How to legally stay in the US when on a J1 VISA?

E

EdMarchand

Registered Users (C)
Hello everybody,

I have questions about how to legally stay in the US when on a J1 VISA...

First, let me explain who/where I am today:

I am a 24 year old student from France who arrived in San Francisco in late July 2009 to spend a year studying at the San Francisco State University.
The year went extremely well and, once it was over, I found two different internships in a field related to my studies.
These two internships were therefore approved as "Academic Trainings" by the university.
As a result, my DS-2019 has been extended twice and is now valid until January 15th 2011. My J1 VISA did however expire in May 2010.

Aside from these "facts", you should also know that I am gay and fell in love with a wonderful man, someone whom I absolutely DO NOT WANT to abandon here on January 15th!
Because of our financial situation, we also know that having him come live with me in France is fairly unrealistic.

So far, the only options that I know I have in order to legally stay here past January 15th 2011 is being hired on a H1B VISA.

Is this really the ONE and ONLY solution I have or would there be other ways, beside the H1B route, to legally stay here past January 15th 2011?

Thanks for reading me!

Take care.

Ed.
 
Hi Ed,

I was in a similar situation however I am getting married in order to stay with my fiancee.
in your situation you are right about the H1B visa. That is your best bet to stay in the US. However, like andersno24 said, you first have to apply for a J1 waiver and then the "No Objection Waiver". This basically means that you have to ask permission to both your home country and the US to waive away the two year rule that was put on your J1 visa. If you do not apply for this you are not allowed to receive any other form of visa.

So first apply for the J1 waiver.
And is there a company that would hire you? This is also tricky because companies are only allowed to hire foreigners if they have a 'special' skillset which is hard to find in the US. Meaning, you have to find a company who needs to prove you are the only one who could fill that job.
If you do find a company who is willing and able to do that you can immediatly start the H1B visa application after you received the J1 waiver.

Hope this helps you, if not let me know!

Good luck
 
About the waiver...

First of all, thanks to you both for responding to my thread!

I do not think I need a waiver as my J1 VISA clearly states that "bearer is not subject to section 212(E). Two year rule does not apply."
I've always understood this as being exempted from the two year home residency requirement that usually comes w/ a J1 VISA... I hope I didn't misread this...

As for how to stay here, I am thoroughly looking for an H1B possibility, but just in case this wouldn't lead to anything, I am also starting to look at getting a "J1 Training" VISA (through intraxinc.com for example).

Could that be an option as well?
Could I be granted a J1 Training VISA from here, in the US or would I have to go back to France and then to the US embassy there in order to get one?

Thanks again to you both!

Have a great day!

Take care.

Ed.
 
I think (but Im not sure!) you have to go back to France because it is a different visa then you had.

Btw, you're really lucky you're not subject to the two year rule. Do you know why you're not subject to section 212(E)?
 
If you're 100% sure that you're not subject to the 2 yr HR requirement (which it sounds like this is the case), then provided you didn't enter the US with the intent to stay (which it sounds like you didn't) then one option you could pursue is to marry your significant other and go through the AOS process to obtain a GC. This can be done in the US without having to leave :)
 
Unfortunately you can't get a K visa with a same sex marriage. We can only hope that the country will move forward and change this. Until then, you'll prob be best off following Anderson24's advice.
 
Murck, I have absolutely no idea why I'm not subject to the section 212(E) (I'm just WAY GLAD about it :)! I'm gonna go see a lawyer about all this though, so I'll probably ask him/her why. I'll keep you posted.

Yeah no, unfortunately, marriage to my significant other is not an option :-(. Hopefully, President Obama will do away with DOMA soon... #crossing fingers#!
 
you need to apply asap to change your status, they will give you a new number on the application and you go from there.
go here and apply.
 
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