Applications for exercise of discretion relating to T nonimmigrant status.
8 C.F.R. § 212.16
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01(a) Requesting the waiver. An alien requesting a waiver of inadmissibility under section 212(d)(3)(B) or (d)(13) of the Act must submit a waiver form as designated by USCIS in accordance with 8 CFR 103.2.
(b) Treatment of waiver request. USCIS, in its discretion, may grant a waiver request based on section 212(d)(13) of the Act of the applicable ground(s) of inadmissibility, except USCIS may not waive a ground of inadmissibility based on sections 212(a)(3), (a)(10)(C), or (a)(10)(E) of the Act. An applicant for T nonimmigrant status is not subject to the ground of inadmissibility based on section 212(a)(4) of the Act (public charge) and is not required to file a waiver form for the public charge ground. Waiver requests are subject to a determination of national interest and connection to victimization as follows.
(1) National interest. USCIS, in its discretion, may grant a waiver of inadmissibility request if it determines that it is in the national interest to exercise discretion to waive the applicable ground(s) of inadmissibility.
(2) Connection to victimization. An applicant requesting a waiver under section 212(d)(13) of the Act on grounds other than the health-related grounds described in section 212(a)(1) of the Act must establish that the activities rendering him or her inadmissible were caused by, or were incident to, the victimization described in section 101(a)(15)(T)(i)(I) of the Act.
(3) Criminal grounds. In exercising its discretion, USCIS will consider the number and seriousness of the criminal offenses and convictions that render an applicant inadmissible under the criminal and related grounds in section 212(a)(2) of the Act. In cases involving violent or dangerous crimes, USCIS will only exercise favorable discretion in extraordinary circumstances, unless the criminal activities were caused by, or were incident to, the victimization described under section 101(a)(15)(T)(i)(I) of the Act.
(c) No appeal. There is no appeal of a decision to deny a waiver request. Nothing in this section is intended to prevent an applicant from re-filing a request for a waiver of a ground of inadmissibility in appropriate cases.
(d) Revocation. USCIS, at any time, may revoke a waiver previously authorized under section 212(d) of the Act. There is no appeal of a decision to revoke a waiver.
Source: eCFRURL: https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2024-07-01/title-8.xmlFetched: 7/26/2026