In order for a foreign national to be admitted to the United States, he or she must be admissible. A foreign national can be deemed inadmissible to the United States by USCIS, CBP and a Consulate. If the foreign national is deemed inadmissible due to the United States, he or she cannot enter without a waiver of inadmissibility or a determination that the inadmissibility charge was made in error.
INA 212(a)(10)(C)
International Child Abduction
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212(a)(10)(C) International Child Abduction
What is a grounds of inadmissibility?
212(a)(10)(C) Inadmissibility due to International Child Abduction
Any foreign national coming to the US as who detains, retains or witholds custody in defiance of an order by a court in US is inadmissible.
Any alien who, after entry of an order by a court in the United States granting custody to a person of a United States citizen child who detains or retains the child, or withholds custody of the child, outside the United States from the person granted custody by that order, is inadmissible until the child is surrendered to the person granted custody by that order.
Any alien who is known by the Secretary of State to have intentionally assisted an alien in a child abduction, is known by the Secretary of State to be intentionally providing material support or safe haven to an alien child abductor, or is a spouse (other than the spouse who is the parent of the abducted child), child (other than the abducted child), parent, sibling, or agent of an alien child abductor, if such person has been designated by the Secretary of State at the Secretary’s sole and unreviewable discretion, is inadmissible until the abducted child is surrendered to the person granted custody by the order described in that clause, and such person and child are permitted to return to the United States or such person’s place of residence.
This clause shall not apply to a government official of the United States who is acting within the scope of his or her official duties or to a government official of any foreign government if the official has been designated by the Secretary of State at the Secretary’s sole and unreviewable discretion or so long as the child is located in a foreign state that is a party to the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, done at The Hague on October 25, 1980.
How to obtain a determination that the 212(a)(10)(C) ground of inadmissibility was incorrectly made.
No matter which US government agency made the inadmissibility determination, each provides a method to dispute the determination, though each has drastically different processing times. We have achieved successful outcomes by petitioning the US Department of State where the determination was made by the Consulate in as little as 2 weeks. CBP quotes turnaround times of as little as 30 days and USCIS will not offer a time frame. In our experience, the more difficult the situation, the longer it will take to get resolved.
How to obtain a 212(a)(10)(C) waiver
There are two types of waivers that apply to each grounds of inadmissibility: one for immigrants and one for nonimmigrants. Immigrants are foreign nationals who are trying to obtain an immigrant visa or green card. Nonimmigrants are foreign nationals who are trying to obtain or enter with a temporary visa such as a B2 tourist visa, F1 student visa or H1B work visa, among others. Some grounds of inadmissibility allows both immigrant and nonimmigrant waivers, some allow one and some offer no waiver at all.
Many people who are faced with a inadmissibility determination believe that they will never be able to obtain a waiver or enter the US again. This is simply not true. For almost all types of inadmissibility classes, a waiver is available and there is always an option to challenge the determination. We have successfully helped many clients who were determined to be inadmissible and we can assist you. We believe that with the right approach, there is always a hope to win your case.
