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 August 1998 to pursue his master’s degree. After he finished his J-1 program, he remained in the United States.
In October 2013, our client married his current U.S. citizen wife. However, he initially can’t adjust status unless he got a waiver for the 2-year foreign residency program. When he came to the United States in 1998, his program was clearly subject to the 2-year foreign residency program.
Thereafter, our office prepared a waiver request through the No Objection Statement (NOS) from the Kenyan Embassy in the United States. Every country’s Embassy maintains different procedures and policies with regards to the J-1 No Objection Statement waiver. Our office contacted the Kenyan Embassy in D.C. to pursue the waiver application 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 J-1 waiver.
On March 13, 2015, 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 his 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 May 13, 2015, the Waiver Review Division issued a favorable recommendation based on the No Objection statement. On June 4, 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 an I-485 adjustment of status application along with his wife’s I-130 petition.