J1 to F1

[Melagius 0]

Hello.

I have a friend who is a Fulbright instructor at a US university - he is from the Middle East. He got married while here (to a US citizen) and fell in love with the country.

He is subject to the two year rule.

Is there any way for him to change to an F1 visa this summer? He has been selected for an assistantship at our university and would like to start in the fall of this year.

Does he have any options or paths forward? Does the marriage matter?

Thank you very much for your time and help. Mel

[eliottreid 9]

On 5/7/2019 at 10:39 AM, Melagius said:

Hello.

I have a friend who is a Fulbright instructor at a US university - he is from the Middle East. He got married while here (to a US citizen) and fell in love with the country.

He is subject to the two year rule.

Is there any way for him to change to an F1 visa this summer? He has been selected for an assistantship at our university and would like to start in the fall of this year.

Does he have any options or paths forward? Does the marriage matter?

Thank you very much for your time and help. Mel

I did that, but I believe you have to go back home and change it to F1 there. You can't adjust inside the U.S.
The marriage doesn't matter. He needs to get a waiver and I would do it after few years of work not right away. He needs to prove that staying in the U.S. will still fulfill Fulbright's goals. 
There are other ways to get a waiver like hardship and persecution but like you know, it's hard in all cases (but not impossible if you do your research well enough and don't listen to lawyers who says it's impossible.)

Edited May 8, 2019 by eliottreid