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J-1: Two Year Foreign Residency Requirement

• What is the Foreign Residence Requirement?
  Exchange visitors are nonimmigrants (J-1 visa holders) who participate in the Exchange Visitor Program. This program, which is administered by the Bureau of Consular Affairs, seeks to promote peaceful relations and mutual understanding with other countries through educational and cultural exchange programs. Accordingly, many exchange visitors entering the United States are subject to a requirement that they return to their home country to share with their countrymen the knowledge, experience and impressions gained during their stay in the United States.

• Who is Subject to the Foreign Residence Requirement?
  You are subject to the foreign residence requirement, if you are a (J-1 visa status) participant in the Exchange Vistor Program and:

  • Any part of your participation in the exchange program was paid for, directly or indirectly, by your government or the United States Government.

  • You are from a country which has been designated by Bureau of Consular Affairs as requiring your skills (see the Exchange Visitor Skill List); or

  • You arrived in the United States on or after January 10, 1977 to obtain graduate medical education or training. If you fall into one of the above categories, your dependent spouse and child are also subject to the foreign residence requirement.

• Who may Apply for a Waiver?
  You may be eligible for a waiver for the foreign residence requirement if:

  • You have a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse or child and you can provide evidence that returning to your country would impose exceptional hardship on your spouse or child.

  • You cannot return to your country because you would be subject to persecution because of your race, religion, or political opinion.

  • A U.S. government agency requests a waiver directly from the Bureau of Consular Affairs for you because you are engaged in a project of official interest to the agency.

  • Your country provides a written statement to the director of the Bureau of Consular Affairs stating that your country has no objection to a waiver.

  • A state of the United States, through the state office of public health or its equivalent, sponsors you to work as a physician in a health manpower shortage area within the state for three years as a nonimmigrant in H-1B status.