CASE: J-1 Waiver of the Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement, Persecution
NATIONALITY: Filipino
LOCATION: North Las Vegas, NV
Our client entered the U.S. on a J-1 visa in February 2021 from the Philippines to work as a teacher. His J-1 visa subjected him to the two-year foreign residency requirement. Our client wished to file for adjustment of status based on his spouse’s I-130 petition; however, this requirement necessitated that he first obtain a waiver.
Unlike many of our other J-1 clients, our client was unable to pursue a waiver through a ‘No Objection Statement’ or ‘Interested Government Agency.’ Furthermore, he could not seek a J-1 waiver based on exceptional hardship standards. Consequently, he decided to pursue a J-1 waiver under the persecution category, as he believed he would face persecution in the Philippines due to his same-sex marital relationship with his spouse. His marriage is culturally and religiously forbidden in the Philippines.
After retaining our firm, we filed a waiver request based on persecution. The J-1 Waiver application was submitted to the Department of State on December 18, 2023. Subsequently, our office prepared an affidavit from our client, along with an extensive legal brief and other supporting documents, to demonstrate that he would indeed face persecution if he were to return to the Philippines. On January 18, 2024, our office filed an I-612 application with USCIS, requesting them to issue this waiver on the grounds that our client would be persecuted if he were required to return to the Philippines for two years. USCIS issued his I-612 approval notice on July 10, 2025.