... in response to Re: Re: J-1 Visa, posted by Don Pardo on Aug 28, 2002Don,
we did everything ourselves. Most lawyers I talked to did not know much about J-1 visa and said there is not much they can do. But, we also did all of our documents for INS and J-1 by ourselves and it is not very difficult. Just have to be anal about details and every document.
There is a lot of information on Internet about J-1 and waiver, so I would recommend to start with educating yourself and gathering as much information as possible. Since she is already in Russia it will take little bit more effort to get all the documents accross, but it's not impossible.
In our case we did everything we could, may be even more than we should, but I am still not sure what really helped - I will explain you in a bit what I mean. But also, please verify the information as the process might have changed since I started working on it two years ago.
First, you need to decide which type of waiver you can apply for. There were four of them - two were considered by State Department and two were considered directly by INS. If yous elect first two than after State of Dept makes a decision they send documents to INS and INS makes final decision.
One of the option to go through Dept of State is to receive "No Objection letter" from the government (in my case Russia). You have to submit paperwork to Russian Embassy in DC and they will forward letter directly to the Dept of State.
In my case, at the same time we were doing "No_objection" we obtained letter from my employer (at that time I was working with State office of Trade), we also got letters from all Washington State senators, congressmen, etc.
It took us a year of work, but luckily we started early enough in the process so that I never run out of status and just couple month after I received waiver we had AOS interview with INS.
I know two other girls who received J-1 waivers. One left USA and then came back to USA on another type of visa and was here while all the paperwork was in process. Another one married an American and managed to get waiver during the timeframe INS was considering the papers for AOS. I suggested her the same route - "No-objection" letter + letters. It seemed to work.
Just remember - with J-1 visa, it does not mean she can not come to USA, she can if she wants on any type of visa. The problem would be if she decides to apply for AOS (green card). There is a question right there, in application whether you have been to USA on J-1 visa and if you complied with 2-year requirement.
Hope that helps. I am flying to Russia tomorrow, so I will be gone for awhile. Let me know if you have any questions.
Russian Wife
