CASE: J-2 Waiver of Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement / Over 21-year-old dependent child
NATIONALITY: Indian
LOCATION: Chicago, IL
Our client was a citizen of India who came to the U.S. on a J-2 Visa in December 1992. She came with her father who came on a J-1 Visa as an alien physician 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 can apply for permanent residency or some non-immigrant visa such as the H, L, and O visas.
After our client’s father’s J-1 program was completed, the family immigrated to Canada. Our client came to the United States on an F-1 student visa in 2010 to pursue her doctoral program. In 2014, she married her U.S. citizen husband. Her husband will file an I-130 petition for her and she will file her adjustment of status application. However, because of her two-year foreign residency requirement, our client cannot adjust her status without the fulfilling the requirement or getting a waiver.
Although J-2 dependents cannot independently apply for a waiver, in cases where a J-2 child reaches 21, the Waiver Review Division may consider requests for waivers on behalf of the J-2 dependent. The Department of State’s policy allows for that process in instances where the J-2 dependent obtains a divorce form the J-1 principal, the J-1 principal dies, or in cases where the J-2 dependent turns 21, which is our client’s case. In fact, our client turned 21 in December 2009.
Our firm was retained to do her J-2 waiver, and on December 21, 2015, the J-2 Waiver application (Form DS-3035 and supporting documents) 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 reached the age of 21 and was not a dependent of a J-1 visa holder anymore. Eventually, on January 19, 2016 the DOS recommended to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) that our client be granted a waiver. On April 25, 2016, the USCIS issued an I-612 approval notice for our client’s waiver request.