USCIS ISSUES POLICY GUIDANCE REGARDING THE J NONIMMIGRANT CLASSIFICATION
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued policy guidance on October 24, 2023, regarding the 2-year foreign residence requirement for the nonimmigrant exchange visitor (J) classification.
The J-1 nonimmigrant classification is for exchange visitors who intend to participate in an approved program in the United States for the purpose of teaching, instructing or lecturing, studying, observing, conducting research, consulting, demonstrating special skills, receiving training, or receiving graduate medical education or training.
The update added information about how USCIS determines whether the requirement has been met, the evidence a benefit requestor may submit to show compliance with the requirement, and how it considers situations in which it is effectively impossible for the benefit requestor to satisfy the requirement.
It also corrected an omission, from the existing Policy Manual content, of one of the foreign medical graduates’ grounds for waivers of the foreign residence requirement. This update included the ground and clarified employment requirements.
The guidance became effective immediately on publication.
Click here to view the USCIS alert.
