U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual regarding the 2-year foreign residence requirement for the nonimmigrant exchange visitor (J) classification.
The update adds information about how USCIS determines whether the requirement has been met, the evidence a benefit requestor may submit to show compliance with the requirement, and how it considers situations in which it is effectively impossible for the benefit requestor to satisfy the requirement.
It also corrects an omission, from existing Policy Manual content, of one of the foreign medical graduates’ grounds for waivers of the foreign residence requirement. This update includes the ground and clarifies employment requirements.
The guidance is effective immediately on publication.
The J-1 nonimmigrant classification is for exchange visitors who intend to participate in an approved program in the United States for the purpose of teaching, instructing or lecturing, studying, observing, conducting research, consulting, demonstrating special skills, receiving training, or receiving graduate medical education or training.
For more information see here. Also the federal code is here.
Certain J-1 exchange visitors are subject to a foreign residence requirement, which requires that they reside and be physically present in their country of nationality or last legal residence abroad for an aggregate of at least 2 years before they are eligible to apply for an immigrant visa, adjustment of status, or a nonimmigrant H, L, or K visa.
On June 8, 2023, USCIS published comprehensive guidance on the exchange visitor classification in the Policy Manual. USCIS’s latest Oct. 24б 2023 guidance further clarifies how the agency determines whether a benefit requestor has met this foreign residence requirement.
Policy Update Highlights
Policy Manual:
F. Foreign Residence Requirement
Certain J-1 exchange visitors are subject to a 2-year foreign residence requirement.[11] After leaving the United States, J-1 exchange visitors subject to the requirement must reside and be physically present in their country of nationality or last legal residence abroad for an aggregate of at least 2 years before they are eligible to apply for an immigrant visa, adjustment of status, or a nonimmigrant H, L, or K visa.[12] Such country is the country of nationality or legal permanent residence listed on the Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor Status (Form DS-2019), and is referred to herein as the “Home Country.”
These exchange visitors are further prohibited from changing status from J nonimmigrant status to another nonimmigrant status, other than A, G, T, or U, or H-1B for physicians receiving waivers on the basis of a 3-year waiver position.[13]
Exchange visitors participating in the following programs are subject to the foreign residence requirement: [14]
USCIS determines whether the exchange visitor has met the 2-year foreign residence requirement within the context of a subsequent application or petition. USCIS applies the preponderance of the evidence standard when it makes this determination.
Benefit requestors may submit any relevant evidence showing their physical presence in the Home Country. For example, benefit requestors may submit a chart of days spent in the Home Country. Benefit requestors may also submit supporting evidence such as passport stamps, travel receipts, employment records, school transcripts, leases, or affidavits.
Any day where a fraction of a day is spent in the Home Country counts toward satisfaction of the requirement. For example, a travel day, where a fraction of the day is spent in the country of last permanent residence, counts as a day towards satisfying the requirement.
In certain cases, conditions in the applicant’s Home Country, such as war or civil unrest, may make compliance with the 2-year residence requirement effectively impossible. Additionally, some countries have periodically imposed travel bans that have made traveling to the Home Country effectively impossible. In other cases, the applicant’s Home Country is now part of another country due to shifting borders or other political changes. USCIS considers these circumstances, on a case-by-case basis, in consultation with the Department of State.
The update adds information about how USCIS determines whether the requirement has been met, the evidence a benefit requestor may submit to show compliance with the requirement, and how it considers situations in which it is effectively impossible for the benefit requestor to satisfy the requirement.
It also corrects an omission, from existing Policy Manual content, of one of the foreign medical graduates’ grounds for waivers of the foreign residence requirement. This update includes the ground and clarifies employment requirements.
The guidance is effective immediately on publication.
The J-1 nonimmigrant classification is for exchange visitors who intend to participate in an approved program in the United States for the purpose of teaching, instructing or lecturing, studying, observing, conducting research, consulting, demonstrating special skills, receiving training, or receiving graduate medical education or training.
For more information see here. Also the federal code is here.
Certain J-1 exchange visitors are subject to a foreign residence requirement, which requires that they reside and be physically present in their country of nationality or last legal residence abroad for an aggregate of at least 2 years before they are eligible to apply for an immigrant visa, adjustment of status, or a nonimmigrant H, L, or K visa.
