Switching from J2 to J1

[jansuk]

I'm on J1 research scholar since Oct 05 and my J1 will expire Oct 07, that's the end of my postdoc.
My wife is J2 and also on visitorship for her first year at the hospital/college. However, she got a scholarship and permission from our home country (Thailand) to have her postdoc for another 2 years (after the first year visitorship ends). At first, our international service advisors told her that she can switch J2 to J1 without troubles. But, she was told yesterday that they just reviewed the rules and found that my wife had been in the US on J2 for over 6 months, so she couldn't switch to J1 due to a "12 month bar" rule.
This confuses us so much. She'll be in the US no more than 3 years (J2 + J1) so I don't know if there's such bar. And continuing on J2 isn't a good choice as I'll be going back one year before she finishes her postdoc.
You guys got any solutions to this? Thanks in advance.

 

[madgu-gc2005]

I'm on J1 research scholar since Oct 05 and my J1 will expire Oct 07, that's the end of my postdoc.
My wife is J2 and also on visitorship for her first year at the hospital/college. However, she got a scholarship and permission from our home country (Thailand) to have her postdoc for another 2 years (after the first year visitorship ends). At first, our international service advisors told her that she can switch J2 to J1 without troubles. But, she was told yesterday that they just reviewed the rules and found that my wife had been in the US on J2 for over 6 months, so she couldn't switch to J1 due to a "12 month bar" rule.
This confuses us so much. She'll be in the US no more than 3 years (J2 + J1) so I don't know if there's such bar. And continuing on J2 isn't a good choice as I'll be going back one year before she finishes her postdoc.
You guys got any solutions to this? Thanks in advance.

Those who are on J-2 cannot convert into J-1 if their stay in US exceeds more than 6 months. To get her J-1 she should leave the country and come back with new J-1 stamp on her passport. Might be risky but this is the only way she can get her J-1. I tried for my wife (conversion from J-2 to J-1 in 2002) but i was told at that time she should leave US and come back with fresh J-1 visa on her passport. We did not do it.