Hardship Waiver

I-612 J1 Hardship Waiver Successful Case: Overcoming the Two-Year Home Country Requirement

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Our client, a Fulbright scholar from Norway, faced a significant challenge due to the two-year home country requirement under 212(E). While in the U.S., he met and married his wife, who suffers from anxiety and minor depression. She is employed and attending university in the U.S. If he had to return to Norway to fulfill his two-year requirement, it would have caused considerable hardship for his wife in various aspects of her life.

Upon taking the case, we collaborated closely with our clients to meticulously document the hardships and gather supporting evidence. Our comprehensive approach convinced USCIS of the significant hardship, resulting in a favorable recommendation to the State Department. Both the State Department and the Fulbright program concurred with our assessment and approved the waiver.

Contrary to common belief, it is not necessary to have a U.S. citizen child to obtain a hardship waiver. Although the J1 hardship waiver is notoriously difficult to secure, we have successfully obtained approvals for many clients, including Fulbright scholars.

If you need assistance with a similar case, please contact us at 305-515-0613 or info@messersmithlaw.com. We are here to help.

New I-601 Hardship Waiver Filing Procedure

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Newly Proposed Filing Procedures Will Allow Spouses and Children of US Citizens to File Their I-601 Waiver in the United States

What is an I-601 Hardship Waiver?

Certain classes of foreign nationals are not eligible to immigrate to the United States because of previous immigration violations, the commission of serious aggravated felonies, drug or alcohol abuse, fraud or misrepresentation or for other reasons.  These persons are not eligible to adjust their status to permanent resident (green card) in the United States or obtain an immigrant visa at a Consulate abroad.  The current rule is that they must leave the United States, apply for a hardship waiver and then, if approved, they may re-enter the country.

I-601 Hardship Waiver Standard

Current law requires the foreign national to prove that they have a “qualifying relative,” either a citizen or lawful resident spouse, parent, son, daughter or US citizen fiancé(e), depending on the reason why the waiver is required and that this qualifying relative would suffer extreme hardship if the foreign national is not able to return to the United States.

New I-601 Filing Procedure

The current filing procedure requires the foreign national to leave the United States to apply for the hardship waiver.  Most foreign nationals do not want to leave the United States to apply for this waiver because if their waiver application is denied, they will not be able to return to the US for three years or longer.  President Obama’s new proposed filing procedure would allow spouses and children of US citizens who are in the United States but need a waiver of unlawful presence in order to get a green card to apply for that waiver within the United States.  After securing the waiver, the foreign national will have to leave the US to obtain their immigrant visa at the US Consulate abroad but the risk of being denied the immigrant visa is small so long as your case is handled appropriately by your attorney.