J1 holder overstaying in US

[smsalto]

What options does J1 holder who overstayed in US for couple of years have?
1. Can he return to a home country without being tracked down by CIS?
2. Can he enroll into university and get F1 visa legally? Granted, in that case he'd still have to go to a foreign country but if #1 is true, that can be done fairly easily, right?
3. Any other options?

 

[elcupacabras]

Yep.
You can leave the US and go to a home country no problem. No one will track you down. You will have problems however if/when you return to the US. An overstay of 180 days incurs a 3 year ban. An overstay of 360+ days = a 10 year ban. As you say youve overstayed a couple of years then it will be the 10 year ban.

 

[nscagony]

J1 is a D/S visa so there is a way to argue that no unlawful presence was accrued. Get a good attorney and give it a try. Even if you can avoid the 10 year ban, its not guaranteed that the consulate will issue you an F1 visa though since you displayed a pretty blatant disregard for immigration laws before. Why would they trust you to leave after your studies are done?