Faqs
- Details
On June 18, 2025, the U.S. Department of State announced a significant policy change affecting international students and exchange visitors applying for F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas, with a goal to identify applicants who may be inadmissible to the United States or who may pose a threat to U.S. national security. Applicants must now undergo "a comprehensive and thorough vetting," which includes the evaluation of their social media presence. As part of this comprehensive vetting effort, all visa applicants "will be instructed to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media account profiles to 'public.'”
- Details
The U.S. Department of State has announced an update to the Exchange Visitor Skills List (“Skills List”), effective December 9, 2024. This update has significant implications for J-1 exchange visitors, particularly those from countries like China, India, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and others which have been removed from the new list. The last time the Skills List was updated was in 2009.
- Details
Yes. Your attorney or your responsible/alternate officer may request an advisory opinion for you.
- Details
You should only request an advisory opinion after you have participated in a J-1 program and you have doubts whether you are or are not subject to Section 212(e).
- Details
If you have already received a final determination from the Waiver Review Division that denies your request for a waiver recommendation, you will need to apply again from the beginning for a waiver recommendation. You can use this new information to support your reapplication. You will need to follow all of the procedures for reapplication that you followed for your first application, including paying the $215 fee. If your application is still pending with the Waiver Review Division and you have not yet received a final determination, you should send that information on to the Waiver Review Division for their consideration with your file. Please remember to write your waiver case number on any documentation you send and on the outside of the envelope.
- Details
An advisory opinion is a request for a statement from the Waiver Review Division as to whether an exchange visitor is subject to Section 212(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended.
- Details
There is an internal agency review process, but there is no formal appeal process for the applicant. However, the visitor may be eligible to reapply based on another statutory ground, e.g. if the first application was based on a "no objection" statement from the applicant's home country and then reapplies based on an interested U.S. Government agency (IGA) request, a claim of exceptional hardship to a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident spouse or child(ren), or based on a fear of persecution if the applicant is required to return to his/her home country.
- Details
Applications are denied because the reasons given for requesting the waiver do not outweigh the program and foreign policy considerations of the exchange visitor program. For this reason, "no objection" applications in Fulbright/USAID funded programs are generally denied.
- Details
Yes. You will receive a copy of the recommendation.
Categories
- Services and Fees
- National Interest Waiver
- Eb-1A Extraordinary Ability
- Eb-1B Outstanding Professor & Researcher
- Eb-1C Multinational Managers & Executives
- PERM Labor Certification
- Schedule A Immigration
- H-1B Temporary Worker
- L-1 Intracompany Transferee
- O-1 Extraordinary Ability
- J-1 Waiver
- Approvals
- Immigration Updates
