New J-1 Waiver Form and Increased Fee
Posted Jul 05, 2002

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has changed the Form required for a J-1 Visa Waiver Review Application. The new Form DS-3035 is effective immediately. The consular posts received advisement regarding the Form in June 2002. An updated version of its predecessor, DS-3035 is available on the DOS WebSite. One change in the Form is the increased filing fee. The new fee, made effective June 1, 2002, is $230.00 – a significant increase over the previous $136.00.

The J-1 Visa Waiver Review Application is used for all requests to waive the two-year home residence rule, which is applicable to certain persons in J-1 or J-2 status. The DOS uses the information provided on DS-3035 to initiate their process of review and recommendation of whether the INS should grant the waiver request. Additional forms and documents are filed directly with the INS by the applicant in the case of waivers based upon either (a) extreme hardship to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse or child or (b) fear of persecution in the home country.

Additional information on the J-1 Visa, the two-year home residency requirement and waivers of that requirement are available in earlier MurthyBulletin articles, Overview: J-1 Visas (Part 1 of 3) and Overview : J-1 Visas (Part 2 of 3), available on MurthyDotCom.