Supporting Law/Regulations

8CFR211.1(b)(3)

(b) Except as provided in paragraph (a) of this section, if an alien seeking admission as an immigrant with an immigrant visa believes that good cause exists for his or her failure to present a passport, the alien may file an application for a waiver of this requirement with the district director in charge of the port-of-entry. To apply for this waiver, the alien must file Form I-193, Application for Waiver of Passport and/or Visa, with the fee prescribed in § 103.7(b)(1) of this chapter. In the exercise of discretion, the district director in charge of the port-of-entry may waive the alien's lack of passport and admit the alien as an immigrant, if the district director is satisfied that the alien has established good cause for the alien's failure to present a passport.

8 CFR 212.1(g)

(g) Unforeseen emergency. A nonimmigrant seeking admission to the United States must present an unexpired visa and a passport valid for the amount of time set forth in section 212(a)(7)(B) of the Act or a valid biometric border crossing card, issued by the DOS on Form DSP-150, at the time of application for admission, unless the nonimmigrant satisfies the requirements described in one or more of the paragraphs (a) through (f),(i) or (o) of this section. Upon a nonimmigrant's application on Form I-193, Application for Waiver of Passport and/or Visa, a district director may, in the exercise of his or her discretion, on a case-by-case basis, waive the documentary requirements if satisfied that the nonimmigrant cannot present the required documents because of an unforeseen emergency. The district director or the Deputy Commissioner may at any time revoke a waiver previously authorized pursuant to this paragraph and notify the nonimmigrant in writing to that effect. (Revised effective 10/1/02; 67 FR 71443) (Revised effective 3/4/02; 67 FR 4784) (Paragraph revised 3/22/96; 61 FR 11717)