I-612 Processing Time (Application for Waiver of the Foreign Residence Requirement (under Section 212(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as Amended))

Form I-612 (Application for Waiver of the Foreign Residence Requirement (under Section 212(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as Amended)): At a typical office, half of I-612 cases finish within about 11 months and 8 in 10 within about 12.7 months. The full range across case types and offices runs from 1.5 months to 2 years (USCIS data, August 17, 2026).

Trend: I-612 processing is about the same as a year ago (a typical office's median was 10.8 months then and is 10.4 months now).

Application for a waiver of the 2-year foreign residence requirement

Office	Half of cases within	Nearly all (93%) within
Service Center Operations (SCOPS)	1.5 months	5 months

Application for a waiver of the 2-year foreign residence requirement based on exceptional hardship or persecution

Office	Half of cases within	Nearly all (93%) within
Service Center Operations (SCOPS)	20.5 months	about 2 years

Use the Processing Times tool to add your filing date and see a personalized estimate for your pending case, or explore the Department of Labor queues and the Visa Bulletin waiting line on the same page.