How is the fulfillment of the J1 two year rule verified?

[rutabaga 209]

So I was in the US in 2008/09 on a J1 visa funded by USAID and therefore the J1 two year home-stay rule does apply. Since that time I have fulfilled the 2 year home-stay rule (last month actually, I've spent most of the last four years in the US on an F1 visa) but I've traveled about quite a bit and there's been probably over two dozen short/long trips that I've taken since I came back home from the J1 program in 2009 so it will be anything but easy to calculate the two years, plus, some entry/exit stamps are completely missing and I can only verify the exact date I came home through plane ticket reservations.

The question that comes up then is how will my fulfillment of the 2 year requirement be verified? How closely do they check at this stage? Do I need to prepare a listing of the date ranges I was back home for the interview (thinking way ahead here)? Supporting evidence if it's not verifiable through passport stamps?

[Hypnos 6,576]

It's possible the embassy will ask you to verify that you have complied with the HRR. Remember that only time spent in your home country - not a third country - will count.

If asked, you would need to show anything you have that establishes your compliance, be that passport stamps, school records, employment records, or anything else.

[NikLR 13,220]

~~moved to work visas from IR1/CR1 process and procedures as topic is about the J1 visa not the IR1 process~~

[milimelo 4,196]

G-325a should be filed correctly with all details of addresses, schooling, employment - they can verify if they want to.