J1 2-year residency requirement - what is considered a home country???(merged)

[pooj97 89]

6 hours ago, Rose711 said:

May I ask why you are doing a K1 visa rather than marrying and doing a spouse visa? He would be able to continue to live and work in Canada and accrue time (if he needs it from your other post.) He will be able to work immediately when he comes to the US. 

Simply because we would like to be together sooner. We’ve already waited 4 years being long distance and would like to close up distance asap

[pooj97 89]

12 hours ago, Paul & Mary said:

No tick? - usually one or the other is ticked.  Probably no requirement if he was paying for the program on his own.

 

Unfortunately without the visa there is no way to confirm.

We just remembered that Canadian citizens do not receive visa stamps on their passports for the J1 so he has no evidence of that. Just the DS 2019 form. He was paying for the program on his own but the exchange part of his program was doing an unpaid internship at an organization that is part of the school of pharmacy at the University of Pittsburgh. We think this organization is public and might be state funded which is why we’re unsure about the 2 year requirement. If the organization he worked at is government funded does it still count for the 2 year requirement? Like I said before he received no government funding and still paid through tuition, living, food, etc through personal funds. What do you think?

8 hours ago, bayfinest said:

You can do an online inquiry at the Department of State website HERE-https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/advisory-opinions.html. If you have other concern, I strongly suggest that email the advisory opinion or Waiver Advisory Opinion on your case. They have all the records and surely knows everything about the status of your case. Goodluck!

Can we just email the advisory opinion people? Or do we have to do the whole process? 

[pooj97 89]

Hi everyone, sorry I’m asking so many questions on this forum but me and my fiancé are preparing to apply for the K1 visa. He previously studied abroad in the US where His sponsor was the University of Pittsburgh (a public university which is government funded) where he did an unpaid internship for three months. His DS 2019 form doesn’t have anything written on it about the 2 year requirement so we will be seeking an advisory opinion but I’ve been so worried that I wanted to get an answer from VJ first. He used only personal funds for his program and paid tuition to his home university using loans during the 3 months as well as paying for living, food, and All other expenses while in Pittsburgh from his own funds. My question is - will the fact that he did an unpaid internship at a public university be cause for the 2 year residency requirement, since his sponsor is government funded?? Even though he himself was not government funded?? Please help me alleviate this worry. Thank you!

[JeanneAdil 6,592]

the following is for the 4 universities involved in state funding / my late husband graduated from Penn State so i can attest that your worries are for nothing.

As noted in the following news article from the Chancellor of Pitt

 

https://www.chancellor.pitt.edu/spotlight/chancellors-message-state-budget

 

Pitt is funded through a variety of mechanisms, including: tuition and fees, federal research grants, investment income, sales, and generous donors. State funding—which has been an essential part of our budget since 1967—plays a special role. State funds enable us to lower the cost of in-state tuition by about $11,000 per student. Without this support, thousands of students from Pennsylvania would see tuition rates rise at Pitt and other flagship institutions.

 

Since the state government funding is for the benefit of Pennsylvannia students to keep their tuition costs down,  your foreign husband did not benefit from government funding

[Ontarkie 14,325]

~~Related thread merged. Please keep all related questions to this one thread as it helps member when all the information is in one thread.~~

[cosmonauts 125]

 

On 1/3/2020 at 3:12 PM, pooj97 said:

Can we just email the advisory opinion people? Or do we have to do the whole process? 

You have to do the whole process, it takes about a month. I would contact his school's international office first as they might have more information (copies of DS-2019 or even copies of his passport). I honestly don't think Canadians get the 2 year rule though, but don't take my word for it, at least Canada isn't listed in the Skills List. For me, it was very clear that I had this requirement (it was checked in the DS-2019 and in my passport both times I got my visa)