CASE: J-2 Waiver of Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement Post-Divorce
NATIONALITY: Chinese
LOCATION: Houston, Texas
Our client is a citizen of China who came to the U.S. on a J-2 Visa in January 2003. She came with her husband who held a J-1 Visa as a visiting scholar. Both were subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement.
Unfortunately, their marriage did not work out and she eventually got divorced from her ex-husband. She lost her J-2 status and she was still subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement.
She remained in the United States and pursued her education. She is now enrolled into a Ph.D. program in Nursing.
Her prospective employer is willing to file an H-1B I-129 petition for her, but until she gets a waiver of the 2-year foreign residency requirement, she cannot change her status.
She contacted our office, and our firm was retained to do her J-2 waiver on August 16, 2013.
On August 26, 2013 the J-2 Waiver 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 was divorced from the J-1 visa holder.
On September 27, 2013, the DOS sent a recommendation to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) for our client be granted a waiver. On October 16, 2013, the USCIS issued the I-612 waiver approval.