My wife is working here in the US on J-1 visa as a Post Doctoral Fellow and She is subject to 2HRR requirement.I came to United States last year on J-2 visa from India and after few month I applied and got the EAD card and now I am also working for XYZ IT company here in the USA and I am subject to two HRR requirement as well. My employer wants to file H-1B visa for me but my wife does not have an offer for H-1B visa so in that case Can I (J-2 visa holder) file a waiver petition independently of the J-1 Principal?
See clip from Attorney Rajiv S. Khanna's conference call video that addresses this question.
https://youtu.be/XAfykYM-cUQ?t=89
FAQ Transcript:
The question asked is can a J-2 holder obtain a waiver of the Home Residency requirement without the J-1 holder being involved and the answer is, the last time I looked into this issue it is a "No". The exemption was if there was some sort of impossibility associated with the J-1 holder conferring the benefits of a waiver for instance if they were divorced or there was a death of the J-1 spouse. In those cases certainly this was a possiblity. But otherwise you cannot as a J-2 holder obtain a waiver by yourself. Your disqualification for the Home Residency requirement came into being because of the J-1 holders status. So the theroy of the law is that J-1 holder must apply for a waiver.