CASE: J-1 Waiver of Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement, No Objection Statement
NATIONALITY: Kenyan
LOCATION: Atlanta, GA
Our client is from Kenya who came to the U.S. on a J-1 Visa in May 2002. After she finished her J-1 program, she remained in the United States. In February 2009, our client married her current U.S. citizen husband. However, she was not able to adjust her status because she had to get a waiver for the 2-year foreign residency requirements. When she came to the United States in 2002, her program made her subject to the 2-year foreign residency program.
Thereafter, our office promptly prepared the filing of a waiver request through a No Objection Statement (NOS) from the Kenyan Embassy in the United States. Every country’s Embassy maintains different procedures and policies with regard to the J-1 No Objection Statement waiver. Our office contacted the Kenyan Embassy in D.C. to pursue the waiver for our client. The Embassy requested several documents including a statement of reason for the waiver, the clearance letter from J-1 program sponsor, Clearance certificate from HELB and KSCE in Kenya, and a letter of reason for obtaining J-1 waiver.
On December 9, 2014 the J-1 Waiver (Form DS-3035) Application was filed to the Department of State. We also sent a request to the Kenyan Embassy to issue a No Objection Statement and recommend this waiver based on the fact that our client is eligible to adjust based on her marriage to U.S. citizen spouse.
Eventually, the Kenyan Embassy issued a No Objection Statement for our client and sent this letter to the State Department’s Waiver Review Division. On February 18, 2015, the Waiver Review Division issued a favorable recommendation based on the No Objection statement. On March 20, 2015, the USCIS issued an I-612 approval notice for the waiver of our client’s two-year foreign residency requirement. Now, our client can file I-485 adjustment of status application along with her husband’s I-130 petition.