CASE: J-2 Waiver of Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement Post-Divorce
NATIONALITY: Kenyan
LOCATION: Las Vegas, NV
Our client is a citizen of Kenya who came to the U.S. on a J-2 Visa in 2007. She came with her husband who held a J-1 Visa as a Ph.D student. Both were subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement.
Unfortunately, while they are residing in the United States, her marriage did not work out well. Eventually, she got divorced from her ex-husband. Thereafter, she lost her J-2 status in the United States; but she was still subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement. Later in July 2015, she married her U.S. Citizen husband. He intends to file I-130 petition for her, but she could not file adjustment of status in the U.S. and change her status to other non-immigrant visa in the United States because of the 2 year foreign residency requirement.
In August of this year, our client contacted our office. She retained our firm to do her J-2 waiver on August 8, 2016. On August 11, 2016 the J-2 Waiver (DS-3035) 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. Eventually, on August 29, 2016, the DOS recommended to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) that our client be granted a waiver. Finally, the USCIS issued I-612 waiver approval notice on September 21, 2016. Now, our client’s U.S. citizen husband can file I-130 petition for our client and our client can file an adjustment of status application (I-485) for her green card with a waiver.