Old J visa problem - help!

N

ndc121

Registered Users (C)
Hello! I hope someone can give me some advice.
From 98-99 I was on a J-1 visa in high school for my senior year. I arranged it through a program called Academic Year USA (AYUSA).
Following that I got an F-1 visa for college. 99-current. I have recently applied for AOS and now I don't know whether the J visa HRR is going to come back and haunt me.
I do not have the piece of paper (IAP or something) that came with the J visa, but the J-visa itself does not mention anything about the 2yr HRR. I dont know what to do. I didn't know about this until recently and so on my I-485 checked that I am not subject to HRR.
Does the USCIS have it in their database?
Any advice is most appreciated!
Thanks!!
 
IAP 66 form is very important to determine if you were subjet to HRR or not.

Questions
Did you change your status from J-1 to F-1 in the states or did you go back home?
Who paid for your studies here as an exchange student on J-1?

AYUSA should have a copy of your IAP66 but they probably won't help cus they don't like to get involved in immigration matters or even return your desperate phone calls and emails.

The law says that if are subject to HRR if it says so in your Visa annotation or IAP 66 form.
If your exchange program here was fully or partially paid by a goverment or humanitirian organization
or
You acquired any special skill that are in your countries needed skills list during your J-1 year here.
or
If you went to medical school.

You can try to get an opinion from department of state, but I am not sure if they can give you one without a copy of your IAP66.
 
>>
Questions
Did you change your status from J-1 to F-1 in the states or did you go back home?
Who paid for your studies here as an exchange student on J-1?

AYUSA should have a copy of your IAP66 but they probably won't help cus they don't like to get involved in immigration matters or even return your desperate phone calls and emails.
>>

Thank you for your response.

I left the country and got an F-1 visa from the US consulate. I understand that you dont have to fulfill the 2yr hrr if you're just changing to another non-immigrant visa.

The family I stayed with received no compensation. I paid $5k to AYUSA, I presume it was to pay for travel and administrative fees.
The only way that I believe the govt could have contributed is with the payment, or waiver, of my high school tuition fees.

Will the USCIS be able to find out whether I'm subject to HRR?
Maybe AYUSA still issues the same IAP's that they did back then, it might be a way of finding out.
 
IAP66 AND VISA annotation are used by USCIS to determine whether you were subject to HRR or not.
A lot of people are confused about this because back in 98 they didn't have to type the HRR requriment on the visa.
You can get an advisory opinion from the Department of State and see if can issue an opinion without an IAP66 form or you can just take a chance and see what USCIS decides. If you get advisory opinion from DoS than USCIS can't dispute that. It's free an will take a couple of months.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/info/info_1294.html#advisory

This is helpful too.

http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache.../j1_2year_rule_faq.html+j1+waiver+iap66&hl=en
 
AOS_GUY said:
IAP66 AND VISA annotation are used by USCIS to determine whether you were subject to HRR or not.
A lot of people are confused about this because back in 98 they didn't have to type the HRR requriment on the visa.
Click to expand...

I had J-1 visa in 1998, and it was nothing in IAP66 on HRR, but on the visa stamp in my passport it was:
'the bearer is not subject to section...214?' (I forgot what section number it was), which meant I had no requirement to go to home country for 2 years after termination of J-1.
 
I left the country and got an F-1 visa from the US consulate. I understand that you dont have to fulfill the 2yr hrr if you're just changing to another non-immigrant visa.

Not true. I came to the US in 91 on J-1. On my IAP 66 nothing was marked regarding HRR. I wasn't even aware of me being subject to it,until the question came up in a conversation with the int.student advisor. Was not part of the visa stamp either. But I found out the hard way trying to change to H visa that eventhough it is not stated on the IAP 66 or stamped as part of the visa in your pasport does not necessary mean that you are exempt. It was a very long and frustrating period trying to get rid of the HRR without going home and stay there 2 years. At the end it did work out. But this HRR will haunt you.
Just my 0.02.
 
Agron is right. I think you can change your status to another non-immigrant visa out of the USA even though you are subject to HRR, but you couldn't change without living the USA. (unless you get a waiver)
 
If you are on the J-1 visa and subject to the 2-year home residency requirement, you may obtain certain visas, such as the O-1 if you leave the country to pick it up without obtaining a waiver. You cannot however apply for the H-1 without first obtaining a waiver. (info@thevisaexpert.com)
 
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