j1 VISA AND THE 2 YEARS ROLES OF RESIDENCE

M

maria2005

New Member
Dear Sir,
I am in the USA on a J1 visa as I got scholarship for 10 months from
columbia university, I have the 2 years restriction on my visa. How can
i get away with the 2 years restriction role? my parents live in the
USA and are Green Card holders they are waiting to get the citizenship in
counple of months, does that help me, can I apply for green card? .
My boy frined is an american citizen, does it help if we get married or
do i still need to return to my home country and stay 2 years before
going back to the USA?
What if i apply for a Master program one year or a Phd ...can I change my visa status from J1 to F1

Thanks
maria
 
maria2005 said:
Dear Sir,
I am in the USA on a J1 visa as I got scholarship for 10 months from
columbia university, I have the 2 years restriction on my visa. How can
i get away with the 2 years restriction role? my parents live in the
USA and are Green Card holders they are waiting to get the citizenship in
counple of months, does that help me, can I apply for green card? .
My boy frined is an american citizen, does it help if we get married or
do i still need to return to my home country and stay 2 years before
going back to the USA?
What if i apply for a Master program one year or a Phd ...can I change my visa status from J1 to F1

Thanks
maria
Click to expand...

As far as i know, a J1 visa holder cannot change status if there is a 2yr home country restriction. The best option for you would probably be to get a J1 waiver as soon as possible and then go ahead with your green card processing. It might help if your J1 status is extended by your university (before you apply for waiver to Department of State) since getting a waiver might take some time depending on the waiver basis.
Checkout the following website.
http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/info/info_1296.html
Good Luck.
 
Consult an experienced attorney.
You have your parents living in the US and your future husband is a US citizen. I do not know if you can get a hardship waiver. I heard once of a J-1 student who got the waiver as he has a US wife and kids.

It is a good idea to join a school before applying for a waiver.
 
You can get No Objection waiver or Hardship waiver from State Dept. Check their website for details. It is a lengthy process of about 6 to 8 months from the moment you submit the request to State Dept. After that you have to go through your embassy to get the approval from you gov't that they don't object you staying in US. Then Embassy sends the letter to State Dept and you have to wait for 12 weeks for them to see it. With all the possibilities for paperwork getting stuck, it easily comes to 6 to 8 months. Good luck!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top