Legal Question in Immigration Law in California

Re: How hard is it to waive 2-year foreign residency?

Are you already here?

What about Student Visa?

If you are going to be in Southern California contact my office.

Re: How hard is it to waive 2-year foreign residency?

How difficult it would be to receive the waiver depends on a case-by-case basis. If the extreme hardship route is followed, you would need heavy documentation and arguments, assembled together by legal counsel, that your U.S. citizen (or green card) husband or child would experience extreme hardship if the waiver is not granted and you'd have to go home for two years. Just saying there is hardship is not enough since that's automatically in every case. If the home country route is followed, that is not always easy to convince them to not object to the waiver.

To win approval on the waiver, it is not just a matter of filling out the I-162 form. If that's all you do, you will get denied then because the thing that matters is the strength of your supporting documentation. I highly recommend you retain the services of an attorney to do this for you.

Larry L. Doan, Esq.

Note: The above response is provided for information only and should not be construed as legal advice, nor to create an attorney-client relationship, which can only be established through payment of consideration.

Re: How hard is it to waive 2-year foreign residency?

Don't rely on what the agency tells you. They could be wrong, even if the DS-2019 indicates you are subject to the requirement. Consuls make mistakes with applicability of the foreign residence requirement all the time. I would highly recommend you permit a knowledgeable attorney such as myself review the DS-2019 to do the research to see whether you fall within one of the groups that the requirement applies, thus necessitating the waiver application. The application you mention, the I-162 is not even a correct form number. It's the I-612. The waiver is quite tricky to navigate and again, I recommend learned counsel to prepare it. You could have a great waiver case and get it denied simply because the form is not filled out properly or documented sufficiently. Rates of approval are not published. I can tell you that all the waivers I've filed have been approved and where a person has a difficult waiver, I am clear about that as well. Sometimes it is better to apply for the waiver, other times not, and many times, it is all together unnecessary.

For more information, write to me at [email protected] or check me out at http://www.yardum-hunter.com.

Sincerely,

Alice M. Yardum-Hunter, Attorney at Law, Certified Specialist, Immigration & Nationality Law, State Bar of CA, Bd. of Legal Specialization