Demonstrating Psychological Hardship: A Statistical Study of Psychology Evaluations in Hardship Waivers of Inadmissibility

Abstract

Psychological evaluations are routinely submitted in support of applications for “extreme hardship” waivers of inadmissibility. Yet despite widespread use, practitioners must rely on their own experience and anecdote to gauge whether such an evaluation will be worth its substantial expense to a client. Expense aside, practitioners are often skeptical about whether such evaluations will help their client prove up an application. This article uses statistical analyses of waiver decisions to answer some preliminary questions about whether psychological evaluations help waiver applicants demonstrate extreme hardship.

Keywords: immigration, psychology, hardship, I-601, waiver, inadmissibility