CASE: J-2 Waiver of Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement Post-Divorce
NATIONALITY: Turkish
LOCATION: Virginia
Our client is a citizen of Turkey who came to the U.S. on a J-2 Visa in April 2007. He came with his wife who held a J-1 Visa as a researcher. Both were subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement. Since 2008, our client changed his status from J-2 to F-1 and pursued his graduate studies in the U.S.
Unfortunately, while they are residing in the United States, his marriage did not work out well. Eventually, he got divorced from his ex-wife. Before he divorced with his ex-wife, he changed his status from J-2 to F-1. However, he was still subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement. Our client wants to be petitioned by his prospective employer. Nevertheless, he cannot change his status to other non-immigrant visa in the United States because of the 2 year foreign residency requirement.
In April of this year, our client contacted our office. He retained our firm to do his J-2 waiver. On May 1, 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 May 19, 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 June 2, 2017.