J-1 No Objection Waiver

The foreign residency requirement requires aliens in certain classes of J-1 "Exchange Visitors" to return to his/her home country or country of last permanent residency for a period of two (2) years after their J-1 status completion. The alien must spend the two-year period in his/her home country or country of last permanent residency.

This requirement can be waived provided your home country's government issues a "no objection" letter stating it has no objection that the exchange visitor will not return to the home country to complete the two-year foreign residency requirement.

The following is the procedure for the "No-Objection" waiver.

* Complete a U.S. Department of State Form DS- 3035 (ONLY REVISED FORM DS-3035 will be accepted, all other versions will be returned to the sender unprocessed), J-1 Visa Waiver Recommendation Application online or by hand.
* If form is completed by hand, then gather the following Application Materials:
o Completed J-1 Visa Waiver Recommendation Application; and
o Two (2) Self-addressed, Stamped, Legal-Sized Envelopes (SASE); and
o A non-refundable processing fee of US $215 per application in the form of a cashier's check or money order payable to the U.S. Department of State.
* Mail the completed application to one of the following:

o Postal Service
U.S. Department of State
Waiver Review Division
Box 952137
St. Louis, MO 63195-2137

o Courier Service
U.S. Department of State
Waiver Review Division
P. O. Box 952137
1005 Convention Plaza
St. Louis, MO 63101-1200


* The Waiver Review Division will send your assigned case number along with additional instructions by using your SASE upon receipt of all application materials in Step 2;
* Contact the consular section of your embassy in Washington, D.C., to request that a "no objection" statement be forwarded to the Department of State on your behalf.
* After the Embassy forwards the "no objection" statement directly to the Waiver Review Division at the Department of State. The U.S. State Department will forward their recommendations to USCIS. If the application is denied, the State Department will notify the applicant directly.
* USCIS will then notify you of the application's final decision.

According to the Department of State website, the processing time for a no objection waiver takes about 6-8 weeks.