Currently in 2nd year of a J-1 2YHRR, scheduled GC interview, will they waive the rest of the J-1 time?

[vacuum 1]

I am in my second year of the 2-year home residency requirement of a past J-1 visa. Last spring my husband filed I-130 for me, which was approved and next month I have my interview scheduled at the US consulate in my country. By then I will have about 8-9 months left of the 2 years. Has anyone heard of cases where they waive the rest of the time seeing that a good faith effort is being put to fulfill the requirement?

Thanks

[payxibka 10,044]

depends on facts and circumstances but I do not believe it is automatic...... this is really a question for the consulate because we do not know what kind of program you were in when you had the J-1.

[azer_2000 1]

if you read this thread somebody mentions that there was a case that had 5 months waived at the interview out of 2 years of HRR: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=37200

When I was applying I had 18 months to complete the 2 year HRR. Now I have only 7 months left, but since my I-130 is not approved after being pending for more than 10 months, I guess I dont need to worry about it by time I get my interview. Hope this works out fine for you.

Also what did you right on DS-230 about 2 years HRR? I think there is a question about it.

[vacuum 1]

Sorry for the delay in my post. My computer crashed and I was without one for a week.

payxibka, I was on a USAID sponsored program, that is why my waiver application got declined. People like me rarely get waivers. I know it is not automatic, i just hope they will give me a break...

azer_2000, I hope you get your case moved forward soon. Thanks for the link to the other topic.

On the DS-230 I did not lie about it - to the question if I was An alien who is a former exchange visitor who has not fulfilled the 2-year foreign residence requirement. I answered Yes.

My husband talked to the US consulate and they told him that regardless of the fact that I have not finished the 2 years, I will still be interviewed and that they will figure out what to do and issue the visa later, which would mean that I will not be entering the country between the interview date and the date of my immigrant visa. Seemed though, that they do have cases like that often and that the person he spoke to either did not want to talk about it or did not know what is being done in cases like that. I am prepared to present them with documentation of my stay in the country and calculation of how many days I have left at the point of the interview.

In the interview letter there is a separate sheet for previous J1 visa holders with the usual blah-blah about the 2YHRR. Last sentence is An immigrant visa may not be issued if there is a finding of ineligibility under section 212(e). The consular officer will provide those affected by this requirement with information about how this ineligibility may be overcome.

This makes me think that I will most likely be issued a visa later... I try not to hope for the impossible so I don't get disappointed later

Anyway, I will write again here after the interview with an update.

[LemonGrass 0]

My wife was in the US on a J1 residency also. We consulted several lawyers and they basically said to wait until the 2 years is up. One said it could complicate the paperwork and if you're declined it could make the wait even longer. My wife also came without financial aid or govermental assistance. We also thought there must be a way, but decided to wait. She finished her program, married May 2006, applied for 6 mo extension to study for ABIM and left for home in Sept 2006. We filed i130 in Aug2007 and waited and waited. We used the timelines to figure out when to submit the rest of the paperwork - June 2008 and early Sept 2008. We finally have our interview in Jan 2009. I know this doesn't really answer the possibility of time waiver, but just sharing information.

[vacuum 1]

Hi, my interview was yesterday and I was approved without any problems for the immigrant visa but the consul said that the remainder of the time on my 2YHRR could not be waived. So I have about 6 months left and when it gets close to the time when I will be done with it I need to call and arrange for mailing of my passport so they can put the immigrant visa in. The good thing is that I did not have to present any excessive documentation of my stay in my country, passport stamps were sufficient and that counting the times when I had gone home for just a few days also was accepted. In my case, I spent another 7 years in the US on different visas before coming back to complete the 2 years. So any vacation and home visit, which amounted to about 2 and half months counted. I presented a spreadsheet with all the dates coming and leaving home and counting the months and days I spent there. You have to prove 730 days in total (but can be with interruptions). The problem is that I went back to the US while completing the 2 years and the time spent there had to be added to the total time home.

Otherwise, the interview went really easy, we have a good case after all being married for 5 years, having a child, owning a house and filing taxes together for that time. I wasn't asked for any photos and not many personal questions besides what we both worked and what I intended do when I got back to the US.

I hope this post was helpful for people with previous J-1 visas. Good luck to everyone!

Edited January 22, 2009 by vacuum