Chapter 23 Getting an Exchange Visitor (j-1) Visa

• Library: U.S. Immigration Made Easy (Nolo) (2023 Ed.)

CHAPTER 23 Getting an Exchange Visitor (J-1) Visa

A. Do You Qualify for a J-1 Exchange Visitor Visa?

1. An Exchange Visitor Program Approved by the DOS
2. Acceptance Into a Program
3. Financial Support
4. Knowledge of English
5. Intent to Return to Your Home Country
6. Find Out Whether You Are Subject to the Two-Year Home Residence Requirement
7. Foreign Medical Graduates: Additional Qualifications
8. Bringing Your Spouse and Children

B. How Long the J-1 Status Will Last

1. Students
2. Teachers, Professors, Research Scholars, and People With Specialized Skills
3. International Visitors
4. Foreign Medical Graduate Students
5. Other Medically Related Programs
6. Business and Industrial Trainees
7. Interns
8. Employees of the International Communications Agency
9. Research Assistants Sponsored by the National Institutes of Health......555
10. Au Pairs
11. Government Visitors
12. Camp Counselors
13. Summer Work Travel
14. Short-Term Scholars
15. Exceptions to the General Rules

C. Students: Comparing J-1 Visas to F-1 and M-1 Visas

D. Business and Industrial Trainees: A Good Option for Work in the U.S. ... 557

E. Internships as a Way for Foreign Students to Work in the U.S

F. Can You Apply for a Green Card From J-1 Status?

G. Quick View of the J-1 Visa Application Process

H. Step One: Your Sponsoring Organization Issues a Certificate of Eligibility

I. Step Two for Applicants Outside the U.S.: Apply for a Visa at a U.S. Consulate

1. Preparing and Submitting Your Visa Application
2. Pay the Visa Application Fee
3. Schedule an Interview at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate
4. Pay the SEVIS Fee
5. Gather Supporting Documents
6. Attending Your Consular Interview

J. Step Two for Some Applicants Inside the U.S.: Apply to USCIS for a Change of Status

1. Preparing Your U.S. Change of Status Application
2. Submitting the Change of Status Application
3. Awaiting a Decision on the Change of Status Application

K. Step Three: J-1 Visa Holders Enter the U.S

L. Extending Your J-1 Stay in the U.S

M. Transfer to a New Sponsor

N. Change of Category

O. Reinstatement

P. Working as an Exchange Visitor

1. When You Can Work Without Special Permission
2. When You Need Special Permission to Work
3. Employment for Accompanying Relatives

Q. Annual Reports for Foreign Medical Graduates

R. Traveling Outside the U.S. While on an Exchange Program

The exchange visitor visa (J-1) was created to promote educational and cultural exchanges between the U.S. and other countries. It is mostly available to people who have signed up with an approved program focused on teaching, receiving training, or conducting research. The J-1 visa is also used by U.S. employers that want to hire workers to receive on-the-job training or participate in an internship. (See I.N.A. § 101(a)(15)(J), 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(j).) There is no limit on the number of people who can receive J-1 visas; more than 300,000 people typically use them each year.

SEE AN EXPERT

Do you need a lawyer? Applying for a J-1 visa might not require a lawyer's help if your school or exchange visitor organization provides you with help and advice with the application process. A lawyer can help determine whether you can use a J-1 to work or train with a U.S. employer. Also, if you've had trouble getting visas in the past, have ever overstayed a visa, or are from a country thought to sponsor terrorism, a lawyer's help can be well worth the investment. Finally, if you later decide to apply for a different nonimmigrant status or green card, but think you're subject to the J-1 two-year home residence requirement, you'll definitely need a lawyer's help.

Key Features of the J-1 Exchange Visitor Visa

Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of the J-1 exchange visitor visa:

• Once you've been accepted as a participant in an approved exchange visitor program, the application process is reasonably quick and straightforward.
• Your spouse and children may receive visas to accompany you.
• You may work legally in the U.S. if work is part of your approved program or if you receive permission to work from the official program sponsor.
• Your spouse and children may apply to USCIS for permission to work, so long as they prove that the money is not needed to support you.
• You may travel in and out of the U.S. or remain here until you've completed your exchange visitor program.
• Participants in certain types of programs can be required to return to their home countries for at least two years before applying for a green card, before a change to another nonimmigrant status, or before an L or H visa petition is approved on their behalf.

