sv213

Does anyone know whether the 2-year residency requirement (if you're on a J1 visa, you can only stay a maximum of three years in the US and you have to return to your home country for at least two years before trying to come back to the US)
applies to British citizens?

Is there a possibility of switching from a J1 visa to a H1 during the course of the three years? I've been offered a job with NASA on a J1 but don't want to be forced to leave after three years if everything works out there.

Thanks a lot.

Regards,
Sanjay

Ingo Pakleppa

On Mon, 12 Aug 2002 04:55:08 -0700, sv213 wrote:


    > Does anyone know whether the 2-year residency requirement (if you're on a J1 visa,
    > you can only stay a maximum of three years in the US and you have to return to your
    > home country for at least two years before trying to come back to the US) applies
    > to British citizens?
    > Is there a possibility of switching from a J1 visa to a H1 during the course of
    > the three years? I've been offered a job with NASA on a J1 but don't want to be
    > forced to leave after three years if everything works out there.

Not all J-1s carry the HRR. Citizenship sometimes does make a difference, sometimes
it does not at all. The HRR can be imposed based on a couple of different criteria:

- funding by either the US or your own government (applies to all citizens but can
be waived)
- you received graduate medical training in the US (most waivers are unavailable)
- the skills you acquired in the US are on the skills list for your particular
country. This depends on your country of citizenship.

Ingo