NEED HELP ABOUT 2YYR FOR FORMER J1 VISAS

[VICTORIA PIKE 0]

Hi Everyone I am new here and I am seeking for answers regarding my visa. I have read some answers but its a bit outdated. I am hoping someone will help me.

 

i was a former J1 Intern from Philippines and I was subject to 2 year rule. When  I was a student, 11 years ago I didnt mind the 2YRR. I dont know what my future will be and that I will get married to a US Citizen and have a family. After my Internship, I went home immediately and finished my College Degree and After 1 year, I left the country to work as an Overseas Contract Worker in BAhrain. And I have lived and worked there for 9 years before I met my Military  husband . We got married and now currently stationed in JAPAN.

 

I had an interview last FEB. 13, 2023 at the US Consulate Tokyo for my IR1 Visa, We've been married for 2 years.

She didn't asked me much, she was just very persistent of looking at my old passport and to show her stamps after when I get back from the Philippines. She took my passport and told me I need to send all the pages of my passport via MAIL.

Doing my research, I seemed to know the problem now, I was subject to 2 12 ( e) . I didnt know this will be a big issue until now.

 

Here are my questions:

 

1. I have read that it is cumulative, I have stayed for 1 year straight in the Philippines and when I was working abroad I came home for vacation 4 times. I have added all my returns in the Philippines and they totalled to 1 year and 4 months 2 days. But this 4 months and 2 days vacations are of different years ( 2014, 2017, 2019 and  2022). are these vacations accepted to add to my 2 years even if they are far apart?

 

2. If just in case I get denied, can I still continue the petition and fullfill the remaining 8 months will that help.

My husband and I was thinking of just me travelling to the Philippines  every 2 months and come back to Japan to fullfill the 8 months remaining on my 2yrr.

does it matter if I fulfill the 8 months now or its too late?

 

3. I have looked at applying for a waiver and i saw in the Philippines website that they no longer issue waiver for Filipinos marrying a US Citizen or having a child, Is there people here who did it anyway and was successful?

 

we are so lost right now, we have waited for 2 years to get to this point only to face this issue.

please hopefully someone will help me.

 

thanks

 

[jjj20 2]

Hey Victoria,

I have been waiting for my waiver for almost 2 years and I think I can share my opinion and hopefully give you advice:

1) Yes, your trips go towards your requirement no matter how far apart they are. 
2) Your visa won't get denied but it will be refused until you have satisfied the requirement. You will be given one year since the date of the interview to obtain the waiver. I am not sure if you can complete your residency requirement by just returning to the home country after the interview though. That is something you need to clarify with the consular post. 
3) If your visa was sponsored by your country's government and it is reluctant to waive it- you can still apply for other types of waiver such as: exceptional hardship. You do not need your country's permission for such a waiver, all you need to prove is that your partner, who is a U.S. citizen, will suffer tremendously should you (or both of you) go back to your home country to serve the requirement. Bad news is that it takes about 2 years to receive  a waiver, good news is that I know one person who is married to a military guy and they managed to expedite the case and she got her waiver within 3 months of applying or so.

[VICTORIA PIKE 0]

@jjj20 , I really appreciate your response.

 

I just finished Sealing the Envelop containing all the Travel Stamps of all my old passports and I will send it tomorrow for  US Embassy Consular Review.

Also, i am not sure if my visa is sponsored by the government,  I have a very old copy of DS2019 and its marked in the Skills List and I paid for my own program to an Agency.

 We are really looking at the Exceptional HArdships because last Dec 2022, My 2 years old son wa diagnosed with Autism and the Naval Base in Japan have limited services with this kind of situation but because I can't enter the US we are kind of stuck here. My son is very young and the Doctor doesnt want us to seperate, we just dont know if that is Exceptional reason though. My husband also is a little bit of hesitatnt to take that route because he read it takes long to process.

 

I dont really trust my country giving a No Objection Letter, I just read that they have changed the Policy and they are not giving NOS for marrying a US citozen and Having a US Citizen child so I was really frustrated.
 

The only thing we can think of as a solution if we dont get the visa is to do short trips to Philippines and just provide the Entry and Exit stamps to the Consul once I am done. Its very costly and we will be apart most of the time but if the Consulate can accept that how will I know and another problem I am 3 months pregnant so I have limitations of travelling.

 

If you can give me more insight on how this Military family expedited their case I would highly appreciate it.

thank you.

[jjj20 2]

I am sorry to hear that you are going through this and I understand your frustration with this requirement as I am in the same boat. 

I think you have a good chance of getting a waiver. It requires some "creativity" to present your case. I assume your son is a U.S. citizen so you can show that a hardship will be experienced by two qualifying American relatives. What I mean by creativity is that you need to expand on your reasoning for claiming a hardship. For example, maybe your son's diagnosis is not enough for them to grant a waiver but you having to leave your son to satisfy the requirement will constitute an exceptional hardship. Or should you choose to leave with your son for the Phillippines, this may cause an emotional hardship on both your husband and son etc. As for pregnancy, I do not think USCIS considers it as grounds for an expedite but maybe you can get a letter from your therapist stating that you leaving for the Phillipines will be detrimental to your emotional state etc. Maybe your husband's stay in Japan is coming to an end soon and they are sending him to the U.S. which I guess can be good grounds for an exceptional hardship too. You can also look into your country's conditions: level of pollution, crime rate, healthcare system etc; anything that could affect your qualifying relatives' wellbeing while they are there with you. I hope my flow of thoughts makes sense to you. You do not have to have one solid argument for an exceptional hardship, there can be 10 small ones. 

For the exceptional hardship you need to present two cases basically: what will hapen if I leave my U.S. relatives and go satisfy this requirement by myself and what will happen if my qualifying relatives come with me to the Phillipines. 

 

It is also important to not focus on yourself much when applying for this waiver because they do not really care about our hardship, they do care about the hardship your qualifying American relative will have. 

As for that couple that expedited their case. Unfortunately, I do not know much. All I know that her husband had his superior call USCIS and then DOS for the expedite or something. I believe there is a USCIS military line so maybe they will help you guys understand better how it works. 

I am not sure if I can attach links in this post or advertise one's Youtube channel. But there is a lawyer on youtube that specializes in J1 waivers and if you can watch a handful of his videos you can get a better idea of how to navigate thru this process and what arguments you can use to make your case stronger.There is not many lawyers talking about J1 waivers so I am sure it will be easy to find him on youtube.  Back in the day I also found this mannual on this very website that talked about J1 hardships in depth. I can't send the link because It has been a while but I am sure you will find it in one of the J1 waiver threads. 

Good luck!

Edited February 14, 2023 by jjj20

[Chancy 6,241]

*** Moved from IR1/CR1 Progress Reports to Student/Exchange Visitor Visas forum -- topic is about meeting or waiving the J1 residency requirement ***

 

[VICTORIA PIKE 0]

@jjj20 I really am thankful for your time on my post. I feel sorry for everything that happened to you too. It is really hard, We are really struggling to find out what is the best solution that can fix this Visa Situation.

 i wish you the best of luck on your situation too. If you have other information that can help me in just feel free to message me.

 

Again, Thank you very much.