CASE: I-130/I-485
NATIONALITY: Kenyan
LOCATION: Northfield, OH
Our client is from Kenya who came to the U.S. on a J-1 Visa in June 2013 to work as a camp counselor. After she finished her J-1 program, she remained in the United States. In April 2014, our client married her current U.S. Citizen husband. However, she could not adjust her status due to her J-1 2-year foreign residency requirement.
She retained our office on January 5, 2016. Thereafter, our office filed a waiver request through a No Objection Statement (NOS) from the Kenyan Embassy. Every country’s Embassy maintains different procedures with regards 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 the J-1 program sponsor, Clearance certificate from HELB and KSCE in Kenya, and a letter of reason for obtaining the J-1 waiver.
On January 19, 2016, 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 her 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 March 9, 2016, the Waiver Review Division issued a favorable recommendation based on the No Objection statement. On March 31, 2016, the USCIS issued an I-612 approval notice for the waiver of our client’s two-year foreign residency requirement.
Once her J-1 waiver was approved, our client retained our office again in June 2019 for her adjustment of status application. Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petition and I-485 Adjustment of Status Application on February 17, 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 October 30, 2020, our client was interviewed at the Cleveland, Ohio USCIS office. Attorney Sung Hee (Glen) Yu from our office also accompanied our client. The interview went well, and eventually, on the same day of the interview, her green card application was approved.