Student Program Made Mistake, How Can I Reapply Green Card?

[ALVA XIA 1]

Hi everyone. My name is Alva. I am in a funny situation and I need help or any suggestions will be appreciated.

 

I was on J-1 visa 2012 for an exchange student program. I was not acknowledged about the two years rule (212 E) and I never stayed in my country for the two years. Instead, I applied F-1 visa next year (2013) and came back to America for more schooling. I've been on F-1 visa until I married to my husband Sal half year ago. 

 

We submitted all the Green Card application (08/2016) and everything went smoothly, until we went for the interview yesterday (01/2017) (the interview for both Sal and me, I've already gone though the fingerprint and background check). They delayed for my Green Card application because I didn't stay for two years after J-1 and never filled the waiver (I-612).

 

Now we have to start over again, from the very beginning. My F-1 visa was cancelled because I was applying Green Card, and now, my Green Card paper is delayed. So they told me that I'm back to my J-1 visa (which was expired 2013). What a funny situation!!

 

Me and my husband are trying to reach out people who had similar situation and hoping you can give us suggestions. We are filling out the waiver (I-612) and will apply Green Card again. Is there anything else we have to keep in mind since I was on J-1 visa?

 

Please reply to this or send Email to me at xiaalva@gmail.com.

 

Thank you very much!!

 

[Ben&Zian 4,397]

The home stay rule definately should have been caught when you applied for F-1 and obviously you would not have been granted the F-1.... was same for my partner when applying for a tourist visa, he was denied only because he had not completed the two year rule yet.

 

When applying for the F-1 you put down that you had been on a J-1 previously right? If so, I don't know how they approved the F-1. If you didn't put it down on the application, things are not going to be pretty in your case.

 

Definately at this time move forward with applying for the waiver. Don't know if there is much else can be done at this point in time.

[ALVA XIA 1]

1 minute ago, Ben&Zian said:

The home stay rule definately should have been caught when you applied for F-1 and obviously you would not have been granted the F-1.... was same for my partner when applying for a tourist visa, he was denied only because he had not completed the two year rule yet.

 

When applying for the F-1 you put down that you had been on a J-1 previously right? If so, I don't know how they approved the F-1. If you didn't put it down on the application, things are not going to be pretty in your case.

 

Definately at this time move forward with applying for the waiver. Don't know if there is much else can be done at this point in time.

HI Ben&Zian,

 

Thank you for reaching out. That's what we're confused about. I never had any problem applying F-1 the next year, and no one caught this until yesterday's interview. I never knew I had have to stay in my country. 

[Ben&Zian 4,397]

When you applied for the F-1, did it ask about previous visas, or travel to US, or out of your home country?

 

[KurosawaSan 52]

@Ben&Zian That is not true - you can get F-1 from J-1 even with 2YR HRR (I did the same thing) because F-1 is non-immigrant. Anyone can easily apply for F-1 without having to complete 2YR HRR.

 

@ALVA XIA - what program did you come in on? Are there any government funds involved (what is the program code on your DS-2019)? You will definitely need to apply for a waiver, but depending on the questions above the success rate of that waiver may differ.

Edited January 24, 2017 by KurosawaSan

[Ben&Zian 4,397]

Just now, KurosawaSan said:

@Ben&Zian That is not true - you can get F-1 from J-1 even with 2YR HRR (I did the same thing) because F-1 is non-immigrant. Anyone can easily apply for F-1 without having to complete 2YR HRR.

 

@ALVA XIA - what program did you come in on? Are there any government funds involved (what is the program code on your DS-2019)?

 

Thats what I have been reviewing through the GoV site and some others briefly. Some say you can switch to F category, just not certain other ones "L, or H" for instance. Some say you can't without the waiver first.

 

 

[ALVA XIA 1]

11 minutes ago, Ben&Zian said:

When you applied for the F-1, did it ask about previous visas, or travel to US, or out of your home country?

 

No, they didn't questioned anything about my previous visas. And now it became a big problem.

[KurosawaSan 52]

@Ben&Zian the only categories you can't get with 2YR HRR are immigrant visas. You can get literally any non-immigrant visa with no issues as long as you have no other problems. That said, you *can* change status to H with 2YR HRR *within* the US, you can just never get the visa stamp (if you leave) and can't apply for adjustment of status without either completing the requirement or obtaining a waiver.

