CASE: J-1 Waiver of the Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement, No Objection Statement
NATIONALITY: Malaysian
LOCATION: Sydney, Australia
Our Malaysian client came to the U.S. on a J-1 Visa in August 2010 to pursue his undergraduate degree. He completed his Bachelor’s program and promptly left the United States. In September 2016, he came back to the U.S. on a valid J-1 visa as a short-term scholar in California. However, his J-1 visa made him subject to the two-year foreign resident requirement. His work and training program in the U.S. enhanced our client’s interest in his field, and he would like to gain employment in the U.S. beyond his J-1 time. However, due to the two-year foreign residency requirement, he had to obtain a waiver first before he could change his current status in the United States.
After he retained our firm, we prepared and filed a waiver request through a No Objection Statement (NOS) from the Malaysian Embassy in the United States. Our office contacted the Malaysian Embassy in Washington D.C. to make sure we knew all the requirements needed for their office to issue a no objection statement. The Embassy requested different documents including a statement of reason for the waiver.
On November 18, 2016, the J-1 Waiver (Form DS-3035) Application was filed to the Department of State. We also sent a request to the Malaysian Embassy to issue a No Objection Statement and recommend this waiver based on the fact that our client would have been eligible to file a change of status application but for the waiver.
The Malaysian Embassy eventually issued a No Objection Statement for our client, and sent this letter to the State Department’s Waiver Review Division. The Waiver Review Division issued a favorable recommendation based on the No Objection statement. The CIS then issued a receipt and an I-612 approval notice on May 4, 2017.