One common reason people are prevented from becoming lawful permanent residents or denied admission on a nonimmigrant visa is due to a crime, offense, or immigration history that has caused them to be inadmissible to the U.S. Inadmissibility comes in many forms, including certain crimes, fraud, unlawful presence, or a prior deportation.
The waivers have different requirements. The requirements and qualifications vary depending on the type of waiver that is being sought. Some require a demonstration of hardship to a qualifying relative. Qualifying relatives are usually U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouses or parents. A few extended the qualifying relative to U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident children.
The type of hardship that is required to be satisfied will vary depending on the type of waiver that is required. Some require extreme hardship while others require exceptional and extremely unusual hardship. The hardship that can be evaluated includes, emotional, financial, educational, medical, and country conditions.
Some immigration waivers do not require a demonstration of hardship but still have to satisfy other requirements.