CASE: I-130/I-485 – Marriage Based Adjustment of Status
NATIONALITY: Filipina
LOCATION: Gallup, NM
Our client, a native of the Philippines, entered the U.S. as a J-1 teacher. Due to her J-1 status, she was subject to the two-year foreign residence requirement. While she intended to file an Adjustment of Status application alongside her U.S. citizen spouse’s I-130 petition, she first had to obtain a waiver of this residency requirement.
Unlike many of our other J-1 clients, she could not pursue a waiver via a No Objection Statement or an Interested Government Agency (IGA) request; her specific circumstances made those routes nearly impossible. Instead, she sought a J-1 waiver based on the exceptional hardship standard, as her U.S. citizen spouse is experiencing significant medical challenges.
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.”
The factors used to analyze exceptional hardship include the age of the subject, family ties in the U.S. and abroad, length of U.S. residency, health and medical conditions, economic and political conditions in the country of removal, financial status, and ties to the community (Matter of Anderson, 16 I&N Dec. 596 (BIA 1978)).
After being retained, our firm prepared and filed a waiver request based on exceptional hardship. On March 7, 2024, the J-1 Waiver Application (Form DS-3035) was submitted to the Department of State. Subsequently, our office prepared the client’s affidavit, an extensive legal brief in support of the waiver, and various supporting exhibits. Our client provided comprehensive medical documentation and physician reports regarding her spouse’s conditions. On March 11, 2024, we filed the I-612 application with USCIS, requesting a waiver recommendation on the grounds that the spouse would experience exceptional hardship if the client were required to return to the Philippines for two years.
On June 20, 2025, USCIS issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) seeking additional documentation regarding the husband’s hardship. Our office prepared and filed a robust response to the RFE on August 18, 2025. Consequently, USCIS approved the I-612 waiver on September 25, 2025.
With the waiver secured, the client retained our firm to handle her Adjustment of Status. We filed the I-130 petition and I-485 application on November 10, 2025. The process proceeded smoothly, with receipt notices, biometric appointments, and work authorization arriving promptly. Prior to the interview, we conducted thorough preparation sessions via conference calls. On January 2, 2026, the client was interviewed at the USCIS office in Albuquerque, NM. The interview was successful, and her Green Card application was approved the following day, January 3, 2026.