J2 to F1 and now immigration?

[Worried1234]

Hi,

I am writing on behalf of my friend who came into the US in 1996 on a J2 visa. Her spouse had the J1 and he came to complete his residency. However, the marriage broke up within 6 months and she was able to successfully enroll in an academic program and convert her visa from J2 to F1 with a visa validity period of 5 years. Less than a year or two into this program, she was unable to cope with the pressures of the program and she dropped out and started working. She then met an US citizen and started living with him. Her visa lapsed and eventually she had to stop working when her employers asked her for documentation after an office move. She has been living "underground" now for almost 8 years.

Recently, she went to meet a pro bono lawyer to find out if she had a chance to get her status fixed by marrying the US citizen partner. The lawyer told her that it would be easy as long as there was no residency requirement on her original J2 entry visa. her passport only shows Type:R Visa: J2.

Questions are:
1. Does the J2 residency requirement still apply to her or not and how would she know that for sure?

2. If the answer to the earlier question is yes, then can she obtain a waiver, now that she is an illegal alien. If the answer is no, does she have a chance of getting accepted?

Thank you so much for your help with this!

Worried1234

 

[free73k]

>1. Does the J2 residency requirement still apply to her or not and how would she know that for sure?

prob. needs to check with a j1 lawyers. shes basically a j1. dont use any old lawyer. you need one with alot of experience in j1 cases.

its like brain surgery. you cant just see any old doctor. you need a specialist.



>2. If the answer to the earlier question is yes, then can she obtain a waiver, now that she is an illegal alien. If the answer is no, does she have a chance of getting accepted?

yes. she needs a good j1 lawyer. the state department will act like interested goverment agency and possibly grant a j1 waiver.

I would advise your friend to go get a few consulations with a different j1 lawyer.

summary:

1- you need a j1 waiver.
2- you need a reason to do the Adjustment Of Status.






good luck.