CASE: J-1 Waiver of the Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement, Extreme Hardship
NATIONALITY: Filipina
LOCATION: Lake Wales, FL
Our client, a J-1 teacher from the Philippines, came to the U.S. and became subject to the two-year foreign residency requirement due to her J-1 status. She sought to file an adjustment of status application concurrently with her U.S. citizen spouse’s I-130 petition, but needed a waiver for the residency requirement first.
Unlike our other J-1 clients, she couldn’t pursue a waiver under the No Objection Statement or through an Interested Government Agency (IGA); these routes were essentially impossible for her case. Instead, she chose to pursue a J-1 waiver based on exceptional hardship, as her U.S. citizen spouse is experiencing significant medical hardships.
According to 8 C.F.R. Section 212.7(c)(5), “an alien who is subject to the foreign residence requirement and who believes that compliance therewith would impose exceptional hardship upon her spouse or child who is a citizen of the United States… may apply for a waiver on Form I-612.”
Factors considered when analyzing extreme hardship include: the age of the subject, family ties in the U.S. and abroad, length of residency in the U.S., health/medical conditions, economic and political conditions in the country of removal, financial status (business and occupation), and community ties. (Matter of Anderson, 16 I&N Dec. 596 (BIA 1978)).
After retaining our firm, we prepared and filed a waiver request based on exceptional hardship. On January 9, 2023, the J-1 Waiver (Form DS-3035) Application was filed with the Department of State. Subsequently, our office prepared an affidavit from our client, an extensive brief supporting her J-1 waiver application, and other necessary documents. Our client provided comprehensive medical documents and doctor’s reports detailing her U.S. citizen spouse’s medical conditions. On January 12, 2023, our office filed the I-612 application with USCIS, requesting that they issue and recommend the waiver due to the exceptional hardship her spouse would face if she had to return to the Philippines for two years.
However, on February 8, 2024, USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE), asking for more hardship evidence for her husband. Our office prepared and filed the Response to RFE on April 22, 2024. Ultimately, USCIS approved her I-612 waiver on May 2, 2025.