CASE: J-1 Waiver of the Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement, Extreme Hardship
NATIONALITY: Filipina
LOCATION: Aberdeen, SD
Our client from the Philippines came to the U.S. as a J-1 teacher. However, her J-1 status made her subject to the two-year resident requirement. Our client wanted to file her adjustment of status along with her US citizen spouse’s I-130 petition; however, due to the requirement, she had to obtain a waiver first.
Our client could not pursue her waiver under a No Objection Statement or Interest Government Agency. Her case impossible for both waiver routes. She decided to pursue her J-1 based on he U.S. spouse’s exceptional hardship standard.
After retaining our firm, we filed a waiver request through an exceptional hardship basis. On August 16, 2022, the J-1 Waiver was filed to the Department of State. Thereafter, our office prepared an affidavit for our client and medical documents for her spouse’s health conditions. On August 19, 2022, our office filed an I-612 to the USCIS and asked for them to issue this waiver since our client’s spouse would experience exceptional hardship if our client had to go back to the Philippines for two years.
On September 27, 2023, the USCIS issued a Request for Evidence and asked our client to submit more evidence for her husband. Our office prepared the RFE on November 30, 2023. The USCIS approved her I-612 son June 3, 2024.