There are three conditions that will subject an Exchange Visitor to the Two-Year Rule:
Government funding
Exchange Visitor Skills List
Graduate medical education or training
Government funding
If Exchange Visitors are funded in whole or in part by their home country’s government they will be subject to the Two-Year Home Residence Requirement. They will also be subject if funded directly by the U.S. government or through a U.S. government grant designated for international exchange. Government grants that do not specify that the funding is for international exchange do not subject an EV to the Two-Year Rule.
Exchange Visitor Skills List
The Exchange Visitor Skills List is another of the criteria used to determine if an Exchange Visitor will be subject to the Two-Year Home Residence Requirement. It is a compilation of disciplines organized by country. Pursuing study or research in a field found on the Department of State’s Exchange Visitor Skills List for the visitor’s home country will subject the Exchange Visitor to the Two-Year Home Residence Requirement. If a country is not on the Skills List then visitors from that country cannot be subjected to the Two-Year Rule based on the Skills List criteria (but could be subject based on other criterion). To use the Skills List, look up the Exchange Visitor’s country of citizenship. If the field of study/research is listed under the country heading then the Exchange Visitor will be subject to the Two-Year Rule.
The latest version of the Exchange Visitor Skills List can be found by clicking here.
The State Department has published useful guidance on the applicability of the Two-Year Home Residence Requirement to Exchange Visitors who began a J-1 program under the old (1997) Skills List but are still present in the U.S. as Exchange Visitors now that the updated (2009) Skills List has been published. This guidance can be found here.
Graduate medical education or training
Exchange Visitors who come to the United States to receive graduate medical education or training will be subject to the Two-Year Home Residence Requirement. Graduate medical education or training generally involves patient care services under the supervision of an attending physician that leads either to an unrestricted state medical license or certification by a specialty or subspecialty board. Programs that consist of observation, consultation, teaching, or research in which there is only incidental or no patient care are not considered graduate medical education and should not subject Exchange Visitors to the Two-Year Rule.
An Exchange Visitor coming to engage in graduate medical education or training must be sponsored by the Educational Commission on Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG). For information on how to bring in an Exchange Visitor for graduate medical education or training through ECFMG please contact Cecilia Melendres on the Health Sciences Campus: (323) 442-1841 or cmelendr@usc.edu