Lau Michael

Hi,

I am a Canadian working in NYC with a TN1 visa and my wife is working
on a J1 visa. The J1 visa requires the visitor to leave back to the
homeland for 2 yrs after the visa has expired. My wife's J1 is ending
but she does not want to work afterwards as we are planning to have
kids. My question is which is the better scenario? Do they both work
and is there a better solution?

1. Her company is willing to transfer her over to an H-1 for her,
which is relatively easy as she is working for the Board of Education.
After that she would work a little while then quit on the H-1 visa as
then she is not required to go back to the homeland for 2yrs. (Board
of Ed has no quotas on the H1B)

or

2. Is it possible after her J1 ends she can be my dependent on the TN1
without having to go back to Canada for 2yrs?

Looking forward to your reply. Thanks in advance.

ian-mstm

I'm not sure you really want to hear this, but she must either fulfill the 2 year HRR requirement, or apply for and receive a "no objection" waiver... which, by the way, is very difficult to get. The waiver basically says that the financial sponsor (most likely the Canadian or US government... but perhaps not) has "no objection" to her not fulfilling the 2 year requirement. What she does once she returns to Canada is irrelevant... she must return unless she gets the waiver, and I don't believe she can change her status until she does one or the other. It's not a coincidence that a J1 with the 2 year requirement is known as a "dirty J1".

Ian