[ALVA XIA 1]

3 minutes ago, KurosawaSan said:

@Ben&Zian That is not true - you can get F-1 from J-1 even with 2YR HRR (I did the same thing) because F-1 is non-immigrant. Anyone can easily apply for F-1 without having to complete 2YR HRR.

 

@ALVA XIA - what program did you come in on? Are there any government funds involved (what is the program code on your DS-2019)? You will definitely need to apply for a waiver, but depending on the questions above the success rate of that waiver may differ.

Hi KurosawaSan,

 

My J-1 was associated with ISE. 

I don't know what's the program code. The annotation on my J-1 visa says P-3-05104. 

[KurosawaSan 52]

@ALVA XIA OK, that's good. Your program code doesn't start with G-, which means that you most likely did not have government funds involved. Which means that it should be relatively easy to get a waiver as long as your home country does not object to it, and your program sponsor doesn't object to it.

 

You can find the application instructions here:

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/study-exchange/student/residency-waiver.html

 

You will need to apply on the basis of No Objection. Contact your home country embassy in Washington DC and find out whether they write No Objection letters - if they don't, then unfortunately you might need to go back and complete the requirement.

[ALVA XIA 1]

15 minutes ago, KurosawaSan said:

@ALVA XIA OK, that's good. Your program code doesn't start with G-, which means that you most likely did not have government funds involved. Which means that it should be relatively easy to get a waiver as long as your home country does not object to it, and your program sponsor doesn't object to it.

 

You can find the application instructions here:

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/study-exchange/student/residency-waiver.html

 

You will need to apply on the basis of No Objection. Contact your home country embassy in Washington DC and find out whether they write No Objection letters - if they don't, then unfortunately you might need to go back and complete the requirement.

Thank you very much! I'll check that out!

 

Good luck to yours!

[ALVA XIA 1]

Hi everyone. 

 

So, I had a year school on J-1 visa, the program (ISE, if anyone knows) that gave me the J-1 visa made a mistake.

 

Under the Annotation (on the visa page) wrote "212 (E) Two Years Rule Applies". But the program was not funded by the government, it was actually paid from my parents. And they said it should not appears on my passport, and they will write a letter explain to the America Immigration.

 

But now, I had already withdrawn my Green Card application because of the "two years rule" was never "satisfied". -and I just found out the entire thing was a joke/mistake.

 

Anyway, I want to know if I can reopen my Green Card application cuz it was a mistake from the third party? Or I have to start over again?

 

THANK YOU!

[KurosawaSan 52]

You already had this on another thread but the situation is still the same - if your DS-2019 has the 2YHRR checked, you need to obtain a waiver. Your previous thread documents the process to get it. You can't apply for the green card without having the waiver in hand, or the application will simply be denied once you get the RFE to prove that you either completed the requirement or have a waiver.

 

Also I noticed that you had another thread for I-612 - you likely don't have a hardship and don't qualify for it unless you have some solid evidence, so you need to obtain a No Objection waiver.

Edited February 3, 2017 by KurosawaSan

[ALVA XIA 1]

1 minute ago, KurosawaSan said:

You already had this on another thread but the situation is still the same - if your DS-2019 has the 2YHRR checked, you need to obtain a waiver. Your previous thread documents the process to get it. You can't apply for the green card without having the waiver in hand, or the application will simply be denied once you get the RFE to prove that you either completed the requirement or have a waiver.

Hi there. I think you didn't fully understand the situation.

 

I should not have the 212 E on my visa, the company told me it was a mistake made from the agency, since the program wasn't funded by the gov so I do not need to follow the 212 E rule.

[KurosawaSan 52]

3 minutes ago, ALVA XIA said:

Hi there. I think you didn't fully understand the situation.

 

I should not have the 212 E on my visa, the company told me it was a mistake made from the agency, since the program wasn't funded by the gov so I do not need to follow the 212 E rule.

That doesn't matter. If you have 212E on your DS-2019 (not the visa - the form), you need to apply for a waiver from DoS, and only they can conclude that you are not subject. You can always apply for an advisory opinion, but if it comes back positive (that you are subject), then you will need to apply for the waiver anyway, and you just wasted a bunch of time.

Edited February 3, 2017 by KurosawaSan