CASE: J2 Waiver of Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement / Over 21-year-old dependent child
NATIONALITY: Chinese
LOCATION: Seattle, WA
Our client was a citizen of China (now, he is a naturalized Canadian Citizen) who came to the U.S. on a J-2 Visa in 1997. He came with his father who came on a J-1 Visa for his research program 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 came to the United States, he finished high-school as a J-2 visa holder. In 2000, he went to Canada and stayed there as a Canadian Permanent Resident. Later, he pursued his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Canada and became a naturalized Canadian Citizen. In 2007, he came back to the U.S. as a TN visa holder to work for Microsoft in Seattle, Washington. Currently, he is working for Microsoft on a TN visa, but he would like to apply for a J-2 waiver so that he would not have any problems for his future change of status in the United States when his employer files an I-129 petition for him this year.
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. Our client turned 21 in June 2002.
Our firm was retained to do his J-2 waiver on December 4, 2013. On December 19, 2013, 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 February 3, 2014 the DOS recommended to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) that our client be granted a waiver. On February 7, 2014, the USCIS issued an I-612 approval notice for our client’s waiver request.