J1 Exchange Visitor Visa
The J1 visa is a visa that can be used by many professions. As this is a primarily a physician immigrant blog, bear in mind this is the visa typically used during a physician’s training period (residency, fellowships), and are renewed, on an annual basis, for up to 7 years. Extensions are possible, but I only used 5 of the 7 years, and I have no personal experience regarding extensions. Many training programs already accept trainees on a J1 visa which you can find on the FRIEDA link. If your desired training program does not currently accept trainees on a J1 visa, take heart. You may be able to convince the program to accept a J1 visa by reaching out via email with an inquiry. I was able to become the first fellow on a J1 visa at an office in Southern California.
At the end of your training, if your country is on a list of countries deemed by the United States to have a “home residency requirement” (Section 212e found on your DS2019 form), you must return to your home country for a predetermined number of years. For example, as a Canadian I had a two-year home residency requirement. I could have returned to Canada for two years and worked in any capacity or even not worked at all, and then immigrated to the United States. If I was lucky enough to find a job in the US, which was close enough to the border (e.g. Michigan, NY), I could have been employed in the US, returned to Canada every night for two years, and fulfilled my two year home residency requirement.
You cannot serve this time in another country e.g. I could not have trained in the US, taken a two year vacation or worked and lived two years in a country other than Canada, and reported to the US that I’ve completed my two year home residency requirement. Note, if you desire to become a United States citizen and you have a home residency requirement, this requirement must be fulfilled or waived; marriage to an American citizen or any other method of sponsoring for a green card does not automatically void this requirement.
If you, like me, find yourself in a position where there are no suitable jobs in your home country when you graduate, you can apply for a J1 waiver position to waive the home residency requirement. This waiver requires you to commit at least three years of return of service time in the United States.
