| J-1 Exchange Visitors
A J-1
exchange visitor is admitted for ''D/S'' (duration of status),
plus a period of 30 days for the purpose of travel. The duration
of status depends upon the length of the program in which
they are coming to participate.
Exchange visitors whose employment is incident to status
with the program sponsor (e.g., professors and research scholars)
need no special document to permit their employment, and may
receive compensation from the program sponsor. Other exchange
program categories allow exchange visitors to work part-time,
with proper approval and provided that certain criteria are
met. The spouse and minor children of an exchange visitor
will be permitted to accept employment only if the income
from such employment is to be used to support the family's
customary recreational and cultural activities and related
travel, among other things, but not if it is needed to support
the J-1 principal.
A J exchange visitor does not have to apply for approval
of an extension of stay. A responsible officer may grant an
extension of stay up to the authorized limit for the specific
exchange visitor category. Also, an exchange visitor is generally
eligible to change from J-1 status to another nonimmigrant
status. However, foreign medical graduates coming to the United
States for graduate medical education or training may not
change status to any nonimmigrant classification except, under
very limited circumstances, to H-1B.
Under certain circumstances, individuals admitted to the
U.S. in J-1 status are subject to a requirement to reside
abroad for two years before they are eligible to obtain lawful
permanent residency or to obtain an H or L visa. This “two-year
home residency requirement” applies to the following three
groups:
- those whose J-1 participation was financed either by the
U.S. government or the government of the person’s country
of nationality or last residence;
- those who participated in the J-1 program to obtain skills
clearly required by the person's country of nationality
or last residence; and
- foreign doctors coming for graduate medical education
or training.
Exchange visitors subject to the two-year home country residence
requirement may seek a waiver of that requirement in four situations:
- upon request of an interested government agency with evidence
that the exchange visitor's departure would be clearly detrimental
to a program or activity of official interest to an agency
of the U.S. government;
- where it has been determined by the INS Commissioner that
the exchange visitor's departure would impose exceptional
hardship on their U.S. citizen or lawful resident alien
spouse or child;
- upon a showing that the exchange visitor cannot return
to their country of nationality or last residence because
they would be subject to persecution on account of race,
religion, or political opinion; or
- where the foreign country of the exchange vistior’s nationality
or last residence has furnished the Department of State
with a statement in writing that it has no objection to
such waiver in the case of such exchange visitor.
A favorable recommendation by the Department of State is an
indispensable prerequisite to the procurement of a waiver. The
regulations state that upon receipt of a request for a waiver
recommendation, the request will be referred to the Department
of State's Waiver Review Division, which shall review the program,
policy and foreign relations aspects of the case, make a recommendation,
and forward it to the INS Commissioner. Upon receipt of the
Department of State's recommendation the INS decides the waiver
application on the basis of the documents submitted and any
supplementary interviews and investigations deemed appropriate.
No action is taken to enforce the exchange visitor's departure
while a formal application for a waiver is under consideration
or when the Service is informed that a request for initiating
the waiver process has been made to an interested government
agency or to a foreign government, and is pending with such
agency or government or with the Department of State.
Spouses and children of J-1 nonimmigrants are admitted in
J-2 status. A J-2 may apply for work authorization on at the
local INS office having jurisdiction over the J-1 principal's
temporary place of residence in the United States. The purpose
of the request for employment must not be to support the J-1.
J-2 employment may be authorized for the duration of the J-1's
stay or four years, whichever is shorter. Generally authorization
is granted in cases where there is need to assist in the support
of minor children or to enable the J-2 dependent to maintain
a lifestyle comparable to that at home.
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