J-1 Visa and 2 Year HRR

[nessa1512 0]

Hello everyone, I hope someone can help me. :-)

My fiancé and I are getting married this month and we're just starting on our research on what we have to do in order to get the AOS going.

I am currently here on a J-1 visa and am completing an internship. According to my visa and the DS-2019 I am not subject to the 2 year home residence requirement. That makes sense to me - I am not receiving any government funding.

My big worry is my previous J-1 visa. I studied at a university here in the States and I received a student loan/ grant from my home country Germany (Bafög, if anyone knows what I'm talking about.. :-)).

Even on that visa and DS-2019 there was no remark regarding any 2 year rule. I am still worried I may be subject to it though.. Does anyone have experience with that? I read that the entry on the Visa (or DS-2019) may be inaccurate and the USCIS investigates the whole subject a little more thoroughly than the Embassy employees that issue the J-1 visas.

I tried researching if Bafög is considered government funding or not and couldn't find any information..

I am despereate for some information regarding my worries and who knows, maybe someone who received Bafög and applied for AOS while here on a J-1 visa will read this. ;-)

[asha_d81 0]

Hello everyone, I hope someone can help me. :-)

My fiancé and I are getting married this month and we're just starting on our research on what we have to do in order to get the AOS going.

I am currently here on a J-1 visa and am completing an internship. According to my visa and the DS-2019 I am not subject to the 2 year home residence requirement. That makes sense to me - I am not receiving any government funding.

My big worry is my previous J-1 visa. I studied at a university here in the States and I received a student loan/ grant from my home country Germany (Bafög, if anyone knows what I'm talking about.. :-)).

Even on that visa and DS-2019 there was no remark regarding any 2 year rule. I am still worried I may be subject to it though.. Does anyone have experience with that? I read that the entry on the Visa (or DS-2019) may be inaccurate and the USCIS investigates the whole subject a little more thoroughly than the Embassy employees that issue the J-1 visas.

I tried researching if Bafög is considered government funding or not and couldn't find any information..

I am despereate for some information regarding my worries and who knows, maybe someone who received Bafög and applied for AOS while here on a J-1 visa will read this. ;-)

Hi nessa

I was on the J-1 visa and subject to the 2-yr requirement and it was actually printed on my visa and the DS2019. I think that if it doesn't say anything on your visa or DS form that the restriction does not apply to you. And also not sure if there really are set guidelines as to what would make u subject to the 2-yr restriction because I have a friend who did the same J-1program as I did, neither of us were being funded from the government or anyone else for that matter, and I got the restriction but she didn't...

Hope this helps and good luck to you :-)

[mrs. wife! 3]

Hi nessa

I was on the J-1 visa and subject to the 2-yr requirement and it was actually printed on my visa and the DS2019. I think that if it doesn't say anything on your visa or DS form that the restriction does not apply to you. And also not sure if there really are set guidelines as to what would make u subject to the 2-yr restriction because I have a friend who did the same J-1program as I did, neither of us were being funded from the government or anyone else for that matter, and I got the restriction but she didn't...

Hope this helps and good luck to you :-)

I was in the J1 visa too and the rule didn't apply. It states on the visa if does or does not apply. Also, the 2 HRR is not about being funded by the government. I understand its because you are going to be out of your country for a period of time to learn and then should be back to apply the acknowledgment you gained from the internship to your country.

Somebody here would be able to explain exactly what is it for. But it's something around that.

In my opinion you are worrying for no reason. If in your visa and DS says the rule does not apply, then it does not apply

Good luck! =)

[bestofboth 1]

Hello everyone, I hope someone can help me. :-)

My fiancé and I are getting married this month and we're just starting on our research on what we have to do in order to get the AOS going.

I am currently here on a J-1 visa and am completing an internship. According to my visa and the DS-2019 I am not subject to the 2 year home residence requirement. That makes sense to me - I am not receiving any government funding.

My big worry is my previous J-1 visa. I studied at a university here in the States and I received a student loan/ grant from my home country Germany (Bafög, if anyone knows what I'm talking about.. :-)).

Even on that visa and DS-2019 there was no remark regarding any 2 year rule. I am still worried I may be subject to it though.. Does anyone have experience with that? I read that the entry on the Visa (or DS-2019) may be inaccurate and the USCIS investigates the whole subject a little more thoroughly than the Embassy employees that issue the J-1 visas.

I tried researching if Bafög is considered government funding or not and couldn't find any information..

I am despereate for some information regarding my worries and who knows, maybe someone who received Bafög and applied for AOS while here on a J-1 visa will read this. ;-)

I was subject to the HRR for a J1 visa that i was on as a student because i guess the immigration people mistook my student loan for government financing. It was printed on my DS2019 but not my visa and even then I was given varying advice on whether the restriction applied to me or not. I went ahead and applied for the waiver on the basis of 'no objection' and it was granted. If it's not on your DS2019 or J1 i would doubt that you have the restriction.

[KIMCORENE 0]

Hello everyone, I hope someone can help me. :-)

My fiancé and I are getting married this month and we're just starting on our research on what we have to do in order to get the AOS going.

I am currently here on a J-1 visa and am completing an internship. According to my visa and the DS-2019 I am not subject to the 2 year home residence requirement. That makes sense to me - I am not receiving any government funding.

My big worry is my previous J-1 visa. I studied at a university here in the States and I received a student loan/ grant from my home country Germany (Bafög, if anyone knows what I'm talking about.. :-)).

