J1 Visa Waiver from 2 Year Home Rule - Simple Steps

J1 Visa is required for every student who wishes to pursue an internship/co-op term in USA for a period ranging from 0-18 months.

The other famous and well heard Visas in India are-
H1 – Employment
B1 – Business
L1 – Internal Company Transfer
F1 – Higher Education Full Time

This post is keeping Indian students in mind and it would cover the important aspect or issue called “2 Year Home Rule” according to section 212(E) of INA and all the confusion around it.

General scenario is that the students who pursue an Internship term in USA is asked to stay in India for a period of 2 yrs before (s)/he gets back to USA.

Reason: (S)/he are expected to share the knowledge which (s)/he gained over his/her period of stay in USA with India.

Logically correct, but personally I would not like to have some restriction as this though we are or not prepared for a MS or MBA in near future.

I was in a similar situation and learnt that there are not one but two ways to get out of this. Let us call them Door 1 and Door2. Door 1 is open to only few who get their internship in electronics, marketing etc. An internship in programming has high chances of closing Door1. Door 2 is open to all. Irrespective of what kind of internship you do, Door2 is always a way out, but is very lengthy and time taking.

Note: You might have heard of I-20 which is a document released to students to get their F1 Visa for MS. Similarly you get a DS-2019 form to get your J1 Visa. Procedure to get your DS-2019 is a separate story. Say at this junction you somehow managed to get your DS-2019.

There is one specific section of your DS-2019, Section: 4 which nearly determine whether you can get a waiver from the 2 Year Home Rule or not.

As you can see in the picture, your DS 2019 form has “Subject/Field Code” – 52.1499. Each of these codes has a one on one mapping with specific Field like Electronics, Marketing, Accounting or Programming etc.

The detailed list of all the codes with all the fields with which it is mapped is available at http://polisettisatish.googlepages.com/DS_2019_codes.pdf

Door 1
Step1: Make a note of your Subject Code in Section 4 of DS2019 and find the related Field using the above document.

For example in my case, my Subject code was 52.1499 which correspond to “Marketing” as per the document.

Step2: Now you need to find the Revised Exchange Visitor Skill List available at http://polisettisatish.googlepages.com/SkillList.pdf. In this document each country in the world would mention few areas in which it needs knowledge. For example you would find India requirements (in Page 2476) – meaning India needs knowledge in Group 9N Banking, Group 5U Population Studies etc. It does not list down 9R Marketing or 4H Electronics.

From Step1 you know the area/field which your code refers to. Now you need to find the Group in which this area falls under. For example in my case – “Marketing” corresponds to Group 9R according to the second document.

Step3: Pray your brains out that the group found out in Step 2 (that is 9R in my case)is not present in India’s Skill List in Page 2476. In my case group 9R, is not present at the place where India requirements were listed and hence I can get a waiver through Door1. Incase you find your group as 5U, since it is listed in India’s section in Page2476, you are not eligible to go through Door1.

Step4: Say you decoded that you are open to Door1 from Step3, there is a simple letter which you need to write to the Department of State and get the Waiver. And you are all set to get away from the 2 Year Home Rule.

You can find the letter which I compiled at this link - http://polisettisatish.googlepages.com/WaiverRequest.doc

The Waiver Letter which you get from the Department of State would look like this –
http://polisettisatish.googlepages.com/WaiverLetterfromUSDepartment.jpg

Door2 is pretty complicated. This is a more formal way to get your Waiver and requires you to get No Obligation Certifiate (NOC) from varied government sources of India both at State and Central Levels. One of my senior has gone through this process and I might help you point him if necessary. (See update on 8th Nov 2011 below for complete process)

Happy Interning!!

Update on Nov 16th 2009 - I have been receiving mails and comments for a person who can be contacted for Door 2 approach. One of my friend recently finished the long process and he can be reached at - ramcha675@gmail.com ... Hope that my post now helps people sailing in both boats.... Happy Interning !! once again .. :)

Update on March 17th 2010 - I heard that the US Dept of state issued a fresh skill set from 2009 - http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_4514.html

Update on Nov 8th 2011 (big update!) - My friend and myself have been getting several mails about the process and also how the blog has been helpful for them. We are happy that all the information we share here is coming to good use.

Dr Anindita Chaudhuri (anichau2001@gmail.com) approached us last year about the Door 2 process - and she was kind enough to share the entire process titled - "J1 (US) waiver for Indian nationals applying from India (non-medical)"

Link - https://docs.google.com/open?id=1Isc_LH0Rlz-G5Z1Ci6G02epMbSf49h-SHQDPXVwSuuOgw5zGVd5it-h85ONt

We thank Anindita for her effort.

Disclaimer: This approach and analysis was purely from what I have gathered from different sources. I do not stand by anyone to get a waiver, even if he/she follows this procedure. There could be different situations which would have lead you to get a J1 Visa. US Waiver Department decides on whether a case should be given or rejected a Waiver. I only wanted to pass the information I know. The same holds with my friend - the Door 2 contact, I have shared. We are not legal advocates - so consider/follow the procedure at your will. Thanks again!

Thanks - Satish Polisetti

You can reach me at - polisettisatish@gmail.com