On June 8, 2023, USCIS published comprehensive guidance on the exchange visitor classification in the Policy Manual. USCIS’s latest Oct. 24б 2023 guidance further clarifies how the agency determines whether a benefit requestor has met this foreign residence requirement.
Policy Update Highlights
- USCIS uses the preponderance of the evidence standard in determining whether the exchange visitor has met the two-year foreign residence requirement.
- Travel days—where a fraction of the day is spent in the country of nationality or last residence—count toward satisfaction of the foreign residence requirement.
- USCIS will and does consult with the U.S. Department of State on a case-by-case basis when it is impossible for the benefit requestor to satisfy the two-year foreign residence requirement.
- The policy guidance defines the three exceptions to the requirement that a foreign medical graduate (FMG) obtain a contract from a health care facility in an underserved area when seeking a waiver of the two-year foreign residence requirement:
- If the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) requests the waiver, the FMG must practice medicine with the VA for at least three years, but does not need to do so in a U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS)-designated shortage area.
- If an interested federal agency requests the waiver, the FMG may fulfill the obligation by working for the agency for at least three years, rather than by practicing medicine in an HHS-designated shortage area.
- If an interested federal or state agency requests the waiver for an FMG who agrees to practice specialty medicine in a facility located in an HHS-designated geographic area, the FMG may fulfill the obligation by practicing specialty medicine in such a facility for at least three years. The request must demonstrate a shortage of health care professionals able to provide the relevant specialty services.
Policy Manual:
F. Foreign Residence Requirement
Certain J-1 exchange visitors are subject to a 2-year foreign residence requirement.[11] After leaving the United States, J-1 exchange visitors subject to the requirement must reside and be physically present in their country of nationality or last legal residence abroad for an aggregate of at least 2 years before they are eligible to apply for an immigrant visa, adjustment of status, or a nonimmigrant H, L, or K visa.[12] Such country is the country of nationality or legal permanent residence listed on the Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor Status (Form DS-2019), and is referred to herein as the “Home Country.”
These exchange visitors are further prohibited from changing status from J nonimmigrant status to another nonimmigrant status, other than A, G, T, or U, or H-1B for physicians receiving waivers on the basis of a 3-year waiver position.[13]
Exchange visitors participating in the following programs are subject to the foreign residence requirement: [14]
- Programs facilitated by the DOS designated sponsor, Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG), for medical trainees. (ECFMG sponsored medical researchers are generally not subject to the requirement as medical trainees, but may be subject to the requirement on another basis);
- Programs in which the exchange visitor has received any type of government funding or support from the exchange visitor’s home country or country of last legal permanent residence, the U.S. Government, or an international organization, as indicated on the Form DS-2019. (Government-sponsored programs beginning with G in the program number on Form DS-2019 are usually government-funded where the exchange visitor received financial support from the sponsor);
- Programs in which the exchange visitor’s field of endeavor appears on the DOS Exchange Visitor Skills List (list of fields of specialized knowledge or skills in which the services of exchange visitor participants are critically needed) for the exchange visitor’s home country or country of last legal permanent residence; [15] and
- Programs whose purpose is graduate medical training, typically a residency or fellowship.
USCIS determines whether the exchange visitor has met the 2-year foreign residence requirement within the context of a subsequent application or petition. USCIS applies the preponderance of the evidence standard when it makes this determination.
Benefit requestors may submit any relevant evidence showing their physical presence in the Home Country. For example, benefit requestors may submit a chart of days spent in the Home Country. Benefit requestors may also submit supporting evidence such as passport stamps, travel receipts, employment records, school transcripts, leases, or affidavits.
Any day where a fraction of a day is spent in the Home Country counts toward satisfaction of the requirement. For example, a travel day, where a fraction of the day is spent in the country of last permanent residence, counts as a day towards satisfying the requirement.
In certain cases, conditions in the applicant’s Home Country, such as war or civil unrest, may make compliance with the 2-year residence requirement effectively impossible. Additionally, some countries have periodically imposed travel bans that have made traveling to the Home Country effectively impossible. In other cases, the applicant’s Home Country is now part of another country due to shifting borders or other political changes. USCIS considers these circumstances, on a case-by-case basis, in consultation with the Department of State.
RSS Feed