• Please read the handout on the Two-Year Home Country Physical Presence Requirement for J-1 Exchange Visitors – click here.

• The intent of the two-year home country physical presence requirement is to have the home country benefit from the exchange visitor's experience in the United States. Exchange visitors come to this country for a specific objective such as a program of study or a research project. The requirement is intended to prevent a participant who is subject to the requirement from staying longer than necessary for the objective, and to ensure that he or she will spend at least two years in the home country before coming back to the United States for a long term stay.

• If you are subject to this requirement, it is generally noted on the visa page and/or in the lower left-hand corner of the Form DS-2019, with the notation “212(e) does apply.”

• If you are subject to the requirement, then, until you have "resided and been physically present" for a total of two years in either the country of nationality or the country of legal permanent residence, you are not eligible for:

• An H, L, or immigrant visa, or for H, L, or immigrant status in the United States.  H includes temporary workers, trainees, and their dependents.   L includes intracompany transferees and their dependents.  An immigrant is the same as a permanent resident, or holder of a "green card."

• A change of status, inside the United States, from J to any other nonimmigrant classification except A or G.  The A classification includes the home government's diplomats and representatives to the United States government, and their dependents.  The G classification includes the home government's representatives to international organizations, such as the United Nations, and their dependents.

• You are subject to the requirement if:

1. Your J-1 participation is or was funded in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, for the purpose of exchange, by your home government or the United States government;


2. As a J-1 exchange visitor, you are acquiring a skill that is in short supply in your home country or country of legal permanent residence, according to the U.S. government's "Exchange Visitor Skills List"


3. You have participated as a J-1 in a graduate medical education or training program, i.e. a residency, internship, or fellowship, sponsored by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG).

• If you are subject, then your J-2 dependents are also subject to the requirement. If you have ever been subject to the requirement in the past, and has neither obtained a waiver nor fulfilled it by spending two years in the home country, the requirement still applies - even if a more current Form DS-2019 reflects no basis for such a requirement.

• Waivers of the two-year home country physical presence requirement are difficult to obtain, and normally require the services of an immigration attorney. There are four grounds for waiver of the requirement:

1. Exceptional hardship to the spouse or an unmarried minor child who is a citizen or permanent resident of the United States.


2. Fear of persecution.  If you can demonstrate that, because of race, religion, political opinions, or nationality, you would face persecution by the home government if you went back to your home country, you may qualify for a waiver.


3. Interest of a U.S. government agency.  If your participation in research or a project sponsored by a U.S. government agency is of sufficient importance to that agency, it can apply to the U.S. State Department for a waiver for the scholar — in its interest, not the scholar’s.


4. A "no-objection" statement. Your country's Embassy in Washington can indicate in a direct letter to the U.S. State Department that it has no objection to your receiving a waiver, or the foreign ministry in the capital in the home country can write to the U.S. Embassy there.  A "no-objection" statement will usually not lead to a waiver if the exchange visitor has received more than $2,000 in funding from the U.S. government.

• For further information on the two-year home country physical presence requirement and application for waiver of the requirement, please look at the U.S. Department of State's online information on these topics: http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/info/info_1288.html

• Please contact Claudia Zitzmann, Associate Director, International Student and Scholar Services, at czitzmann@miami.edu or at (305) 284-2928 if you have any questions regarding the two-year home country physical presence requirement for J-1 scholars and J-2 dependents.