1. About the 2009 J-1 Exchange Visitor Program Skill List

The J-1 Exchange Visitor Program Skills List is a list of fields of specialized knowledge and skills that are deemed necessary for the development of a J-1 exchange visitor's home country. When you agree to participate in an Exchange Visitor Program, if your skill is on your country’s skills list, you are subject to the two-year foreign residence (home-country physical presence) requirement, which requires you to return to your home country for two years at the end of your exchange visitor program. This requirement under immigration law is based on Section 212(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

In June 2009, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) issued an important clarification for some foreign nationals who are subject to the J-1 two-year Home Residence Requirement (HRR) based upon participation in programs included in the skills list. Some of these individuals will no longer be subject to the HRR. This change is the result of the issuance of a new skills list - 2009 Exchange Visitor Program Skills List, effective June 28, 2009. The new list eliminated certain countries. Individuals who were subject to the HRR under the prior skills list are relieved of that requirement, if their countries have been removed entirely from the new skills list. 

2. The Updated 2009 Skills List, and Who is No Longer Subject to Tow-Year Home Residency Requirement?

The 2009 skills list contains a master directory of subject areas, followed by the countries and the particular subject areas determined to be in short supply within each country. This update was much needed, as the old skills list had not been changed since 1997. 

In the updated 2009 skills list, some countries have been completely eliminated from the skills list. Individuals who were subject to the HRR according to the old skills list, are no longer subject, if their countries have been completely removed from the current list. 

The removed countries are: 

Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Botswana, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, Jordan, Kuwait, Lesotho, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malta, Morocco, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Qatar, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, Western Samoa, and Zimbabwe. 

Individuals who became subject to the HRR under the old 1997 Exchange Visitor Program Skills List remain subject to the HRR if their countries are still on the list. This is the case even if their particular subject areas, which were previously considered a shortage skill, have been removed from their respective country's list.

This change does not impact those who are subject to the HRR due to the receipt of government funding. Similarly, it does not change the requirement for International Medical Graduates (IMGs) who obtained graduate medical education and/or training in J-1 status.

The revised 2009 skills list is helpful in facilitating the exchange visitor program. The clarification provided by the DOS will be a great relief to those countries who are removed from the list and whose nationals would otherwise have been subject to the HRR. However, it does not help those from countries where there were skill areas dropped from the list, if the country remains as having some needed skill areas.

3. How to Use the 2009 Exchange Visitor Program Skills List

For the 2009 Exchange Visitor Program Skills List, if your country does not appear on this list, there is no requirement to return to your home country for two years at the end of your program. To use this list, you need to know:

• The country you select is your country of citizenship or nationality as shown in your passport, with the below exception.

• If the country of your nationality differs from the country of your last legal permanent residence at the time you obtain your Exchange Visitor (J-1) visa status, the Skills List from the country of your last permanent residence at the time you obtain your J visa applies to you.

• When your field of knowledge or skill is displayed on your country's skills list, the two-year foreign residence requirement applies to you. 

The 2009 Skill List applies to all Exchange Visitors starting June 28, 2009. Exchange Visitors who entered the U.S. prior to June 28, 2009 continue to be governed by the list that was in affect when they entered on the J-1 visa, which is 1997 Exchange Visitor Program Skills List.

4. U.S. State Department's Cable to the Visa Posts to Give Guidance on Use of the Revised Skills List

U.S. State Department has sent out this cable to the visa posts to give guidance on use of the revised skills list:

1.  The revised 2009 J-1 visa Exchange Visitor Skills List was published in the Federal Register (Volume 74, Number 82) on April 30, 2009.

2.  The new Skills List is effective on June 28, 2009.

3.  Pursuant to the provisions of Section 212(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended, 8 U.S.C. 1182(e) and 22 CFR 41.63, the Secretary of State designated on April 25, 1972, and revised on February 10, 1978, a list of fields of specialized knowledge or skills (referred to as the Exchange Visitor Skills List) for countries which clearly required the services of exchange visitor participants engaged in one or more of the designated fields.  Any national or resident of a country on the skills list who obtained a J-1 exchange visitor visa and/or became a participant in an exchange visitor program involving a designated field of specialized knowledge or skills after the effective date of those public notices is subject to the two-year foreign-residence requirement of Section 212(e) of the INA, as amended.

4.  Exchange visitors who entered the United States on a J-1 visa prior to June 28, 2009 shall continue to be governed by the 1997 Exchange Visitor Program Skills List, as amended, only if their country remains on the revised 2009 list.  Exchange visitors whose countries were removed from the revised 2009 skills list are retroactively not subject to the two-year home residence requirement based on the Exchange Visitor Skills List, even if they entered the United States prior to the effective date.

5.  For residents of countries who remain on the revised 2009 Skills list, if the exchange visitors obtained a J-1 visa based on a previous skills list, they remain subject to Section 212(e) of the INA.  This is true even if their country has removed that skill from the revised 2009 Skills List.  Exchange visitors are subject, based on the skills list that was in effect when they first obtained the J-1 visa.

6.  9 FAM 41.63 is being updated.  The 9 FAM version of the 2009 Exchange Visitor Skills List is also available on CA/VO's web page on CAWeb by selecting "Exchange Visitor" from either the "visa type or subject" drop-down menus.  The Exchange Visitor-related web page links on travel.state.gov will be updated with the 2009 Skills List, in a new format with improved navigation, to coincide with the June 28 effective date for the list. Also, the new Skills List update is being provided to ECA for their Exchange Visitor web page.

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