When Is Form I-612 Required for a J-1 Waiver?

A J-1 seeking a waiver because compliance with §212(e) would cause exceptional hardship to a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse or child files Form I-612 with USCIS.

USCIS must make the required hardship finding before DOS proceeds with its recommendation under that basis.

A J-1 seeking a waiver because return would result in persecution on account of race, religion, or political opinion also files Form I-612 with USCIS.

USCIS must make the persecution finding before DOS proceeds under that waiver basis.

The critical supporting document in a No Objection case is the statement transmitted by the applicant's home-country government through the authorized channel.

The applicant still uses the DOS DS-3035 recommendation process, but Form I-612 is not the supporting vehicle for that basis.

An Interested Government Agency case is supported by the requesting U.S. federal government agency. The agency submits the required request directly to DOS.

The federal agency request replaces the USCIS hardship or persecution finding used in an I-612 case.

A Conrad State 30 case depends on the designated state public health department or its equivalent submitting the physician waiver request to DOS.

The physician still must satisfy the separate federal and state requirements of the Conrad program.

DOS states that an applicant may complete the DS-3035 application and fee steps before filing Form I-612 or after USCIS has informed DOS of the hardship or persecution finding.

If the applicant pays the DOS fee before USCIS makes the required finding and USCIS later does not make that finding, the DOS processing fee is not refunded.