Chapter 5 - Waiver of Drug Abuse and Addiction

A. Adjustment of Status and Immigrant Visa Applicants

In general, no waiver is available for adjustment of status and immigrant visa applicants who are found inadmissible because of drug abuse or drug addiction.^[1]

B. Remission

Although a waiver is unavailable for health-related inadmissibility due to drug abuse or addiction, an applicant may still overcome this inadmissibility if his or her drug abuse or addiction is found to be in remission. After being found inadmissible due to drug abuse or drug addiction, an applicant may undergo a re-examination at a later date at his or her own cost. If, upon re-examination, the civil surgeon or panel physician certifies, per the applicable HHS regulations and CDC’s Technical Instructions, that the applicant is in remission, the applicant is no longer inadmissible as a drug abuser or addict.

Footnote

[^ 1] There are specific statutory provisions that permit USCIS to waive this ground, such as those applying to asylees and refugees seeking adjustment, and Legalization and SAW applicants. These waivers are specific to those classes of immigrants and are outside the scope of this chapter, which focuses only on waivers available under INA 212(g). See Volume 8, Admissibility, Part B, Health-Related Grounds of Inadmissibility [8 USCIS-PM B] for more information on inadmissibility on account of drug abuse or drug addiction.

Resources

8 CFR 212.7 - Waiver of certain grounds of inadmissibility

G-28, Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney or Accredited Representative

I-192, Application for Advance Permission to Enter as a Nonimmigrant

I-601, Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility

I-601A, Application for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver

I-602, Application by Refugee for Waiver of Grounds of Excludability

I-690, Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility Under Sections 245A or 210 of the Act

I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record

Appendices

No appendices available at this time.

Updates

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is updating and incorporating relevant Adjudicator’s Field Manual (AFM) content into the USCIS Policy Manual. As that process is ongoing, USCIS has moved any remaining AFM content to its corresponding USCIS Policy Manual Part, in PDF format, until relevant AFM content has been properly incorporated into the USCIS Policy Manual. To the extent that a provision in the USCIS Policy Manual conflicts with remaining AFM content or Policy Memoranda, the updated information in the USCIS Policy Manual prevails. To find remaining AFM content, see the crosswalk (PDF, 327.05 KB) between the AFM and the Policy Manual.

Affected Sections

1 USCIS-PM - Volume 1 - General Policies and Procedures

2 USCIS-PM - Volume 2 - Nonimmigrants

6 USCIS-PM - Volume 6 - Immigrants

12 USCIS-PM - Volume 12 - Citizenship and Naturalization

8 USCIS-PM - Volume 8 - Admissibility

3 USCIS-PM - Volume 3 - Humanitarian Protection and Parole

4 USCIS-PM - Volume 4 - Refugees and Asylees

5 USCIS-PM - Volume 5 - Adoptions

7 USCIS-PM - Volume 7 - Adjustment of Status

9 USCIS-PM - Volume 9 - Waivers and Other Forms of Relief

11 USCIS-PM - Volume 11 - Travel and Identity Documents

This technical update replaces all instances of the term “foreign national” with “alien” throughout the Policy Manual as used to refer to a person who meets the definition provided in INA 101(a)(3) [“any person not a citizen or national of the United States”].