CASE: J-1 Waiver of the Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement, Exceptional Hardship
NATIONALITY: Filipina
LOCATION: Pinon, AZ
Our client from the Philippines came to the U.S. as a J-1 teacher. However, her J-1 status made her subject to the two-year foreign resident requirement. Our client wanted to file her adjustment of status along with her spouse’s I-130 petition; however, due to the foreign residency requirement, she had to obtain a waiver first.
Our client could not pursue her waiver under the No Objection Statement or Interest Government Agency. Her case was impossible for both waiver routes. She wanted to pursue her J-1 waiver since her spouse was experiencing exceptional medical hardships.
After she retained our firm, we filed a waiver request on an exceptional hardship basis. On August 16, 2022, the J-1 Waiver was filed to the Department of State. Our office prepared an affidavit and other supporting documents. She also provided us with extensive medical documents for her spouse’s medical conditions. On August 19, 2022, our office filed an I-612 application to the USCIS and asked for them to issue this waiver since our client’s spouse would experience hardship if our client needed to go back to the Philippines for two years.
The USCIS approved her I-612 waiver on March 27, 2024.