CASE:I-130/I-485
NATIONALITY: Philippines
LOCATION: Hillsboro, WI
Our client came to the U.S. as a J-1 teacher. She was subject to the two-year foreign residency 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). Our client though would like to pursue 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 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 April 26, 2019, the J-1 Waiver (Form DS-3035) Application was filed to the Department of State. Thereafter, our office prepared an affidavit for our client, an extensive brief in support of 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 May 9, 2019, our office filed the I-612 application to the USCIS.
The USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) on March 16, 2020. Our office prepared the Response to RFE and filed it to the USCIS on May 22, 2020. Eventually, the USCIS approved his I-612 waiver on December 8, 2020.
Once her J-1 waiver was approved, our client retained our office again for her and her son’s adjustment of status applications. Our firm prepared and filed the I-130 Petitions and I-485 Adjustment of Status Applications on January 19, 2021. 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 April 7, 2022, our clients were at the Minneapolis, MN USCIS office. The interview went well, and eventually, on the same day of the interview, the green card applications were approved.