If you are subject to the requirement, then, until you have "resided and been physically present" for a total of two years in either your country of nationality or your country of legal permanent residence, you are not eligible for:

• An H, L, or immigrant visa, or for H, L, or immigrant status in the United States. H includes temporary workers, trainees, and their dependents. L includes intracompany transferees and their dependents. An immigrant is the same as a permanent resident, or holder of a "green card."  
   
• A change of your status, inside the United States, from J to any other nonimmigrant classification except A or G. The A classification includes your home government's diplomats and representatives to the United States government, and their dependents. The G classification includes your government's representatives to international organizations, such as the United Nations, and their dependents.

•  If your J-1 participation is or was funded in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, for the purpose of exchange, by your home government or the United States government;
• If, as a J-1 Exchange Visitor, you are acquiring a skill that is in short supply in your home country, according to the United States government's "Exchange Visitor Skills List."
•  If you have participated as a J-1 in a graduate medical education or training program, i.e. a residency, internship, or fellowship, sponsored by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates; or
• If you are the J-2 dependent of an Exchange Visitor who is subject to the requirement.

If you have ever been subject to the requirement in the past, and have neither obtained a waiver nor fulfilled it by spending two years in your country, it still holds-even if a more current Form DS-2019 reflects no basis for such a requirement.

"Occasionally, the foreign residence requirement is not correctly annotated on the Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor (J-1) Status (Form DS-2019) or on the visa foil or both. The absence or inclusion of such a notation on a DS-2019 or visa foil that the exchange visitor is subject to the requirement is not conclusive. (USCIS) Officers must look to the Exchange Visitor Skills List, funding, or other reasons that may make a J-1 exchange visitor subject to the requirement when making a determination as to whether the J-1 exchange visitor is eligible for change of status to certain classifications, or adjustment of status." The Waiver Review Division of the U.S. Department of State always makes the final determination.   USCIS Policy Manual

The Exchange Visitor Skills List contains fields of specialized knowledge and skills.  They are necessary for the development of an exchange visitor's home country. You are subject to the two-year home-country physical presence requirement when you complete your exchange visitor program - if your skill is on your country’s Skills List. 

On Monday, December 9, 2024, the US Department of State published Public Notice 12555 in the Federal Register, updating the Exchange Visitor Skills List. The new Skills List becomes effective on December 9, 2024 and is retroactive.

• J-1 and J-2 nonimmigrant exchange visitors who were subject to the Two-Year Home Country Physical Presence requirement (INA 212e) at the time of their admission to the US or acquisition of J status based on designations in a previously published Skills List, will no longer be subject to this requirement if their country of citizenship or legal permanent residence is not designated in this revised list, regardless of the notation on their US entry visa in the passport or Forms DS-2019.
• Countries removed from the Skills List include the People’s Republic of China, India, Brazil, Turkey, and South Korea, among others. Please review the Public Notice to determine if your country, has been removed.

Background: Some participants in J-1 Exchange Visitor programs, and their J-2 dependents, become subject to the Two-Year Physical Presence Requirement, which has consequences following completion of their programs. There are multiple ways a person can become subject, including: funding from their home government, certain U.S. and international government agencies and organizations; participation in the Fulbright Program; medical residency programs; and working in a field/profession listed on the Exchange Visitor Skills List for their home country (country of citizenship or last legal permanent residence upon entry to the US or change of status to J-1/J-2).  Individuals who are subject to the Two-year Home Country Physical Presence Requirement are obligated to return to their country of citizenship or last legal permanent residence for an aggregate period of two years upon completion of their J program, and are prohibited from changing immigration status within the United States, obtaining H, L or K status, or adjusting status to US permanent resident until the requirement is satisfied or waived.

• This notice does not remove application of the Two-year Physical Presence requirement to J-1s and J-2s whose subjectivity is based on criteria other than the Skills List (such as funding source or type of exchange program). 

Public Notice 12555 also states that the Department of State intends to review the Skills List every three years for possible, additional updates.

A J-1 J visa holder who has any questions about their individual situation, should contact ISSS.

Read how your funding sources affect your 2 year requirement here.

Read about the J Waiver Application Process here.

Please read here for more information about the limitations of the J-1 Status.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued policy guidance in the USCIS Policy
Manual regarding the 2-year foreign residence requirement for the nonimmigrant exchange visitor (J) visa classification. Read more at www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/policy-manual-updates/20231024-ForeignResidenceRequirement.pdf

The Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual advises that after DOS renders a favorable 212(e) waiver recommendation and forwards that recommendation to DHS, "an exchange visitor is no longer eligible for an extension of program beyond the end date shown on the current Form DS-2019 even though they may not have completed the maximum duration of participation permitted for the category." Program sponsors and exchange visitors should receive a copy of the DOS waiver recommendation letter. Under the policy, if DOS denies the request for a waiver recommendation, extensions may be processed in the usual manner.

Please note that International Student and Scholar Services may not assist with J-1 Program Waivers as the US Department of State believes this to be a conflict of interest for J program sponsors.

Review the Eligibility Information webpage. If you are still unsure if you are subject, you can request that the Department of State, Waiver Review Division conducts an Advisory Opinion. An Advisory Opinion is a review of your exchange visitor program documents to determine if you are subject to this requirement. You must have an Advisory Opinion to change your immigration status, and the Advisory Opinion process can take multiple months to receive, so please plan accordingly. 

* If you are applying for an Advisory Opinion, please be sure to mail the following documents the US Department of State:

• Legible copies of every/all Form DS-2019/IAP-66 ever issued to you;
• Legible copies of your passport
• Legible copies of all J Exchange Visitor visa stamp(s) in your passport
• A self-addressed, stamped envelope.
• If you are receiving Temple funding, include a letter signed by your PI/Faculty Mentor that answers the following questions:
  • What was the name of the pertinent grant
  • What are the names of the PI and Co-PIs?
  • Who applied for the grant?
  • Which institution provided the grant?
  • Was the job opportunity open to any successful candidate?
  • Were you specifically named in the grant application?
  • Was grant money from which you were paid earmarked for specifically for you in connection with your participation in Temple's J-1 Program?

BEFORE YOU REQUEST A WAIVER, TALK TO ISSS FIRST!!!

There are four grounds for waiver of the requirement.

• Exceptional hardship to your spouse or a unmarried minor child who is a citizen or permanent resident of the United States. If, for example, you had a child who was born in the United States and was therefore a citizen of this country, and if the child had a serious medical condition that could not be treated in your country, you might obtain a waiver because the child would suffer a hardship by going there with you to live.
• Fear of persecution. If you can demonstrate that, because of your race, religion, political opinions, or nationality, you would face persecution by your home government if you went back to your country, you might qualify for a waiver.
• Interest of a United States government agency. If your participation in research or a project sponsored by a United States government agency is of sufficient importance to that agency, it can apply to Department of State for a waiverfor you-in its interest, not yours.
• A "no-objection" statement (not permitted for medical trainees). Your country's embassy in Washington can indicate in a direct letter to Department of State that it has no objection to your receiving a waiver, or the foreign ministry in your capital at home can write to the United States embassy there. A "no-objection" statement may not lead to a waiver if the Exchange Visitor has received more than $2,000 in funding from the United States government.

Please talk to ISSS before submitting a waiver! 

Please note that International Student and Scholar Services may not assist with J-1 Program Waivers as the US Department of State believes this to be a conflict of interest for J program sponsors. Read more here.

• FAQs: Waiver of the Exchange Visitor Two-Year Home-Country Physical Presence Requirement
• Eligibility for a Waiver of the Exchange Visitor Two-Year Home-Country Physical Presence Requirement