CASE: J-1 Waiver of Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement, No Objection Statement
NATIONALITY: Kenyan
LOCATION: Somerset, NJ
Our client is from Kenya who came to the U.S. on a J-1 Visa in June 2019 to work as a camp counselor. After she finished her J-1 program, she remained in the United States. In October 2020, our client married her current U.S. Citizen husband. However, she was subject to the 2-year foreign residency requirement. She had to get a waiver first.
She retained our office on November 2, 2020. Thereafter, our office prepared a waiver request through the No Objection Statement (NOS) from the Kenyan Embassy. Every country’s Embassy maintains different procedures on 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 J-1 program sponsor, Clearance certificate from HELB and KSCE in Kenya, and a letter of reason for obtaining the J-1 waiver.
On November 10, 2020, 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 February 25, 2021, the Waiver Review Division issued a favorable recommendation based on the No Objection statement. On March 16, 2021, the USCIS issued an I-612 approval notice for the waiver. Now, our client can file an I-485 adjustment of status application along with her husband’s I-130 petition.