Hi, thanks for your response. I never got any notifications regarding this post so I now just found it with a random Google search.
We're now married and I've been admitted into my dream school, happy days! I deferred entry to 2018 so now I'm again looking for information on J-2 visas with criminal convictions. We're both Europeans, and both been living in the UK for over 5 years.
My husband has a conviction for "burglary" in the UK from 2009 when he was 18. He helped someone get into their house because the person told him he had locked himself out, when in reality it was someone else's flat. My husband was convicted for burglary, not trespassing, because the guy he helped gave him a few cigarettes as thanks for his help. The court recognized that my husband had not planned a burglary, and therefore, despite pleading guilty, he was given only 120 hours of community service, and no jail time. Since then he's graduated college and has been in a stable job, never again any trouble with the law.
In 2016 I was invited to work at a US institution over the summer months, and my husband applied for a tourist visa to visit me. Due to his criminal conviction this was declined, however later a waiver of ineligibility was approved and he holds a B1 visa now.
What do you think? I'm a little scared that he might never get into the US because of this. But the university I am going to is a really highly regarded Ivy at the east coast and it would be crazy for me not to go. Surely they can't make me choose between such an opportunity and leaving my husband behind for 5 years?
Thanks for your help.