Even on that visa and DS-2019 there was no remark regarding any 2 year rule. I am still worried I may be subject to it though.. Does anyone have experience with that? I read that the entry on the Visa (or DS-2019) may be inaccurate and the USCIS investigates the whole subject a little more thoroughly than the Embassy employees that issue the J-1 visas.

I tried researching if Bafög is considered government funding or not and couldn't find any information..

I am despereate for some information regarding my worries and who knows, maybe someone who received Bafög and applied for AOS while here on a J-1 visa will read this. ;-)

You do have the option of checking with the Dept of State to see if the requirement applies to you, since you are unsure. You can request an advisory opinion. Use this link for further info:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/info/info_1288.html

[nessa1512 0]

You do have the option of checking with the Dept of State to see if the requirement applies to you, since you are unsure. You can request an advisory opinion. Use this link for further info:

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/info/info_1288.html

Thank you guys for your replies!

I looked at the Advisory Opinion thing before and started filling it out. Until it asked me if I received Government funding from either the US or my home country. This is exactly what I am unsure about. How would I answer that question in that case? I don't want to mark "yes" and them tell me that I have the 2 year rule based on that, or mark "no" and them finding out that the "Bafög" I received is considered Government funding and thinking I answered unfaithfully..

Maybe I'm thinking about this all way too much.. But there's a lot at risk.

[KIMCORENE 0]

In your original post, you stated the "Bafog" was a student loan/grant...which is it, because that could make a world of difference. A loan is repayable and a grant is not, though technically, either could be considered government funding. Keep in mind, this is not the only thing that makes you subject to the HRR; if your area of training is on your country's skill list, then even if you did not receive government funding, you would still be subject. Why not check with your consulate? They should be able to confirm. Though everything seems to indicate you aren't subject to the HRR, I completely understand your concern. USCIS is a beast!

[azer_2000 1]

Hello everyone, I hope someone can help me. :-)

My fiancé and I are getting married this month and we're just starting on our research on what we have to do in order to get the AOS going.

I am currently here on a J-1 visa and am completing an internship. According to my visa and the DS-2019 I am not subject to the 2 year home residence requirement. That makes sense to me - I am not receiving any government funding.

My big worry is my previous J-1 visa. I studied at a university here in the States and I received a student loan/ grant from my home country Germany (Bafög, if anyone knows what I'm talking about.. :-)).

Even on that visa and DS-2019 there was no remark regarding any 2 year rule. I am still worried I may be subject to it though.. Does anyone have experience with that? I read that the entry on the Visa (or DS-2019) may be inaccurate and the USCIS investigates the whole subject a little more thoroughly than the Embassy employees that issue the J-1 visas.

I tried researching if Bafög is considered government funding or not and couldn't find any information..

I am despereate for some information regarding my worries and who knows, maybe someone who received Bafög and applied for AOS while here on a J-1 visa will read this. ;-)

Even though your current J-1 visa does not have 2 year HRR, this doesn't meant that you HRR from previouse J1 visa is voided. I was in on F1 visa after having J1 visa and had to go back home to fullfil the HRR. You are getting the correct information. Even if your visa stamp or DS-2019 has no remarks, doesn't mean that USCIS will not find out about the 2 years. They do contact the Embassy and investigate this type of things during AOS process. I was told that by my immigration lawyer. Also there are cases of people who had J1 visas with out 2 year HRR but had hard times with USCIS during AOS.

Now you can apply for a waiver. I am not familiar with Bafog grants and how strict they are. If you can get a no objection letter from them then waiver from the US department of state should not be a problem. In my case, my program was funded by US government so I could pretty much forget about waiver unless I could prove a hardship to a US citizen.

Good luck

[smiley1 3]

Hello everyone, I hope someone can help me. :-)

My fiancé and I are getting married this month and we're just starting on our research on what we have to do in order to get the AOS going.

I am currently here on a J-1 visa and am completing an internship. According to my visa and the DS-2019 I am not subject to the 2 year home residence requirement. That makes sense to me - I am not receiving any government funding.

My big worry is my previous J-1 visa. I studied at a university here in the States and I received a student loan/ grant from my home country Germany (Bafög, if anyone knows what I'm talking about.. :-)).

Even on that visa and DS-2019 there was no remark regarding any 2 year rule. I am still worried I may be subject to it though.. Does anyone have experience with that? I read that the entry on the Visa (or DS-2019) may be inaccurate and the USCIS investigates the whole subject a little more thoroughly than the Embassy employees that issue the J-1 visas.

I tried researching if Bafög is considered government funding or not and couldn't find any information..

I am despereate for some information regarding my worries and who knows, maybe someone who received Bafög and applied for AOS while here on a J-1 visa will read this. ;-)

You should take care of this problem before starting the AOS since you might end up with a denial and a waste of your money. I entered US last time with a B1 visa but I had previously a J1 visa ( for which I didn't have any US government funding or funding from my country nor was the reason for being here on the skill list-these are usually the reason why they make you stay in your home country for 2 years). At the interview I was asked about previous visits to US and my J1 came up and I was asked about the 2 years( I only stayed home one year and something). I tried to provide them with info about the fact that I had no funding but they didn't care about anything. They sent me a Notice of Intent to deny and said that the only proof that might save my application would be an Advisory Opinion from State Department saying that I am not subject to 2YHHR. After the interview I applied for both advisory opinion and no objection waiver and wrote a letter to USCIS showing that my waiver is pending but they didn't care and sent me a denial letter saying that I was not eligible when I applied and I had to redo everything and pay another $1000.

I hope that my story will help someone avoid wasting time and money! Good luck and take care of that J1 before anything else.