Urgent help with 2 Year HRR requirement

U

uktousa2007

Registered Users (C)
Hello, please help. I am a J1 visa holder about to change status to Treaty Investor. My offcial J1 paperwork (DS2019) plainly states that I am not subject to the 2 year HRR requirement. This form was stamped and signed by a consular officer. However, I have recently put another post on a different forum about my Treaty Trader application and a user posted the statement that it didn't matter that I had official paperwork showing my excemption from the 2 year HRR rule - I still had to get a waiver. I am not feeling very stressed as I thought I had covered everythign before submitting my appliation in 3 weeks before my visa expiry - the user also mentioned that you could only get a J visa waiver from a government agency called teh USCIA (not USCIS) when I thought the Department of State dealt with visa waivers. PLEASE PLEASE HELP!!
 
It would help to know what is your J-1 position (what type of program are you with?)
What are the first 2-3 letters of your program number (e.g. P-3-xxxx) ??

Otherwise, here are general responses to your questions:
1- Just because a DS-2019 says that you are not subject to the rule doesn't mean it's the case. The consular officer is not the final authority in determining whether or not you are subject. In this sense, the other person who posted was correct.

2- Not everybody on a J-1 visa is subject to the home residency requirement, and therefore not everybody on a J-1 visa needs a waiver. In this sense, the other person is wrong.

Hope this helps.
 
To JK0274

Thanks very much for replying.

I was sponsored by a flight training school in Florida, the education and living expenses were totally funded by myself. The program number starts P-4-05522.

As I am running out of time I am hoping the USCIS office will accept a notorized copy of my DS2019 as proof of not being subject to the 2 year HRR.

Thanks
 
It depends on your nationality and type of work and the funding source for you in this country. If you are doing clinical(Patient) work OR if you are from INDIA/Pak OR if you have govt. funding received from US gov. Then you are subject to 212(e) regardless of what your DS form or Visa stamp says.
You can ask for advisory opinion from the dept of state if in doubt (http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/info/info_1294.html#advisory)

I would recommend do a google search on these codes that are stamped on DS form. Its not easy to find. Their is also a skills list on the web organized country wise. So depending on which country you belong. You may or may not be subject to 212(e)

Good luck.
Remember, there is always a waiver process if you are subject to 212(e)
 
Response

It appears at first glance that you are not subject, since neither government paid for your expenses, but you still need to check the skill list, which is complicated to follow but can by found here. If your program was not to acquire a skill that is on the skill list for your country, or if your country does not have a skill list (as in some European countries), you should be clear, but nothing is ever definite.

If the USCIS suspects something and asks you for proof, you can then submit an advisory opinion to the DOS waiver review division (formerly USIA, not USCIA or whatever the other poster incorrectly told you; years ago the USIA used to be part of the DOS, but now the part of the DOS that handles waivers is called the Waiver Review Division).

You might even consider doing so now, while you wait on your USCIS application, just in case. If the USCIS asks for it, then you'll already have it (or be close to having it). See the page linked to in the post right above this one for info about advisory opinions.

I never heard that any J-1 holder from India/Pakistan is automatically subject to the HRR - is this really true?
 
jk0274 said:
.......I never heard that any J-1 holder from India/Pakistan is automatically subject to the HRR - is this really true?
Click to expand...

No its not true. But I am from India and my J1 visa was wrongly stamped at the US embassy 3 times in a row even though I was doing basic science research, no clinical job no govt. funding. I simply got advisory opinion from DOS and was able to change to H1, when time came.
 
Thanks for the skills list. It has been a long time that I looked this up.
My IAP66 (Now the DS form) had a code which coincided with 2S on this list: Medical research
And if you look up India in this list their is no 2S, so I was exempt from 212(e)

good luck
 
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