If you do not know whether the two-year home-country physical presence requirement applies to you, after having reviewed the Eligibility Information webpage, you can request that the Department of State, Waiver Review Division conduct an Advisory Opinion. An Advisory Opinion is a review of your exchange visitor program documents to determine whether you are subject to this requirement.
Send a request to the Waiver Review Division for an advisory opinion to determine whether the two-year home-country physical presence requirement applies to you. Include a description of your J-1 program(s), program dates and sources of program funding, and any other relevant information pertaining to your J-1 exchange visitor program.
Include the following pdf attachments with your request:
You must send your request to:
The Waiver Review Division will review your documents and determine whether the two-year home-country physical presence requirement applies to you. We will send our decision back to you by email at the email address you provide with your request. Advisory opinion requests are only accepted by email. Please do not mail or fax your request.
It will take the Waiver Review Division 4 to 6 weeks to review your request and determine whether the two-year home-country physical presence requirement applies to you.
Yes. If you have a case number, you may check the status of your advisory opinion request by visiting the J Visa Waiver Online webpage and selecting “Check the status.”
For inquiries regarding your case or a waiver of the Two-Year Home Residency Requirement in general that have not been addressed by the website, you may visit our Navigator.
You, as the J-1 exchange visitor, your attorney, or the responsible/alternate officer for the exchange visitor program you participated/are participating in may request an advisory opinion from the Waiver Review Division to determine if you are subject to the two-year home-country physical presence requirement. Review the FAQs to learn about the limited situations where the spouse or child of a J-1 exchange visitor can request an advisory opinion.
