CASE: Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status
NATIONALITY: Filipina
LOCATION: Waterford, MI
Our client, a native of the Philippines, entered the U.S. as a J-1 exchange visitor teacher. Because of her J-1 status, she was subject to the two-year foreign residence requirement. While she wished to file her adjustment of status application concurrently with her U.S. citizen spouse’s I-130 petition, the two-year requirement meant she had to obtain a waiver first.
Unlike many of our other J-1 clients, she could not pursue a waiver through a No Objection Statement or an Interested Government Agency (IGA) recommendation; indeed, her specific circumstances made those routes virtually impossible. Instead, she sought a J-1 waiver based on the exceptional hardship standard, as her U.S. citizen spouse was experiencing severe, documented medical difficulties.
Under 8 C.F.R. § 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.” Furthermore, Matter of Anderson, 16 I&N Dec. 596 (BIA 1978), outlines the key factors used to analyze extreme hardship, including the applicant’s age, family ties in the U.S. and abroad, length of U.S. residence, health and medical conditions, economic and political country conditions, financial or occupational status, and ties to the community.
Upon being retained, our firm immediately began preparing a robust waiver request based on exceptional hardship. On August 29, 2024, we submitted the J-1 Waiver Application (Form DS-3035) to the Department of State. Following that, our office prepared a detailed client affidavit, a comprehensive legal brief supporting the waiver request, and a compilation of extensive medical records and physician reports detailing her spouse’s conditions. On September 3, 2024, we filed the Form I-612 application with USCIS, demonstrating that her husband would suffer exceptional hardship if she were forced to return to the Philippines for two years. Ultimately, USCIS approved the I-612 waiver on March 11, 2026, without issuing a Request for Evidence (RFE).
While the I-612 was pending, the client re-engaged our firm to handle her residency paperwork. We prepared and filed her I-130 petition and Adjustment of Status package on February 17, 2026. The process moved smoothly, with all receipt notices, biometrics appointments, and work authorizations arriving seamlessly. Prior to the final milestone, we thoroughly prepared the couple for their interview via comprehensive preparation calls. On May 29, 2026, the client was interviewed at the USCIS field office in Troy, Michigan. The interview was a success, and her green card application was officially approved the following day, on May 30, 2026.