I-191, Application for Relief Under Former Section 212(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)
Use this form if you are a lawful permanent resident and wish to file for relief under former INA section 212(c).
Congress repealed former INA section 212(c) effective April 1, 1997. However, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in 2001 that the repeal does not apply to lawful permanent residents who pleaded guilty to a crime before April 1, 1997 (INS v. St. Cyr, 533 U.S. 289). In Matter of Abdelghany, 26 I&N Dec. 254 (BIA 2014), the Board of Immigration Appeals held that relief under former INA section 212(c) is also available to otherwise eligible lawful permanent residents, even if they were convicted following a trial before April 1, 1997.
This form was previously titled, “Application for Advance Permission to Return to Unrelinquished Domicile.”
Form Details
Dates are listed in mm/dd/yy format.
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U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and/or FedEx, UPS, and DHL deliveries:
USCIS TSC
Attn: I-191
6046 N Belt Line Rd. Suite 191
Irving, TX 75038-0016
You can find the filing fee for Form I-191 by visiting our Fee Schedule page.
You can pay the fee with a money order, personal check, cashier’s check, or pay by credit card or debit card using Form G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions. If you pay by check, you must make your check payable to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
When you send a payment, you agree to pay for a government service. Filing fees are final and non-refundable, regardless of any action we take on your application, petition, or request, or if you withdraw your request. If you pay by credit card or debit card, you cannot later dispute the payment.
If you are submitting multiple forms, pay each filing fee separately. We are transitioning to electronically processing immigration benefit requests, which requires us to use multiple systems to process your package. We may reject your entire package if you submit a single, combined payment for multiple forms.
Filing Tips: Review our Tips for Filing Forms by Mail page for information on how to ensure we will accept your form.
Don’t forget to sign your form. We will reject and return any unsigned form.