Two-Year Home Country
Physical
Presence Requirement
The following J-1 aliens are subject to the two-year home country physical
presence requirement:
- Those who are financed by their home government, the government of their
last residence, or the
United States government;
- Those whose skills have been determined by the United States Information
Agency to be in short supply in their home countries,
(per the "skills
list" published by
the United States Information Agency); or
- Those whose exchange programs involve graduate medical education or
clinical training. The requirement is fulfilled by the alien's return
to, and actual physical presence in,
the home country for a period of
two years; this presence may be cumulative and not continuous.
The "home
country" is defined as
the country of nationality, or the country
where the alien last had a residence.
Waivers of the two-year home country physical presence requirement:
- Exceptional hardship to a United States citizen or permanent
resident
alien spouse or child.
- Persecution to the exchange alien on the basis of race, religion,
or political opinion.
- Recommendation of a waiver
based on its being in the national interest
by an interested
government agency, including a state public health
department.
- 'No Objection' Statement: Not available to a foreign medical
graduate engaged in graduate medical education or training.
The two-year home residence requirements also applies to any J-2 spouse
or dependent who accompanied or followed the J-1 to the United States during
the exchange program that subjected the J-1 to the requirement.