RFE on a Marriage Based Greencard - Requested I-612 or 2yr foreign Residence Req

[frank888]

I came to the US back in 2001 on a j-1 Visa for ESL class. I have overstayed my visa since then. I recently got married with a US citizen and I had my interview today. Everything went well with the interview but the officer handed us a letter for RFE asking us to provide either of the below options.

A. Please provide proof that your J non-immigrant exchange visitor visa was not subject to the 2 year foreign residence requirement.

B. In the absence of this proof please provide approved I-612, Application for Waiver of the Foreign Residence Requirement (under sections 212(e) of the immigration and Nationality Ac, as Amended)

I do appreciate if you share your opinions and suggestions with me.
Thank you in advance...

[rayb]

Did your original J1 documentation and visa show "not subject to 2-year requirement" or something similar?

If it was clear from your visa that you were not subject to the "2-year outside U.S." requirement, and the reviewer saw that annotation, he just wants some documentation, usually referencing your country's classes of J1 users and whether subject to requirement or not because of "special interest" to your country. In other words, you need some official corroborating documents from an official source confirming that you were not subject to the 2-year requirement.

On the other hand, if your visa did indicate that you were subject to the 2-year requriement, you may have to obtain an individual waiver sourced from your country to remove the 2-year requirement.

--Ray B

I came to the US back in 2001 on a j-1 Visa for ESL class. I have overstayed my visa since then. I recently got married with a US citizen and I had my interview today. Everything went well with the interview but the officer handed us a letter for RFE asking us to provide either of the below options.

A. Please provide proof that your J non-immigrant exchange visitor visa was not subject to the 2 year foreign residence requirement.

B. In the absence of this proof please provide approved I-612, Application for Waiver of the Foreign Residence Requirement (under sections 212(e) of the immigration and Nationality Ac, as Amended)

I do appreciate if you share your opinions and suggestions with me.
Thank you in advance...