2 years home requirement

[emma44 0]

Hello!

I am not that far away from scheduling my K1 interview but I have a big concern. Here is the thing: I found out that people who traveled to the usa with a j1 (exchange student) visa were subjected to the  « two years home  » law under certain circumstances, one of them being the government (of the usa  or our own country) funding the exchange. When I look on my visa and on my DS2019, they both say that the two years rule does not apply to me. I am still worried because when I was an exchange student, I recieved a scholarship from my own country. Isn’t a scholarship considered as a government funding ? I am super confused and scared that during the interview they say that this rule apply to me since I had a scholarship... 

thank you so much for the coming answers 

[Hypnos 6,576]

You should file for an advisory opinion from the State Department as to whether you are subject to the two-year HRR. 

 

I believe when they say government funding, they mean US government funding. But I'm not 100% on that. 

 

An advisory opinion would answer that question, however. 

[arken 4,197]

If the visa itself and DS2019 mention two year requirement doesn’t apply, then you are good. Any other scholarships you get during the study doesn’t matter.

Edited June 26, 2019 by arken

[USS_Voyager 1,971]

If the visa says two-year rule does not apply, you're good. Once upon a time I was in J-1 as well, then went home and got an F-1 visa and came back within several months. 

[emma44 0]

Thank you for all of your answers. 

So, during the interview, to see if I am applying or not to the 2 years home law, are they only going to review the DS2019 and my visa ? 

[USS_Voyager 1,971]

5 hours ago, emma44 said:

Thank you for all of your answers. 

So, during the interview, to see if I am applying or not to the 2 years home law, are they only going to review the DS2019 and my visa ? 

It’s probably already in the system already. But those two documents are your proof that you are not subjected to the 2 year requirement

[emma44 0]

9 hours ago, USS_Voyager said:

It’s probably already in the system already. But those two documents are your proof that you are not subjected to the 2 year requirement

Oh I see. So by the time they did my visa and DS2019, they probably already had it all figured it out in their system. But I’m guessing if I was applying to this two year rule, they wouldn’t let me take any steps further once they review my case for the interview or at least I hope they wouldn’t. 

Once again thank you so much for your patience and answers:)

[Nat&Amy 623]

Immigration wise it looks like you have nothing to worry about. That being said, I know that in my country the funding agency can take action against you (asking for a reimbursement, for instance), since they agreed to pay for your studies on the prerrogative you would return to your home country and make their investment in you worth it. Make sure to double check the terms of your scholarship to see if you haven't violated them, and prepare accordingly.

[Mollie09 1,543]

My friend's J-1 said not subject to HRR when it actually was, so YMMV.

[emma44 0]

2 hours ago, Nat&Amy said:

Immigration wise it looks like you have nothing to worry about. That being said, I know that in my country the funding agency can take action against you (asking for a reimbursement, for instance), since they agreed to pay for your studies on the prerrogative you would return to your home country and make their investment in you worth it. Make sure to double check the terms of your scholarship to see if you haven't violated them, and prepare accordingly.

Thank you for your answer. I don’t know if that can help, but I was an exchange student in high school, so when I left my country I was minor. So officially my mother paid for my travel and when I got my scholarship, she is the one who got the money. Do you think I should go ahead and ask them if I violated their rule and if not, for them to write a paper to potentially show to the embassy during the interview ?

[Nat&Amy 623]

7 minutes ago, emma44 said:

Thank you for your answer. I don’t know if that can help, but I was an exchange student in high school, so when I left my country I was minor. So officially my mother paid for my travel and when I got my scholarship, she is the one who got the money. Do you think I should go ahead and ask them if I violated their rule and if not, for them to write a paper to potentially show to the embassy during the interview ?

I doubt the embassy would have any issues with the terms of your scholarship, especially if you were underage. I thought you were talking about Higher Education, whose terms are much more enforceable because the investment is usually higher.

 

Checking the terms of your scholarship is something you should do for your own peace of mind, or in that case, your mother's. As to your visa interview, if you have already checked that your J1 had the requirement waived, I don't see it becoming an issue in the future.

 

Good luck with your K1.

[emma44 0]

On 6/27/2019 at 6:01 PM, Nat&Amy said:

I doubt the embassy would have any issues with the terms of your scholarship, especially if you were underage. I thought you were talking about Higher Education, whose terms are much more enforceable because the investment is usually higher.

 

Checking the terms of your scholarship is something you should do for your own peace of mind, or in that case, your mother's. As to your visa interview, if you have already checked that your J1 had the requirement waived, I don't see it becoming an issue in the future.

 

Good luck with your K1.

Hi!

i have updates. I emailed the organisation who gave me the scholarship and they answered me that they talked about it with their supervisor and they concluded that they did not know how their agency could make me stay or no in the country for 2 years with some type of requirement. I guess since they have no idea about this rule, it is not in their policy.