2-year home residency requirement - can you leave the country?

[alwaysmoving 0]

If you are required to fulfill the 2-year home residency requirement following a Fulbright Scholarship, and during those 2 years you made short trips for work and vacation, do you have to deduct those short trips from your home residency, or do you have some slack there? E.g. if you left the US Jan 1, 2016, lived in your home country, and want to come back Jan 2, 2018, can you do that if during those 2 years you took a few trips outside your home country, or do you need to add those days to the time, so you won't be able to get back to the Us until sometime in Feb or March of 2018?

 

Thanks!

[Hypnos 6,576]

Those days need to be deducted. 

 

Only time spent in your home country counts towards the two year requirement. 

[alwaysmoving 0]

3 minutes ago, Hypnos said:

Those days need to be deducted. 

 

Only time spent in your home country counts towards the two year requirement. 

Even if it was only a trip here and there? If I was in the country for the whole time, and have rental lease to show etc., I need to take out any day spent outside the country?

[Hypnos 6,576]

Only time spent in your home country contributes to the home residency requirement. 

[Coco8 1,042]

It is true that it is time in your home country that counts. However, what I've seen is that consulates care more about deducting time spend in the US (so trips to the US) rather than trips you took somewhere else on holiday, because that means you are residing in your country and you just took a holiday. 

 

That said, if your trips are "here or there" as you say, you should not be looking at many days anyways.

 

11 hours ago, alwaysmoving said:

if you left the US Jan 1, 2016, lived in your home country, and want to come back Jan 2, 2018

You can come back to the US anytime for a visit with a tourist visa, an F1 visa, another J1 visa.  You cannot get some visas* before the 2 years have gone by. This means that you cannot go and get the stamp at the consulate until that time is done, so the time to enter the US would be after the 2 years. 

 

*e.g. H1B, CR1, K1, among others

 

 

 

[alwaysmoving 0]

I haven't been to the US at all during the two years, but i have been to several other countries for work and vacation - a week here, a week there, but probably adding up to 9-10 weeks all up. There's no way to find out in advance if the consulate would deduct those days, is there? It's hard to make plans without knowing..!

[Hypnos 6,576]

The law is very clear, and has no ambiguity on this subject.

Edited December 20, 2017 by Hypnos

[alwaysmoving 0]

2 hours ago, Hypnos said:

The law is very clear, and has no ambiguity on this subject.

so if you were in the country for 2 years exactly, but took a 2-week vacation abroad, your application would be denied based on the fact that you haven't fulfilled 2 years cumulatively?

[Hypnos 6,576]

They would tell you a visa couldn't be issued until you met the requirement, yes. 

[Coco8 1,042]

15 hours ago, alwaysmoving said:

so if you were in the country for 2 years exactly, but took a 2-week vacation abroad, your application would be denied based on the fact that you haven't fulfilled 2 years cumulatively?

 

10 weeks is not that much anyway, you basically have to delay your appointment for 2 months. What type of visa are looking to apply for? 

[alwaysmoving 0]

15 hours ago, Coco8 said:

 

10 weeks is not that much anyway, you basically have to delay your appointment for 2 months. What type of visa are looking to apply for? 

Green card - I'm married to an American (but had a fulbright, so had to do the 2 year anyway). 10 weeks isn't a lot, but it means we miss the start of the school year.

[Coco8 1,042]

12 hours ago, alwaysmoving said:

Green card - I'm married to an American (but had a fulbright, so had to do the 2 year anyway). 10 weeks isn't a lot, but it means we miss the start of the school year.

Oh, OK. If you live in Europe and traveled without having to show/stamp you passport, then you should be able to get away with the vacation days. But if you traveled by airplane and they stamped your passport, then you cannot get away with the vacation days.

[KurosawaSan 52]

On 12/22/2017 at 1:37 PM, Coco8 said:

Oh, OK. If you live in Europe and traveled without having to show/stamp you passport, then you should be able to get away with the vacation days. But if you traveled by airplane and they stamped your passport, then you cannot get away with the vacation days.

That is somewhat misleading. In Europe, passports are still scanned, even if not stamped. The immigration and travel data is shared between agencies on request, so I would not try to hide the fact that 2 and a half months were spent outside the home country.

[Coco8 1,042]

6 minutes ago, KurosawaSan said:

That is somewhat misleading. In Europe, passports are still scanned, even if not stamped. The immigration and travel data is shared between agencies on request, so I would not try to hide the fact that 2 and a half months were spent outside the home country.

 

Sure, but in some regions you can cross the border with an official ID that is not a passport. It will depend on where OP is from.