Your children were born here. They are citizens. Everything you have done for twenty years has been for them.
And someone told you that because of them, there is a waiver available to you.
We have to be straight with you about this, because it is the thing people get charged for and it is not true.
The Short Answer
For the waiver that forgives unlawful presence, a U.S. citizen child is not a qualifying relative.
Not at any age. Not at 8, not at 18, not at 30. And not with any amount of hardship, however real.
The statute names two different groups in one sentence, and almost everyone reads only one of them.
Read the second row again. Spouse or parent. A child is not on that list.
So a person whose only U.S. citizen relatives are their children has no qualifying relative for this waiver, and cannot obtain it, no matter what the family is going through.
Why So Many People Are Told Otherwise
Because the first row of that table mentions sons and daughters, and it is easy to read it as though children count everywhere in the sentence.
They do not. They count for who may file. They do not count for whose hardship matters.
This is the single most common false promise sold in this practice area, and it is often sold by people who are not lawyers, to families who have already been waiting for years.
If somebody has told you your children qualify you for a waiver, stop before you pay anyone anything.
What Your Children Actually Can Do
Here is the honest other half, and it is real.
A U.S. citizen who is at least 21 years old can file a family petition for a parent. That is a different process from a waiver. Different form, different question, different law.
Two things about that, both of which matter.
One. A petition is not the same as being able to get a green card. Filing one and having it approved establishes the relationship. Whether a person can actually complete the process depends on other facts, including how they entered the country and whether any bar applies.
Two. If a bar does apply, the waiver question comes back, and the qualifying relative rule is exactly the same as it was on this page. A citizen child who filed the petition still cannot be the qualifying relative for it.
That combination is why some families have a real path through an adult child and others do not, and it is not something a website can sort out for you.
What Would Actually Have to Be True
For this particular waiver, there would have to be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse or parent of the person who needs it.
A spouse. Or a parent. Those are the two.
Whether anyone in your family fits, and whether a waiver is even the right question for your situation, depends on your record. Nobody should tell you a waiver is available to you before reading it.
The Part We Would Rather Say Now Than Later
Sometimes the answer to this question is no, and it stays no.
We would rather tell you that today than take money for a filing built on a relative who does not count. A denial in this area is not a small setback, and there is no appeal from one.
If your case is weak, you hear it from us first. If there is risk, you know before anything is filed. If there is a path, you get a plan built around it.
Sometimes the answer is that there is a path, just not the one someone sold you. Finding out which is the first real step.
Find Out What Is Actually Available in Your Family
Bring who you have. A spouse, a parent, adult children, and the ages.
Talk it through with a bilingual team member. If you have already paid someone for a waiver based on your children, bring that paperwork too.
Law Office of Gilda McDowell. Serving families across West Texas and eastern New Mexico.
This page explains how the waiver standard works. It is not legal advice about your case, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. No page can tell you whether a waiver or a petition is available in your situation. Approval of a waiver is discretionary. Everything here was verified against the primary sources on August 28, 2026.