CASE: J-1 Waiver of the Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement, No Objection Statement
NATIONALITY: Indonesian
LOCATION: Cooperstown, NY
Our Indonesian client came to the U.S. on a J-1 Visa in September 2023. She came here for work training, and her J-1 visa made her subject to the two-year foreign resident requirement. Our client married her husband and wanted to apply for permanent residency. However, due to the requirements, she had to obtain a waiver first.
After retaining our firm, we filed a waiver request through a No Objection Statement from the Indonesian Embassy in the United States. Our office contacted the Embassy in Washington D.C. to make sure we knew all the requirements to issue a No Objection Statement. The Embassy requested nine different documents including a statement of reason for the waiver, the applicant’s resume, a copy of her valid Indonesian passport, and a copy of Form DS-3035.
On June 27, 2024, the J-1 Waiver was filed to the Department of State. We also sent a request to the Indonesian Embassy to issue a No Objection Statement since our client would have been eligible to file a marriage based adjustment of status but for the waiver.
The Indonesian Embassy eventually issued a No Objection Statement for our client, and sent this letter to the State Department’s Waiver Review Division. On November 14, 2024, the Waiver Review Division issued a recommendation based on the No Objection Statement. The USCIS then issued a receipt and an I-612 approval notice on December 9, 2024. Now, she can file an adjustment of status with her husband’s I-130 petition.