The following is part of the "Passport Problem" series, written by Bo Xiong in early 1989, posted to usenet newsgroup soc.culture.china by his friends (he chose to be anonymous during that time period). Part of the series was used as first few issues of CND broadcast. Some of the content might have been out of date, please use your discretion. (Archived by China News Digest From: rzhu@violet.waterloo.edu (Rupert Zhu) Newsgroups: soc.culture.china Subject: Passport Problem: Case Discussion (Q-5) Keywords: Applying for the waiver of two-year home country physical stay Message-ID: <11409@watdragon.waterloo.edu> Date: 10 Feb 89 00:17:43 GMT Sender: daemon@watdragon.waterloo.edu Lines: 100 =============== Information from Xiaoping Yuan's Friend ================== The message delivered here are for your information, correction, supplement and comment. Read all posting on the series to get entire information. For the LISTING OF COMPLETE COLLECTION of the series, see <> posted on 26th of January 1989. I am neither an US INS officer nor PRC officer, following case discussions are based on the information I have. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Case from a SCC netter: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have got a question for you. I am bearing light brown cover passport. Can I apply for waiving the restriction on my J-1 visa if I can get the certification from my former unit back in CHINA showing that I was self-supported and I have been fired by the unit already? Is there possibility? It's shown on my IAP-66 that I was supported by myself. Discussion on the Case: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The US INS and IA won't accept the "certification" from your unit. But the certification might be useful to get a "non-objection letter" issued by PRC government (i.e. PRC embassy/consulates in US) if they are "flexible and considerate" on you. According to US INS Code, 1) If one get a letter of non-objection from his/her home country (government or embassy), he/she may be granted waiver of two-year home country stay. Some Chinese students did get the letter from embassy. But the ENCS No.33 (published on Jan. 22, 1989) reported that a Chinese student was rejected to be issued such a letter by PRC embassy. 2) If one can prove that he will suffer from political persecution upon his return to his home country, he may be exempt from the two-year home country stay rule. In this case, there is no difference from asking for political asylum. Some cases were discussed in SCC last year. e.g., the "baby asylum" case. 3) If an US governmental agency believes someone's skill and ability in some field are extremely important to US defense or technological development, the agency may petition the waiver for that person. In my school, a Chinese faculty came here on J-1 visa in 1982. He got hired for practical training in 1985. In 1985, his research report was awarded an important international prize, my school and state government petitioned the waiver for him. It took quite a long time and complicated procedure, his department chair is the chairman of a national association and gave him big help, finally, he got green card. 4) If one married an US citizen, he/she is still subject to the rule. Except that the person can prove his/her family will suffer greatly from his/her leaving US. The US INS does not think the pregnancy, having young child(ren), the illness which had been found before getting married and such like, can be a valid reason to ask for the waiver because those are predictable events before getting married. The person concerned should be aware of their future hardship when they got married. If the hardship comes out after getting married, e.g., one party concerned becomes disabled, INS may issue the waver to the person concerned. In the last two years, US newspapers reported several similar cases. One case is about a Portugal girl, she came to US on J-1 visa and married an American man. She and her husband applied the waiver but it's turned down. Then, they asked a US senator from Illinois for help. The senator successfully stopped deporting the girl and they won the case in the immigration court. The second case is still under processing. An Indian J-1 student, studying medical science in US, got married with an American girl and they had two children. The American wife took their children back to Indian in 1987 and lived there for half an year while the Indian student was studying in US. The mother and children did had the hardship in Indian, children got sick and mother was not able to bear the standard of life in the small remote village. So, they came back to US and ask INS for the waiver. Their application was rejected because "the hardship is predictable" when they married. They didn't give up and also asked a US senator to intervene in their case. This case is under processing. Finally, even if your form IAP-66 shows that you are self-supported, if your J-1 visa stamp indicates you are subject to the two-year home country stay rule, or you came to US after July 12, 1984, you are still subject to the rule because self-supported does not necessarily mean you are not exchange student. (The funds for exchange students may be provided by privates). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Coming-up Information: Passport Problem ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ General Information: G-*, The number of various visas issued to PRC students and their family members in past years G-*, US visa definitions from A through P Case Discussions : Q-*, From J-2 to F-1; Change J-1 to F-1 outside US Q-*, Change J-1 to F-1 within US ========================== THE END OF Q-5 ================================