states that she fears that health care in Pakistan is substandard and inadequate and that mental health issues are largely ignored. She further states that she fears the violence and anti-Americanism in Pakistan in addition to discrimination against woman that could make it difficult for her to obtain employment. She also states that she fears women are a prime target of attacks by Islamic fundamentalists and that she does not follow traditional rules for women. As such, the record reflects that the cumulative effect of the qualifying spouse's family ties and length of residence in the United States, her health and safety concerns, and loss of employment if she were to relocate, rises to the level of extreme. ... The favorable factors in this matter are the hardships the applicant's United States citizen spouse would face if the applicant is not granted this waiver, his long-time employment, and his support from members of his community in the United States. The unfavorable factors in this matter are the applicant's 1995 criminal conviction and a 1993 fraudulent asylum application. Although the applicant's violations of the immigration laws are serious, the positive factors in this case outweigh the negative factors. Given the passage of time since the applicant's violations of immigration law, the AAO finds that a favorable exercise of discretion is warranted." - Matter of X-, Feb. 28, 2014.  [Hats off to Usman B. Ahmad!]