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:
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.
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