When does the 2 year home residency start?

[Dejils]

My friend has been out of the country for one year in her home country. The reason was because her lab here had funding issues and requested her to do some work in china while it was resolved. It has come to be seen that the funding issue may not be straightened out and she may not come back. He program has kept her program in status , so it has never officially ended in SEVIS through out of country authorizations and extensions. If she decides to stop her program now. Will the two year start today or will she have credit for the previous year?

 

[vectorP]

Here is the J1 waiver regulation requirement:

these J-1 exchange visitors are required to return to their home country or country of last permanent residency for a period of two years, AFTER their exchange program completion. (see http://www.greencardapply.com/j1/j1_homerequire.htm )

There, the two year should start after her J-1 program finishing, which officially ends in SEVIS for this case.