CASE: J-2 Waiver of Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement Post-Divorce
NATIONALITY: Korean
LOCATION: Ithaca, New York
Our client is a citizen of South Korea who came to the U.S. on a J-2 Visa in August 2013. She came with her husband who held a J-1 Visa as a researcher. Both were subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement.
Unfortunately, their marriage did not work outl. Eventually, she got divorced from her ex-husband. Before she divorced with her ex-husband, she changed her status from J-2 to F-1. However, she was still subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement. Our client pursued her graduate studies in the United States, and wants to be petitioned by her prospective employer. Nevertheless, she cannot change her status to other non-immigrant visas in the United States because of the 2 year foreign residency requirement.
In March of this year, our client contacted our office. She retained our firm to do her J-2 waiver. On April 4, 2017, the J-2 Waiver (DS-3035) was filed to the Department of State. We also sent a request to the DOS to be an interested government agency and recommend this waiver based on the fact that our client was divorced from the J-1 visa holder. Eventually, on April 24, 2017, the DOS recommended to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) that our client be granted a waiver. Finally, the USCIS issued I-612 waiver approval notice on May 3, 2017.