A. Do You Qualify for a J-1 Exchange Visitor Visa?

You qualify for a J-1 exchange visitor visa if you are coming to the U.S. as a student, scholar, trainee, intern, teacher, professor, research assistant, medical graduate, or other international visitor and if you are participating in a program of studies, training, research, or cultural enrichment specifically designed for such individuals by the U.S. Department of State (DOS), through its Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). You must already be accepted into the program before you can apply for the visa.

Some common programs for which J-1 visas are issued include the Fulbright Scholarship program, specialized training programs for foreign medical graduates, and programs for foreign university professors teaching or doing research in the United States.

You must have enough money to cover your expenses while in the U.S. as an exchange visitor. If your J-1 visa is based on work activities, the salary may be your means of support.

You must be able to speak, read, and write English well enough to participate effectively in your chosen exchange program. In addition to all other qualifications, you are eligible for a J-1 visa only if you intend to return to your home country when the program is over.

To summarize, there are five requirements for getting a J-1 visa:

• You must be coming to the U.S. to work, study, teach, train, consult, or observe U.S. culture in a specific exchange visitor program approved by the DOS.
• You must already have been accepted into the program.
• You must have enough money to cover your expenses while in the United States.
• You must have sufficient knowledge of English to be able to participate effectively in the exchange visitor program you have chosen.
• You must intend to return home when your status expires.

1. An Exchange Visitor Program Approved by the DOS

J-1 visas allow you to study, teach, do research, or participate in cultural activities in the U.S. as part of any program specifically approved by the DOS. Sponsors of acceptable programs may be foreign or U.S. government agencies, private foreign and U.S. organizations, or U.S. educational institutions. Such groups wanting program approval must apply to the DOS. Those making successful applications will be authorized to issue what are known as Certificates of Eligibility (Form DS-2019) to J-1 visa applicants. These can be produced

only through the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). They indicate that the applicant has been accepted into an approved program.

Each approved program appoints an administrator known as the Responsible Officer (RO). The RO plays a formal role in dealing with the immigration process for program applicants.

There are more than 1,500 DOS-approved programs in existence. Current information about exchange visitor programs is available from the DOS at http://exchanges.state.gov.

2. Acceptance Into a Program

Before applying for a J-1 visa, you must first apply for acceptance into the DOS-approved program of your choice. Application is made directly to the program sponsor. The following are the basic J-1 categories:

Au pair (nannies)	Professor or research scholar
Camp counselor
College or university student	Secondary school student
Government visitor	Short-term scholar
Intern	Specialist
International visitor	Summer work travel
Physician	Teacher
	Trainee

Each of these categories has its own eligibility requirements in addition to the general requirements discussed below. Any program you are interested in will work with you to make sure you are eligible.

3. Financial Support

You must establish that you have enough money to cover all expenses while in the United States. Since most exchange visitor programs involve either employment or scholarships, this particular requirement is usually easy to meet. You also must maintain health insurance for the whole time you'll be participating in the program.

4. Knowledge of English

To qualify for a J-1 visa, you must know English well enough to participate effectively in the exchange visitor program. If your program is for students, you should know that most U.S. colleges and universities will not admit people whose native language is not English unless they first pass an English proficiency test, such as the TOEFL. Tests can sometimes be arranged in one's home country. The school will tell you if such a test is required and how to go about taking it.

Consular officials usually let each school decide for itself who is and is not qualified to study there. Still, the consulate may refuse to issue an exchange visitor visa based on its own judgment that you do not know enough English to function as a U.S. student.

5. Intent to Return to Your Home Country

Exchange visitor visas are meant to be temporary. At the time of applying, you must intend to return home when your program in the U.S. is completed. If you have it in mind to take up permanent residence in the U.S., you are legally ineligible for an exchange visitor visa.

The U.S. government knows it is difficult to read minds. Expect to be asked for evidence showing that when you go to the U.S. on a J-1 visa, you are leaving behind possessions, property, or family members that will serve as incentives for your eventual return. It is also...