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dclopez62

Green card application denied because of waiver required

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Hi there,

 

I applied for the green card July 2018 and was interviewed April 2019 and today I got the notice that my case was denied. Bit of background, I have been in the US for 12 years and one of the visas I held was a J1 with a 2 year restriction (basically needed to go back to my country). At the interview it was brought up to my attention that I needed to apply to a waiver (never had been mentioned to me before). The agent said that the department of state may take up to 3 months to approve such waiver, so I applied immediately after the interview. The notice from USCIS today said that I only had 30 days to appeal and submit that waiver but the Department of State waiver case says pending...

Though the USCIS agents know that the granting of such waiver can take a long time,  they still only gave me 30 days. What am I supposed to do? There is absolutely no way to accelerate the Department of State process nor there is any communication between those two entities. I am awfully frustrated and I feel now that they are just going to make me re-apply to the whole process and start from scratch. 

 

Any helpful suggestions would be deeply appreciated!

 

Thank you,

dclopez

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Taiwan
Timeline

Waivers are not easy to get.  Have you consulted an attorney yet?

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December 12, 2022:  Received email from Dallas office informing me (spouse) to be there for combo interview.

December 14, 2022: Combo Interview for I-751 and N-400 Conducted.

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In summary, it took 13 months for approval of the CR-1.  It took 44 months for approval of the I-751.  It took 4 months for approval of the N-400.   It took 172 days from N-400 application to Oath Ceremony.   It took 6 weeks for Passport, then 7 additional weeks for return of wife's Naturalization Certificate.. 
 

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15 minutes ago, dclopez62 said:

Hi there,

 

I applied for the green card July 2018 and was interviewed April 2019 and today I got the notice that my case was denied. Bit of background, I have been in the US for 12 years and one of the visas I held was a J1 with a 2 year restriction (basically needed to go back to my country). At the interview it was brought up to my attention that I needed to apply to a waiver (never had been mentioned to me before). The agent said that the department of state may take up to 3 months to approve such waiver, so I applied immediately after the interview. The notice from USCIS today said that I only had 30 days to appeal and submit that waiver but the Department of State waiver case says pending...

Though the USCIS agents know that the granting of such waiver can take a long time,  they still only gave me 30 days. What am I supposed to do? There is absolutely no way to accelerate the Department of State process nor there is any communication between those two entities. I am awfully frustrated and I feel now that they are just going to make me re-apply to the whole process and start from scratch. 

 

Any helpful suggestions would be deeply appreciated!

 

Thank you,

dclopez

The two year residency requirement should have been printed on your J-1 visa, so I doubt claiming all these years later to not know about that requirement will be waiver-worthy.

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Missileman,

 

Thank you for your comment. I did consult with a lawyer and they were the ones that helped me put the application together and the last thing they told me was that it was up to me to follow up, which I did with my Embassy. The department of state has everything they need from me and my case status says pending. I just cannot believe that these two agencies do not communicate with each other but the USCIS does and did know the potential processing time of the department of state.

 

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Thailand
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I would respond with something in the 30 days. Maybe a letter explaining you have filed for the waiver, and a print out showing it is pending with the department of State. No guarantees, but at least you can say you responded within the 30 days.

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35 minutes ago, dclopez62 said:

I just cannot believe that these two agencies do not communicate with each other but the USCIS does and did know the potential processing time of the department of state.

1) Believe it.

2) USCIS knows you are inadmissible without the waiver (or fulfilling the 2 year obligation). How long DOS takes to handle the case is not their concern. They are not responsible for the actions (or inaction) of another department. Their policy is a 30 day window.

 

On what basis did you file for AOS?

For example, if it's via marriage a US citizen spouse, then you should be able to refile.  A new EAD and/or AP will be required to work/travel. So long as an NTA is not yet issued, you can send a new packet to regain authorized stay.

Timelines:

ROC:

Spoiler

7/27/20: Sent forms to Dallas lockbox, 7/30/20: Received by USCIS, 8/10 NOA1 electronic notification received, 8/1/ NOA1 hard copy received

AOS:

Spoiler

AOS (I-485 + I-131 + I-765):

9/25/17: sent forms to Chicago, 9/27/17: received by USCIS, 10/4/17: NOA1 electronic notification received, 10/10/17: NOA1 hard copy received. Social Security card being issued in married name (3rd attempt!)

10/14/17: Biometrics appointment notice received, 10/25/17: Biometrics

1/2/18: EAD + AP approved (no website update), 1/5/18: EAD + AP mailed, 1/8/18: EAD + AP approval notice hardcopies received, 1/10/18: EAD + AP received

9/5/18: Interview scheduled notice, 10/17/18: Interview

10/24/18: Green card produced notice, 10/25/18: Formal approval, 10/31/18: Green card received

K-1:

Spoiler

I-129F

12/1/16: sent, 12/14/16: NOA1 hard copy received, 3/10/17: RFE (IMB verification), 3/22/17: RFE response received

3/24/17: Approved! , 3/30/17: NOA2 hard copy received

 

NVC

4/6/2017: Received, 4/12/2017: Sent to Riyadh embassy, 4/16/2017: Case received at Riyadh embassy, 4/21/2017: Request case transfer to Manila, approved 4/24/2017

 

K-1

5/1/2017: Case received by Manila (1 week embassy transfer??? Lucky~)

7/13/2017: Interview: APPROVED!!!

