US Citizen and J1 Visa spouse

[AntoineVJ12 0]

I am US Citizen living in France, where I met my husband (M.D., Ph.D) and we got married after one year; my husband had enrolled into an Exchange Visitor Program and obtained his J1 Visa, but he entered the US on his J1 visa shortly after we got married.

I am in my third month pregnancy and I'm planning to join my husband in the US very soon.

J1 Visa has a particular requirement called "Exchange Visitor Two-Year Home-Country Physical Presence Requirement", before the visa holder could re-enter the United States;

A waiver of "the two-year home-country physical presence requirement" can be requested from the Department of State’s Waiver Review Division.

"waiver" can be applied for under five (5) different categories; i.e. No Objection Statement" and "Exceptional Hardship" being my husband a Lebanese citizen.

My question are:

1. How soon can we apply for I-130 and I-485 (AOS)

2. Will this (I-130 and I-485) conflict with my husband's J1 visa?

3. Will it conflict with my husband's waiver request?

P.S. My husband has also a 5 years B1 visa and he had previously entered the US for short periods.

Thank you

[Hypnos 6,578]

Your husband cannot apply for AoS until he has requested and received a waiver of the two year home residency requirement.

Upon filing I-130 and I-485 he is placed in a new period of authorised stay which lasts until his application is finally adjudicated, so it should not cause any issue there.

[carton025 38]

it has just been my experience and knowledge that visa "waivers" are next to impossible to get.

can anyone that has been successful requesting a visa wavier share their experience?

Regards,

Sid

[AntoineVJ12 0]

Thanks Hypnos and everyone!

I still need to have a clarification.

Carton025's comment that visa "waivers" are next to impossible to get is a major concern, but we'll deal with it further...

What you mentioned about the chronology of applications seems to be a "loop"; please correct me if I'm mistaken. You wrote: "Your husband cannot apply for AoS until he has requested and received a waiver...."; but you also wrote: Upon filing I-130 and I-485 he is placed in a new period of authorised stay which lasts until his application is finally adjudicated...

This is what I meant by "loop"; I would appreciate it if you could explain what comes first and what follows what.

Regarding the waiver, like I wrote previously, I'm pregnant and expect to give birth to our child in the US around march 2013 and I'm really concerned about joining my husband in Lebanon for his "Two-Year Home-Country Physical Presence Requirement", especially after what we're hearing these days about the conflict in Syria extending to the neighboring countries; wouldn't this constitute an "Exceptional Hardship" issue? being my husband a Lebanese citizen, and therefore an exceptional hardship would regard me and my child being US citizens who would be endangered to live in Lebanon during conflict periods.

But first I need to concentrate on the chronology (waiver first or apply for I-130... then waiver...)

Thanks for the attention and for any hint in this regard!

[Little_My 464]

You have ao apply and be granted the waiver first, before you are eligible for file for AOS. I think what Hypnos meant that, once you have the waiver and you can file for AOS, it won't "conflict" with the J-1 in any way, as yor husband will then enter a new period of authorized stay independent of his J-1 visa. But the first step has to be getting the waiver granted.

I don't know what qualifies as exceptional hardship - I'm sure you could find more information on that from just google searches. I do know that the most common waiver for the J-1 2 year HRR is the No Objection Waiver. Whether or not the Lebanese government would issue this or not, I also can't say. You could try the regional forums here to see if you can find anyone with experience with that particular waiver from Lebanon.

[Penguin_ie 5,997]

A waiver for the 2 year home stay requirement is much easier to get than a hardship waiver for overstay etc, You can't really compare the two.