Can You Visit USA During the 2-Year Home Country Residence Rule after J1 ?

Either by choice or by compulsion, some J1 visa-IMGs may see the prospect of having to return to their countries at the end of J1 visa term. An IMG reader had asked me whether she could come back to the USA for observerships / Research / Externships after she returns to her home country to complete the 2-Year Home Country physical residence [212(e)] requirement. Her idea was to improve chances of finding a job in the US after completing the two-years by keeping in touch with US medical scene.

The answer is Yes - you may travel to the USA during the Post-J1 home-country residence rule, but only non-work temporary visas like visitors, business or the F1 student visa. For that matter, the candidate can travel to any country, but will still have to complete the aggregate of two-years in physical presence in the home country, before becoming eligible for a work visa (H,K,L) or permanent residence in the USA. I would rather not recommend traveling to other countries as it could result in work visa rejection later.


Points to Note:

1. The two-years stay in the home country need not be continuous but can be an aggregate.

2. The 'Home Country' actually means the last country of legal residence before entering the US on a J1 visa. Thus, if you entered the USA from the Philippines on a J1 visa and acquired Canadian citizenship during the J1 stay, you still have to go back to Philippines to satisfy the 2-year home country requirement - Canada will not cut the two-year cake :-)

3. While currently on the J1-status, changing visa status to another status like B1/B2/F1 etc. CANNOT be done from within the USA - has to be from another country. AND - even if you change from J1 to other visa type like F1, that DOES NOT take away the Home Country residence requirement. "Once a 212(e) - always a 212(e) unless you get a j-1 waiver"


4. It is advisable to not travel abroad during those two years so that you do not take longer than those two-year to get back, unless you did not want to come back in the first place :-). Though I don't have data on how easy it is to get back once you leave US to complete those two-years - three things will surely help in improving that chance:

a. Continuous good contacts with the program director and faculty during the home country stay

b. The fact that US is facing a physician shortage

c. Continuous clinical practice in a good hospital setting during the home country stay


Thus the 2-year rule does not say that you HAVE to return to your home country after the termination of the exchange J1 visit, rather it stresses on completing a 2-year presence in the home country before converting to a work visa or permanent residence status in the US.


Comments, corrections always welcome...and this article is liable to changes if I find that my own information was inaccurate :-)




Search keywords to this blog article:

- "can i travel outside my home country during the 2-year home residence requirement ?"
- "details of the 2-year home country rule after J1 visa - 212(e)"