What is A J-1 Visa & How Does It Work?

Thousands of international students love to participate in the Exchange Visitor Program of the U.S. Different types of visas are offered by the U.S. through which the foreigners can enter as well as stay in the country. The J-1 visa for the USA is such a type of visa that is specially designed for scholar students.

It is a non-immigrant visa whose purpose is to bring the scholars into the U.S. temporarily for teaching, conducting research, or any specific educational purpose. The focus of this type of visa is to promote cultural exchange by exchanging the skills between the rest of the world and the Americans. To make the process smooth and easy, generally, an immigration attorney is hired by foreigners while applying for this type of visa.

What is a J-1 visa?

The J-1 visa is a visa that permits foreign nationals to enter the U.S. by participating in exchange programs. The purpose of such programs must be to promote the sharing of skills and knowledge in arts, education, or sciences.

This type of visa category is usually used by foreign students and medical interns. However, business trainees, residents, experts, and scholars also use J-1 visas to enter the united states. With the help of this visa, the scholars and interns can obtain more information to exchange it with their native country.

Common program categories for J1 Visa Holders:-

There are 15 common program categories for the J-1 visa. Each category is completely different from the other. This list of programs include:-

Professor & Research Scholar:-

Professor and research scholar are granted the J-1 visa for a duration of 3 weeks to 5 years. This type of program category covers researchers or teachers who participate in a teaching or research project in the U.S.

Intern:-

The interns are granted the visa for up to 12 months. This program covers students who are enrolled in any academic college or university outside of the U.S. It also covers those students who have graduated within a year of a program’s start and further want to take part in an internship program in their study field.

Short-Term Scholar:-

Such programs grant the visa for a maximum 6-month to the pre-doc, post-doc, researchers, teachers, and graduate students, who want to participate in training, lecture, etc. in the US.

Alien Physician:-

It covers the visa is for graduated medical students and is granted for a maximum of 7 years.

Specialist:-

It covers recognized experts who want to participate in a consultation or observation program.

Summer Work Travel:-

It is perfect for those university students who want to works in temporary jobs.

Secondary School Student:-

Such a visa is granted to secondary school students for a maximum of 2 semesters. It is only granted to those who are between the ages of 15 and 18.5 years.

Trainee:-

Those with a total of 5 years of work experience or a postsecondary certificate or degree from outside of the U.S. can also get the J-1 visa.

Camp Counselor:-

Such program covers youth workers, teachers, students, or people with specialized skills or experience that serve as counselors in a U.S. summer camp.

Teacher:-

J-1 visa also allows an educator to stay in the U.S. for up to 3 years to teach in any public or private school.

College and University Student:-

This is a program used by college/university degree holders or for a student in any student internship program.

Au Pair:-

Those who are under the age group of 18 to 26-year and have a secondary school level education are granted the visa.

Time period:-

The period for a J-1 visa generally depends on the educational objectives of the visitor. The applicant can take the help of an immigration attorney to get the visa without any delay and keep the process error-free. If the purpose of the visitor is to pursue and complete a degree program in the U.S. then they are authorized to remain here to complete their degree requirements.

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