Legal Question in Immigration Law in Connecticut

I'm a Tunisian citizen currently under a J1 visa status at my 5th year and this is my case:

After I got my Bachelor degree in 1999 from a Tunisian university I went to France with the help of some of my family members living there. I settled and lived for Five years in France where I was able to get my Master and PhD degrees in Biology. In 2005 I was accepted for a post doctoral position at an American University and I applied for a J1 visa that was issued for me at USA embassy at Paris.

To change to a H1b visa the immigration is asking for a waiver issued from my home country Tunisia.

My question is:

Since my last residency was France do I still have to provide a waiver from Tunisia?

- If NO how can I persuade the immigration of that?

- If YES, what a last residency means if it is just a matter of were your passport where issued (i.e your citizenship)


Asked on 8/03/09, 4:25 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

David Nachman Nachman & Associates, P.C.

The two year residency requirement literally means: "Continuous residence for two years in your home country." If your home country was France then you should be able to show that you had 2 years in France after having the J-1 visa. If not, you have to obtain a waiver (unless the two year residency requirement does not apply at all). You will have to demonstrate to the government that France, and not Tunisia, was your "home country". Did you send the government a French or Tunisian Passport in connection with the H-1B? Also, you need to note that a waiver is oftentimes a long process and that if this query was issued on an RFE for an H-1B then it is not likely that you will have sufficient time to be able to respond if, in fact, you do need to obtain the waiver. J-1 waiver practice is very complex and we recommend that you obtain competent immigration counsel to assist you. You can obtain further information about the J-1 waiver process at our website at www.visaserve.com.

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Answered on 8/08/09, 5:30 pm


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