CASE: J-2 Waiver of Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement / Over 21-year-old dependent child
NATIONALITY: Filipina
LOCATION: Williston, ND
Our client is a citizen of the Philippines who came to the U.S. on a J-2 Visa in February 2021. She came with her mother who arrived on a J-1 Visa for her employment in the United States. Both were subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement, meaning they had to go back to their home country for two years before they could apply for permanent residency or some non-immigrant visa such as the H, L, and O visas.
She turned 21 in June 2023. She wanted to file her I-485 application with her U.S. citizen spouse’s I-130 petition. However, because of her two-year foreign residency requirement, our client cannot adjust her status in the United States without the fulfillment of the requirement or the waiver.
Our firm was retained to do her J-2 waiver, and on June 13, 2023, the J-2 Waiver application was filed with the Department of State. We also sent a request to the DOS to be an interested government agency and recommend this waiver because our client reached the age of 21 and was no longer dependent on a J-1 visa holder. On August 10, 2023, the DOS recommended to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) that our client be granted a waiver. On September 17, 2023, the USCIS issued an I-612 approval notice for our client’s waiver request.