A J-1 Hardship Waiver success story for Client from Venezuela

I-612 Approval Notice (Letter of approval) - The Ranchod Law Group, Sacramento CA
I-612 Letter of Approval (Form I-797, Notice of Action)

Timeline of this J-1 Waiver

  • Date the I-612 Application to wave the foreign residence requirements was filed: March 2, 2020
  • Department of State received I-613 from USCIS on May 13, 2020
  • A favorable recommendation was issued by the Department of State on September 23, 2020
  • USCIS issued a letter of approval for this I-612 application to wave foreign residence requirements on September 29, 2020

J-1 Hardship Waiver Approval for Venezuelan Client

This is another success story for a Client from Venezuela who approached The Ranchod Law Group seeking advice on successfully tackling his situation. The Client, on a J-1 Visa, spoke to the immigration attorneys at our offices and explained his needs and objectives, which are typical to many professionals on a J-1 Visa.

The need to Waive the Two Year Foreign Residence Requirement

During a preliminary brief, we answered all the Client’s questions like:

  1. Does the home-country physical presence requirement apply to me?
  2. Which are the implications of this requirement?
  3. Which is the exact procedure, and how should an I-612 application be handled considering the implications and the costs?

Every J-1 Waiver case is unique and requires close consideration of many elements to identify situations and scenarios which can constitute grounds to request a waiver. Here at the Ranchod Law Group, we build your case based on your personal situation and circumstances.

How we won this case

The Immigration attorneys at our practice studied the brief and identified circumstances and facts which could be used to argue in favor of a waiver of the foreign residence requirements. A crucial factor was the health of the Client’s American child. During the interview, we discovered that the Client’s child was receiving developmental therapy. This is a factor we could use to argue exceptional hardship to the client’s American child because this kind of treatment is not readily available in Venezuela.  We also researched and argued at length the exceptional hardship inherent in the country’s conditions in general. The facts we presented were enough for the Department of State to issue a favorable recommendation in September of this year and for USCIS to issue a letter of approval for this I-612 application.