Home Residency Requirement FAQs

See clip from Attorney Rajiv S. Khanna's conference call video that addresses this question.  

https://youtu.be/ZvUVIGTM-Kk?t=520

FAQ Transcript: 

Answer is yes. They can't convert within the United States, but they can go outside of USA and try to get F-1 stamped and come back. That does not  get rid of  two year residency visa. However, remember two year residency visa requirement only says this:  if you have J-1 or a J-2  which is subject to the 212 (e) HRR, you cannot convert  to H, L or Green Card, but you can  if you want to change to F-1 visa but not within the United States as far as I remember. It does not allow the change of status also. So you can always get a visa stamping done and you can do it without the waiver, F-1 does not require waiver. However if down the line you decide to convert to H-1, your J-1 holding spouse either must have received the waiver or a home residency a fulfillment of 2 year residence abroad to the home country.

See clip from Attorney Rajiv S. Khanna's conference call video that addresses this question. 

https://youtu.be/XAfykYM-cUQ?t=89

FAQ Transcript:

The question asked is can a J-2 holder obtain a waiver of the Home Residency requirement without the J-1 holder being involved and the answer is, the last time I looked into this issue it is a "No".  The exemption was if there was some sort of impossibility associated with the J-1 holder conferring the benefits of a waiver for instance if they were divorced or there was a death of the J-1 spouse. In those cases certainly this was a possiblity. But otherwise you cannot as a J-2 holder obtain a waiver by yourself. Your disqualification for the Home Residency requirement came into being because of the J-1 holders status. So the theroy of the law is that J-1 holder must apply for a waiver.

Rajiv's Response:

Thanks for sharing. People, note, it is a good idea to confirm whether or not you are in fact subject to the HRR. We have been doing that for years in cases where there is a likelihood that you are not subject to HRR. Two typical situations where you may NOT be:

1. No US federal government funding (reinforced by suffix "P" instead of "G" in your program number) and

2. Your specialization is not on the country skills list.

If I remember correctly, 212(e), the HRR, does not apply till you actually use the visa.

In this situation, the applicant’s J-1 waiver does not cover her period in J-2 status. 9 FAM 41.62 states that if an alien is subject to the two-year foreign residence requirement, the spouse and child of that alien are also subject to that requirement. Thus, the individual you have described would need a separate waiver to cover the time that she spent in J-2 status that subjected her to the two-year home residency requirement.Two separate DS-3035 applications would therefore be required in this circumstance.