7/19/2017: Visa in hand

8/15/2017: POE

 

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I'm wondering why OP would even be a candidate for a waiver, after just "not realizing" about the 2 year residency requirement?  Doesn't that sort of indicate that the residency is just a suggestion, not a requirement?

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13 hours ago, dclopez62 said:

Missileman,

 

Thank you for your comment. I did consult with a lawyer and they were the ones that helped me put the application together and the last thing they told me was that it was up to me to follow up, which I did with my Embassy. The department of state has everything they need from me and my case status says pending. I just cannot believe that these two agencies do not communicate with each other but the USCIS does and did know the potential processing time of the department of state.

 

 

The agencies operate independently of each other. USCIS is NOT required to take into consideration how long it will take for you to get the waiver you need, which should have been included with your AOS package from the beginning by the way. USCIS’s knowledge of how long it takes to get the waiver cannot influence the appeal time frame typically given following a denial. 

 

You our need to take responsibility for your own shortcomings which has led to the predicament you now find yourself in - your posts on this point so far points seems to me to be pointing fingers at others. You should have known your J visa was subject to a 2YHRR and should have obtained the required waiver prior to AOS filing.

 

Anyway, like someone already noted above, you can re-file if your petition is marriage based after obtaining the waiver approval. And yes, you’ll need to pay for the process again.  

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15 hours ago, dclopez62 said:

Hi there,

 

I applied for the green card July 2018 and was interviewed April 2019 and today I got the notice that my case was denied. Bit of background, I have been in the US for 12 years and one of the visas I held was a J1 with a 2 year restriction (basically needed to go back to my country). At the interview it was brought up to my attention that I needed to apply to a waiver (never had been mentioned to me before). The agent said that the department of state may take up to 3 months to approve such waiver, so I applied immediately after the interview. The notice from USCIS today said that I only had 30 days to appeal and submit that waiver but the Department of State waiver case says pending...

Though the USCIS agents know that the granting of such waiver can take a long time,  they still only gave me 30 days. What am I supposed to do? There is absolutely no way to accelerate the Department of State process nor there is any communication between those two entities. I am awfully frustrated and I feel now that they are just going to make me re-apply to the whole process and start from scratch. 

 

Any helpful suggestions would be deeply appreciated!

 

Thank you,

dclopez

I have highlighted all the above in your post to show where you would have gone a bit 'left field' as they say.

When was your J1 granted and when were you supposed to go back to your home country?

If you know there was a 2-year stay in the US for J1, why did you stay for 12 years?

Did you get married to a US citizen or resident?

Where was your interview held?

If you are an overstay, filed no waiver before now, didn't seek an attorney's advice on proceeding forward for green card then they may deem you inadmissible and you could be up against an immigration judge for deportation if you are still in the US.

IR-1/CR-1
Spoiler

GOT MARRIED: 3-APR-2015 :wub:

HUSBAND FILED I-130: 29-MAY-2015

VISAS APPROVED: 15-JUN-2016

VISAS IN HAND; GREEN CARD FEES PAID: 21-JUN-2016

PORT OF ENTRY - FT. LAUDERDALE INTL AIRPORT: 06-AUG-2016
CONDITIONAL GREEN CARDS RECEIVED: 23-SEP-2016
 
I-751 FILER   
Spoiler
FILED REMOVAL OF CONDITIONS: 25-JUN-2018
FILE SENT TO NEBRASKA SERVICE CENTER 11-MAY-2019
10-YR GREEN CARDS APPROVED 17-JUN-2019 
10-YR GREEN CARDS RECEIVED 21-JUN-2019 :dance: 

N-400 FILER
Spoiler
FILED CITIZENSHIP ONLINE; RECEIVED NOA1: 8-DEC-2019
BIOMETRICS WALK-IN: 18-DEC-2019
INTERVIEW SCHEDULED: 26-OCT-2020
APPROVED/SAME DAY OATH CEREMONY: 26-OCT-2020
 
US PASSPORT
APPLICATION APPOINTMENT AT USPS (ROUTINE): 16-SEP-2021
PASSPORT APPROVED: 30-SEP-2021
PASSPORT RECEIVED: 5-OCT-2021
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ok so this is getting a little off subject. I am her husband (US citizen). We have applied for the waiver but the dept of state is taking forever. At the time of the interview we hadn't received the letter from her home country yet saying that she does not need to do the 2 year stay. She has been here for 12 years under many work visa's obtained by lawyers hired by her company so nothing illegal to see here. She also currently has an 01 visa and we got married last year, we chose to go the married route rather than use the 01 route for the green card. We have sent the application and the letter for the waiver to the dept of state . Her status on their website just says that her case is pending and we are waiting for the waiver approval to be official. Meanwhile we have 30 days to appeal to uscis for reconsideration but if we do not get the waiver from dept of state by then I guess we are screwed and will have to start the process over again if I am understanding this correctly.

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Wales
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Correct, delaying the HRR is possible but does not make it go away.

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

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Filed: AOS (pnd) Country: Italy
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Some visas get marked wrong. Some people are in fact subject to the HRR even if their visa doesn't say so. Some people are not subject even if their visa says so. Basically, they make mistakes at the embassies, all the time.

 

About this, I have a J1-HRR related question, if there is any expert out here.

I had a J1 that was subjected to the rule (even checked with the Advisory opinion committee). I did complete my HRR before coming to the US with a K1 visa (even before the visa interview). With my AoS application I sent proof of my compliance of the HRR. Although, the HRR wasn't satisfied yet when my now husband petitioned the i-129f. Do you think this could be a problem?

 

Thank you.

 

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