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)(3)(B)
Terrorist Activities
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212(a)(3)(B) Terrorist Activities
What is a grounds of inadmissibility?
212(a)(3)(B) Inadmissibility due to Terrorist Activities
Foreign nationals may be inadmissible due to terrorist related activities.
Any alien who has engaged in a terrorist activity, a consular officer, the Attorney General, or the Secretary of Homeland Security knows, or has reasonable ground to believe, is engaged in or is likely to engage after entry in any terrorist activity has, under circumstances indicating an intention to cause death or serious bodily harm, incited terrorist activity is a representative of a terrorist organization or a political, social, or other group that endorses or espouses terrorist activity is a member of a terrorist organization is a member of a terrorist organization, unless the alien can demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the alien did not know, and should not reasonably have known, that the organization was a terrorist organization endorses or espouses terrorist activity or persuades others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization has received military-type training (as defined in section 2339D(c)(1) of title 18, United States Code) from or on behalf of any organization that, at the time the training was received, was a terrorist organization or is the spouse or child of an alien who is inadmissible under this subparagraph, if the activity causing the alien to be found inadmissible occurred within the last 5 years, is inadmissible.
An alien who is an officer, official, representative, or spokesman of the Palestine Liberation Organization is considered, for purposes of this chapter, to be engaged in a terrorist activity.
This section shall not apply to a spouse or child who did not know or should not reasonably have known of the activity causing the alien to be found inadmissible under this section or whom the consular officer or Attorney General has reasonable grounds to believe has renounced the activity causing the alien to be found inadmissible under this section.
How to obtain a determination that the 212(a)(3)(B) 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.
USCIS Memo Relating to INA (a)(3)(B)
| Date | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| May 8, 2015 | Discretionary Exemption Authority under INA 212(d)(3)(B) | DHS may exercise their discretionary authority not to apply the material support inadmissibility ground to certain aliens who provided certain limited material support to an undesignated terrorist organization |
How to obtain a 212(a)(3)(B) 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.
