LoginNews LetterNews02/05/06: H1B visa cap The visa-cap has increased from 80k to 90k in the past year reflecting increasing demand for... (read more) |
J-1 VisaExchange visitors are grouped into the following categories:
Obtained money from either their home government or the U.S. government; Their occupation is listed on the Exchange Visitor Skills List; or They are coming to the U.S. to obtain graduate medical education or training. It can be difficult to obtain a "J waiver," or exception, to this two-year foreign residency requirement. This is true even if the foreign national has married a U.S. citizen during the course of his or her stay in the United States. Nevertheless, in many cases, J visaholders can obtain waivers. OBTAINING WAIVERS There are four methods by which a foreign national may obtain a waiver of the two-year residency requirement. Each method requires the approval of one or more U.S. government agencies. 1. THE "NO OBJECTION" LETTER This the most commont type of J-1 waiver, but people who are in the U.S. on J-1 visas for medical training are not eligibe for these types of waivers. The government which financed the alien\'s program, or which requested that the alien\'s skill be placed on the Skills List, may write a letter to the State Department stating that it has no objection to a waiver of the foreign residency requirement for a particular alien. If both the State Department and the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) concur, the waiver is granted. However, graduates in medical education are ineligible to receive a waiver based upon a no objection letter. USCIS requires that the Consulate send a letter directly to the State Department to obtain this waiver. The main obstacle to obtaining these waivers is the unwillingness of certain Consulates to issue these letters. 2. THE HARDSHIP WAIVER The alien may obtain a waiver if the imposition of the foreign residence requirement would impose "exceptional hardship" on his or her U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse or children. For example, a hardship waiver might be granted if the alien were married to a U.S. citizen, had one or more citizen children, and the family would be forced by the residency requirement either to separate or to reside together in a war-torn country. A hardship waiver might also be granted if a family member were suffering for a life-threatening disease for which treatment was not available in the country where the alien was a citizen. Persons facing dramatically negative situations due to family conditions or conditions in their home country may consider this option. 3. THE PERSECUTION WAIVER The foreign residency requirement may be waived by the CIS where it is determined by the State Department that the alien cannot return to his country of nationality or last residence because of persecution he or she would be likely to encounter, based on race, religion or political opinion. 4. THE INTERESTED GOVERNMENT AGENCY WAIVER An agency of the U.S. government may write to the State Department requesting a waiver of the foreign residency requirement for a particular alien. For instance, the Department of Health and Human Services could write such a letter on behalf of a scientist if it was shown that the scientist\'s research might lead to a vaccine or cure for a serious disease. If the State Department and the CIS agree, and they almost invariably do, the waiver would be granted. Besides the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the other federal government agencies most likely to write such letters on behalf of IMGs are the Veterans Administration (VA) and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). In December 2002, HHS begin sponsorship of primary care physicians working in medically-underserved areas. Individual states may sponsor up to 30 physicians per year for J waivers through their departments of health. 49 states as well as the District of Columbia and Guam have established such programs. |
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