The J-1 Waiver No Objection Waiver indicates that your home country government does not require you to fulfill the “two-year home-country physical presence requirement. This statement or letter is obtained by requesting a waiver from the State Department of your home country. This request is usually filed through the foreign consulate located in the United States.

If granted the Letter of No Objection is sent directly to the USCIS and is joined with your waiver request. Even though you have received a No Objection Letter from your countries State Department the USCIS still has the final say in whether to grant you a waiver.

Assuming you meet all other requirements for the waiver, your application will usually be granted based on the No Objection Statement. Unless you fall under one of the following categories you are likely to receive a waiver:

• You are a medical doctor sponsored by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG)

• You come from a country on the U.S. Department of State “skills list”

• You received funding from your home government or from the U.S. government through agencies, such as Fulbright

• You have committed misrepresentation or fraud in order to acquire an immigration benefit.

A waiver may be granted to a Foreign National who:

* Is working on a project for the U.S. Government,

* Is of interest to a U.S. Federal Government Agency, and

* The agency has determined that the foreign national’s continued presence is vital to one of its programs, or

* The foreign national’s continued presence is in the U.S. in the best interest of the public.Interested

Government Agency waivers are only granted in the interest of the agency involved, not in the interest of the exchange visitor.

Some agencies require that you first try to obtain a No Objection Waiver and only if this method fails can you proceed with an IGA-based application. If you are not employed or funded directly by a U.S. government agency, another federal agency may agree to serve as an IGA.

Alien physicians are not eligible for a No Objection Waiver. However, they might qualify for IGA waiver under one of the following options:

Work at a medically under-served area

Health related research (“bench” lab research as opposed to clinical research)

Employment with a government sponsor

An exchange visitor who believes that he or she will be persecuted upon return to the home country due to race, religion, or political opinion, he or she can apply for a waiver.

This waiver requires supporting documentation to indicate the basis of the fear of persecution. Supporting documents should include evidence of the general conditions in the country of origin as well as supporting evidence to indicate that the conditions and persecution in the country of origin will effect the foreign national personally.

The exceptional hardship waiver requires that the Foreign National have a qualifying relative that is a U.S.C. or LPR spouse or child.

The Foreign National must show with supporting documentation and testimony that If s/he must depart the USA the qualifying relative(s) would suffer extreme hardship.