CASE: I-130 and I-485 Marriage Based Petition and Adjustment of Status
NATIONALITY: Filipina
LOCATION: Houston, TX
Our client came from the Philippines on a J-1 visa. She was subject to the two-year foreign resident requirement. Our client would like to file her adjustment of status application along with her U.S. Citizen husband’s I-130 petition, however, due to the two-year foreign residency requirement, she had to obtain a waiver first.
Unlike our other J-1 clients, our client could not pursue her waiver under the No Objection Statement or Interest Government Agency (IGA) due to the lack of divorce laws in the Philippines (annulment takes 5 years average). She thus pursued her J-1 waiver based on the exceptional hardship standard.
According to 8 C.F.R. Section 212.7(c)(5), “an alien who is subject to the foreign residence requirement and who believes that compliance therewith would impose exceptional hardship upon her spouse or child who is a citizen of the United States… may apply for a waiver on Form I-612.”
Some of the factors in analyzing extreme hardship are as follows: age of the subject, family ties in the U.S. and abroad, length and residency in the U.S., health / medical conditions, conditions in the country of removal – economic and political, financial status – business and occupation, position in / ties to the community. Matter of Anderson, 16 I&N Dec. 596 (BIA 1978).
After she retained our firm, we prepared and filed a waiver request through the exceptional hardship basis. On July 2, 2018, the J-1 Waiver (Form DS-3035) Application was filed to the Department of State. Thereafter, our office prepared for affidavit of our client, an extensive brief in support for our client’s J-1 waiver application, and other supporting documents. Our client provided us with extensive medical documents and doctor’s reports for her U.S. citizen husband’s medical conditions. On July 16, 2018, our office filed the I-612 application to the USCIS. Eventually, the USCIS approved her I-612 waiver on February 25, 2020.
Once her J-1 waiver was approved, our client retained our office again for her adjustment of status application. Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on April 7, 2020. Everything went smoothly and the receipt notices, fingerprint appointment, and work permits all came on time. Prior to the interview, we thoroughly prepared our clients through conference calls. On September 22, 2021, our client was interviewed at the Houston, Texas USCIS office. The interview went well, and eventually, on the same day of the interview, her green card application was approved.