CASE: J-1 Waiver (No Objection Statement)
NATIONALITY: Philippines
LOCATION: South Carolina
Our client came from the Philippines on a J-1 in July 2008 to work as a teacher. According to her DS-2019, she was subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement. After her authorized stay period expired, she remained in the United States.
In April 2011, she got married to her U.S. citizen husband and later on consulted with our firm for her J-1 visa waiver prior to applying for adjustment of status. If someone is subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement, he or she cannot get a green card in the United States until he or she fulfills the requirement or obtains a waiver.
Upon retention, our office promptly prepared a waiver request through a No Objection Statement (NOS) from the Philippine Embassy in the United States and eventually the EVP in the Philippines.
On September 21, the J-1 Waiver Application (Form DS-3035) was filed to the Department of State. We also sent a request to the South Carolina State Government to get authentication for the necessary documents. Later, these authenticated documents and No Objection Application (for the Philippine Government) were sent to the Philippine Embassy in D.C. for further authentication. On November 20, 2012, our office sent our client’s materials to the Waiver Review Committee in Manila, Philippines. Then, the Waiver Review Committee forwarded the materials and favorable recommendation to the Philippine Embassy in D.C. who eventually issued a No Objection Statement.
On June 29, 2015, the Waiver Review Division issued a favorable recommendation based on the No Objection statement. Eventually, on August 12, 2015, the USCIS issued an I-612 approval notice for the waiver. Now, our client can file for her I-485 adjustment status application along with her U.S. Citizen husband’s I-130 petition for her.