CASE: J-1 Waiver of the Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement, Exceptional Hardship
NATIONALITY: Filipina
LOCATION: Fort Mohave, AZ
Our client came from the Philippines and came to the U.S. as a J-1 teacher. However, her J-1 status made her subject to the two-year foreign 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 residency requirement, she had to obtain a waiver first.
Our client could not pursue her waiver under the No Objection Statement or Interest Government Agency. Her case is impossible for both waiver routes. Our client decided to pursue her J-1 waiver based on her spouse’s exceptional hardship standards.
After she retained our firm, we filed a waiver request through an exceptional hardship basis. On February 27, 2023, the J-1 Waiver was filed to the Department of State. Thereafter, our office prepared an affidavit of our client and other supporting documents. Our client provided us with medical documents and doctor’s reports for her spouse’s medical conditions. On March 6, 2023, our office filed an I-612 application to the USCIS and asked for them to issue this waiver since our client’s spouse would experience hardship if our client needed to go back to the Philippines for two years.
However, on May 6, 2024, the USCIS issued Request for Evidence and requested our client to submit more hardship evidence for her husband. Our office filed the Response to RFE on July 18, 2024. Eventually, the USCIS approved her I-612 waiver on November 26, 2024.