As of March 4^th, 2013 the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will accept applications for a waiver from aliens who entered the USA illegally and seek to become lawful permanent residents. These aliens need to be immediate relatives and beneficiaries of an approved family petition. The new relief solves the problem that aliens who illegally entered the USA were having and could not seek adjustment of status until they returned to the consulate of their native country. Before this new relief was implemented, aliens would need to travel outside the USA for an interview at the consulate and take their chances with the consular officer approving the visa. Some aliens who were out of status for a long time would suffer penalties of 3 to 10 year bars. Now, under the new relief, aliens will be entitled to seek a waiver of their inadmissibility charges (for illegal entry into the USA only) before travelling to the consulate for further processing. 
This new relief provides the alien with the ability to appear at the consulate already having the waiver for illegal entry approved by USCIS. If the alien is otherwise admissible into the USA, and has no other inadmissibility problems, then the alien has an excellent chance upon being granted a visa and returning to the USA as a lawful permanent resident. For a complete review of the requirements of the new waiver called, PROVISIONAL UNLAWFUL PRESENCE WAIVER, click here. Please feel free to call me to schedule an appointment so that we can fully discuss this new immigration relief to see if you or your relative qualifies.