J-1 Waivers for Physicians Due to Exceptional Hardship

Physicians who receive clinical medical residency training in the U.S. pursuant to a J-1 exchange visitor visa are required to return to their home country for two years before they are eligible to apply for an H-1B visa or permanent residency. J-1 visa physicians need not complete this two-year home requirement if they are approved for a waiver based on demonstrating exceptional hardship to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse and/or child.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) looks at these cases from two (2) perspectives:

• Hardship if the U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse and/or child remains in the U.S. while the J-1 visa holder returns to the home country for two years, and
• Hardship if the U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse and/or child accompanies the J-1 visa holder back to the home country for two years.

Therefore, a hardship waiver application must establish that the U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse and/or child will suffer exceptionally as a result of returning to the J-1 visa holder's home country and remaining in the U.S. without the J-1 visa holder for two years.

What is considered a hardship?

Among many other reasons, some examples of successful hardship claims include:

• Danger to life and well-being of the U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse and/or child. This claim is effective if one can prove that the U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse and/or child will face certain harm because of their race, religion, etc. Please note that if a travel warning from the U.S. Department of State has been issued recommending that U.S. citizens and/or permanent residents avoid travel to a particular country, the likelihood of receiving a hardship waiver approval certainly increases.
• An existing health condition and/or disease that would worsen if the U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse and/or child were to live in the J-1 visa holder's home country for two years. This claim usually rests heavily on a lack of adequate medical treatment in the J-1 visa holder's home country and the severity of the health condition and/or disease.
• An interruption in the career of the U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse, making it difficult to re-enter the field when he/she returns in two years. This claim usually requires evidence that shows that the person's career or field is advancing at such a pace that to leave would cause irreparable harm to the spouse's future in the field.

The significance of a USCIS approved Application to Waive Foreign Residence Requirements (I-612) is limited to the waiver of the two year home requirement. It does not, however, place the J-1 into a legal nonimmigrant status, nor does it imply authorization to work in the U.S. Upon obtaining this type of waiver, the applicant will be eligible to obtain permanent resident status.