You may apply for a waiver in any of the remaining statutory bases. If none of the other bases applies to your situation, you must return home to fulfill the foreign residence requirement.
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Once you have your case number.
You may contact the consular section of your embassy in Washington, D.C., and request a "no objection" statement to be forwarded to the Department of State on your behalf. The Embassy must forward the "no objection" statement directly to the Waiver Review Division at the Department of State.
There are five statutory bases upon which you can apply for a waiver of the two-year foreign residence requirement:
- a no objection statement from your home government,
- a request from an interested U.S. Government agency on your behalf,
- a claim that you will be persecuted if you return to your country of residence,
- a claim of exceptional hardship to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse or child if you are required to return to your country of residence, and
- request by a designated State health agency or its equivalent.
The period of time a former exchange visitor spends in the U.S. or a third country may count towards fulfillment of the two-year home residence requirement if the person is employed by his or her government in its military service or career foreign service and that person is serving in a country other than the home country at the behest of his/her government. Before the Department can determine that the individual has satisfied the foreign residence requirement, we require a written statement from an official of the home government (through the home-country's embassy in Washington, D.C.) that the individual was or will be serving in the U.S. or third country in the service of his/her home country and at that government's request.
In cases of death or divorce from the J-1, or when a J-2 child reaches age 21, the Waiver Review Division may entertain requests for waivers on behalf of the J-2. The Division will need a completed data sheet, DS-2019/IAP-66 forms of the J-1, divorce decree or death certificate, whichever is applicable, and, for a dependent son or daughter turning 21, a copy of his/her birth certificate.
Yes, if the J-1 applies for and receives a favorable recommendation, members of the immediate family, if applicable, will be included.
Yes, a J-1 visitor’s dependent spouse and child are also subject to the foreign residence requirement.
Only the following visitors are subject to the foreign residence requirement:
- Any part of your participation in the exchange program was paid for, directly or indirectly, by your government or the United States Government. Your program sponsor should have noted on your DS- 2019 (previously the IAP-66) (Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor Status) if your program was paid for directly or indirectly by your government or the United States Government. You can also discuss this issue with officials from the Bureau of Consular Affairs.
- You are from a country which has been designated by Bureau of Consular Affairs as requiring your skills; or
- You arrived in the United States on or after January 10, 1977 to obtain graduate medical education or training.
States are subject to a requirement that they return to their home country to share with their States are subject to a requirement that they return to their home country to share with their countrymen the knowledge, experience and impressions gained during their stay in the United States. Unless USCIS approves a waiver for this requirement, exchange visitors must depart from the United States and live in their country of residence for two years before they are allowed to apply for an immigrant visa, permanent residence, or change to a new nonimmigrant status, immigrant visa, permanent residence, or change to a new nonimmigrant status.