I had a J-1 visa in the past and I am subject to the 2-year residency requirement. Can I apply for an O visa? Can I apply for an E visa? Can I apply for an H-1B visa?

Participants of some J-1 visa programs are subject to a 2 year home residency requirement. This means, that the J-1 visa participants will have to return to their home country for at least 2 years after the completion of the exchange visitor program.

Before you meet the 2 year home residency requirement, you cannot apply for a green card and you cannot apply for any of the following visas:

• K-1 fiancé(e) visa
• H visa
• L visa
• H-4 or L-2 spousal visa

However, you can still apply for the following visas even if you are subject to the 2-year home residency requirement:

• E-1 treaty trader visa
• E-2 investor visa
• O-1 visa
• TN visa

For example, if you are subject to the 2-year home residency requirement and you are married to a U.S. citizen, you would not be able to adjust status in the U.S. before you return to your home country for 2 years/you are granted a waiver. However, you could apply for example for a TN visa and live and work in the U.S.

If you are subject to the 2-year home residency requirement, you could also apply for a waiver.