CASE: J-1 Waiver (No Objection Statement)
NATIONALITY: Philippines
LOCATION: Little Rock, AR
Our client came to the United States as an H-1B visa holder to teach in the U.S. in 2007. Her H-1B status reached the maximum 6 years, but her current employer accepted her for a teaching position on a J-1 status. She changed status from H-1B to J-1 and her current employer was willing to file an I-140 employment petition for her permanent residency. However, if someone is subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement, he or she cannot get a green card in the United States until he or she fulfills the requirement or obtains a waiver. Her J-1 is subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement. It is much harder to obtain a no objection statement from the Philippines if you don’t have a US Citizen spouse or child, but we thought there was enough factors in her case to warrant a waiver.
Upon retention, our office promptly prepared a waiver request through a No Objection Statement (NOS) from the Philippine Embassy in the United States and eventually the EVP in the Philippines.
On December 4, 2015, the J-1 Waiver Application (Form DS-3035) was filed to the Department of State. We also sent a request to the Arkansas State Government to get authentication for the necessary documents. Later, these authenticated documents and No Objection Application (for the Philippines Government) were sent to the Philippines Consulate General in Chicago for further authentication. On January 21, 2016, our office sent our client’s materials to the Waiver Review Committee in Manila, Philippines. Then, the Waiver Review Committee forwarded the materials and favorable recommendation to the Philippine Embassy in D.C. who eventually issued a No Objection Statement.
On the Waiver Review Division issued a favorable recommendation based on the No Objection statement. Eventually, on April 10, 2017, the USCIS issued an I-612 approval notice for the waiver.