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Informational

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News

U.S. Department of State issues revised J-1 Exchange Visitor Skills List with Retroactive Effect

On December 9, 2024, the US Department of State (DOS) released an update of the J-1 Exchange Visitor Skills List.  The related Federal Register Notice states that the 2024 Skills List will apply retroactively, so J-1 exchange visitors who were subject to the two-year home residency requirement under the previous Skills List from 2009 will no longer be subject if their country is not designated in the revised list.

Key Aspects of the new Skills List

The 2009 Skills List included 82 countries; the 2024 Skills List includes 45 countries, a removal of 37 countries. Most notably, China, India, Brazil, South Korea, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa have been removed from the 2024 Skills List.  Many Exchange Visitors at Duke are from countries removed from the list in this revision.

Foreign nationals who are no longer subject will now be able to do the following without first having to either spend two years in their home country or seek a waiver of the two-year requirement:

  • Change from J nonimmigrant status to any status from within the United States;
  • Obtain an H or L nonimmigrant visa; and/or
  • Obtain U.S. permanent residence.

Background

Some J-1 exchange visitors are required to spend two years in their home country after the end of their J-1 program and before they seek certain other U.S. immigration benefits. One of the triggers for this home residency requirement is the foreign national’s country of nationality (or of last residence) and field of expertise appearing on the Department of State Skills List – a list of countries designated as requiring the services of persons engaged in certain fields of specialized knowledge or skills. 

The DOS did not change the specialized knowledge or skills, they only removed some countries.

Exceptions

This change does not affect foreign nationals who may be subject to the J-1 home residency requirement on bases other than the Skills List, such as receipt of government funding for their J-1 program or entry as a foreign medical graduate. These foreign nationals will still be required to either fulfill the two-year requirement or seek a waiver.