On March 1, USCIS began transferring certain cases to the Potomac Service Center (PSC) from other service centers to balance workloads. The affected casework includes Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, filed by F-1 and M-1 students seeking Optional Practical Training (OPT) and J-1 dependents.
Certain exchange visitors (J-1) are subject to a two-year home-country physical presence requirement which requires you to return to your home country for at least two years at the end of your exchange visitor program. This is also known as the foreign residence requirement under U.S. law, Immigration and Nationality Act, section 212(e).
USCIS executive summary from the 11/2/11 teleconference regarding the adjudication of J-1 Exchange Visitor waivers of the two-year foreign residence requirement.
Media Note
Office of the Spokesman Washington, DC
May 25, 2011
Also available in Russian
On June 1 the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) will launch a new J-1 Visa Exchange Visitor Program website.
New Regulations for J-1 Visa - Summer Work Travel
Taken Question Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC
Q: Please provide details on the specific aspects of the new regulations for J-1 visas. What is the intention of these new regulations? Are we confident that these new regulations will protect recipients from abuse?
A: The Summer Work Travel (SWT) program has provided thousands of international college and university students an opportunity to visit the United States and experience the American people and culture firsthand.
Reference Document: STATE 057336, 06/09
TO ALL DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR POSTS
1. The revised 2009 J-1 visa Exchange Visitor Skills List was published in the Federal Register (Volume 74, Number 82) on April 30, 2009.
2. The new Skills List is effective on June 28, 2009.
USCIS does not believe that a J-2 dependent of a J-1 foreign medical graduate can change to H-1B status, or any other employment-authorized nonimmigrant classification (with the exception of T or U status) until the principal Conrad State 30 waiver recipient has fulfilled his or her three-year employment obligations in a medically underserved area.However, USCIS is open to reviewing current regulations and considereing whether steps should be taken to enable such J-2 dependents to engage in employment while in H-4 status.
Physicians seeking a permanent employment opportunity in the United States and employers seeking to sponsor a physician for lawful permanent residency based on permanent employment in the United States must go through a multi-step process.
Foreign nationals and employers must determine whether the foreign national is eligible for lawful permanent residency under one of several, acceptable paths to lawful permanent residency.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) advises the public that Public Law 112-176, signed by the President on Sept. 28, 2012, extends the following USCIS programs until Sept. 30, 2015:
Program Details
Students in the following fields will be able to obtain STEM OPT extensions for 24 months: