Problems with J1

[NirEC]

Hi,

 

I'm applying for J1 visa so wife will be able to work during my Ph.D.

 

I'm funded for the first year. However, as most of the Ph.D students at Stanford I guess I'll be funded for the entire period with RA, TA or other fellowship.

 

I have started the visa application procedure, and was told that I need to show funds for at list 51% for the entire program (6 years).

 

Is it possible to start with a J1 visa for the first year (for that I'm funded) and to extend it next year?

Can the faculty commit in some way that I'll be funded for the entire program?

Do you have other suggestions?

 

Thanks,

Nir

 

 

[TakeruK]

I am on J-1 status too, and my wife has J-2 and also has permission to work. So I was in the same situation as you.

 

The financial requirements for J-1 is different from F-1 in two ways:

 

1. You need to show funding up front for the entire degree program (6 years in your case), not just the first year

2. Your source of funding must mostly not come from personal/family funds. "Mostly" is not well defined but it sounds like your school is defining it to be 51%.

 

I think you already know that, but just to make sure we are all on the same page. Now, for your actual concern:

 

First, you should know that you need your DS-2019 to show at least 51% of all the funds to come from a source that is not you or your family. The people that create your DS-2019 is your school's international student office. It's up to them to decide how long to make your DS-2019 valid etc., so you will have to work with them!

 

Here are things I think you should do:

 

1. I am assuming the International Student Office is asking you for this information at this point. I am also assuming that, like most PhD students in the sciences, you have a letter saying you are fully funded for year 1 and will continue to be fully funded as long as you make satisfactory progress etc. Usually, this is enough for the International Office to issue your DS-2019 assuming that you will get all of the funding (or be kicked out otherwise). My letter said the same and my DS-2019 shows the amount for 6 years. So, first, I would forward your offer letter with your funding to your school's international office and see if they will accept conditional funding to be good enough for your DS-2019.

 

2. If they tell you that they can only put the guaranteed amount, I would ask them what they need from the department in order for you to have the full amount on your DS-2019. Let your department know about this so that they can issue you a letter with satisfactory funding. Of course, if your international office suggests a different path, then go with their advice! I would think that the international office is on "your side" and will help you get what you need!

 

3. I think it is indeed possible for them to issue a DS-2019 for one year only and then as you get more funding from your department, they can issue additional DS-2019s (or extend yours). This isn't ideal because when you and your wife get to the US on your initial DS-2019s, you will have to use this information to apply for your wife's Employment Authorization Document (EAD). Depending on mysterious rules, your wife's EAD can be valid for just 1 year or it can be valid for many years (my wife's EAD was issued for 4 years). But, the upper limit is the length of your J-1 status, which is tied to the length of your DS-2019, which means if you only have a 1-year DS-2019, then your wife's EAD is only valid for one year and you have to apply for another EAD again. The EAD process takes about 3 months so in order to not have an interruption in your wife's job, she needs to reapply 4-6 months in advance of the expiration, which means you also need to get your DS-2019 extended by then. This can end up taking up a lot of your time and money (applications are $400 each time) so I think you should try to work with your school's international office as best you can in order to get your DS-2019 for the full 6 years!

[NirEC]

Hi,

Thank you for the elaborated answer.

Unfortunately, the international student office insist that J1 is issued only for the entire program and I have to provide funding for the entire period.

The faculty insist that they can't provide that :-(

 

Thanks again,

[DeleteMePlease]

I think a DS-2019 (and also an I-20) can only be issued for the length of the program. 

 

However, I wonder if you could take your wife on an F-1 visa and then let her apply for a B-1 visa or a green card.

[TakeruK]

Hi,

Thank you for the elaborated answer.

Unfortunately, the international student office insist that J1 is issued only for the entire program and I have to provide funding for the entire period.

The faculty insist that they can't provide that :-(

 

Thanks again,

 

Sorry to hear that. Ultimately, it's the University's prerogative to decide whether or not to sponsor you on J-1 so it's hard to argue with them (one school refused to issue J-1s at all for grad students, no matter how much funding you have, and I didn't get very far with trying to change their mind). 

 

I think your best bet was to ask your department to help you out. I would be pretty disappointed to hear that you are basically not getting a DS-2019 based on a technicality (unless funding for later years is actually competitive). In my program there are no unfunded students--if you lose funding, then means you are also kicked out! They don't let you stay without funding. So, maybe this is why my DS-2019 includes future funding that is not on my offer letter. 

 

If the department has absolutely refused to help you out even with your explanation of why you need J-1 status, I think you might have to consider F-1 or find another school. I would reach out to some graduate students at Stanford though, perhaps their Grad Student Council or similar because this type of policy puts students with families/dependents at a major disadvantage. I know that if this happened at my school, the current students would definitely bring this to the attention of the Graduate Office and try to work out a policy that will help more international students with spouses to have J-1 status.

 

B-1 status/visa does not allow you to stay for an extended period of time, nor does not allow you to work, as far as I know. 

 

Applying for a green card is pretty tough. The possible eligibility criteria are:

 

1) your spouse is a child or parent or sibling or spouse of a US citizen or permanent resident (i.e. someone else with a green card). I'll assume this is not the case or you would have a green card too and thus not need F-1/J-1 status

2) your spouse has a very employable skill that match their immigration search (they would have to come to the US to do this skill though, instead of as a dependent of yours)

3) the "lottery"

 

The "lottery" is what a lot of people try to do, also known as the Diversity Immigration visa. It's designed to help increase immigration to the US from countries that send very few people to the US. Thus, only some countries are eligible (there's a limit of 50,000 of these green cards awarded to citizens of any country in the past 5 years) which changes each year. The chances of winning also depend on your country of origin.

 

Finally, since a green card = permanent residence = immigration intent, this will make you look suspicious to a F-1/J-1 visa officer because to get a F-1/J-1 visa, you need to show non-immigration intent. 

[DeleteMePlease]

Thanks for all the infos!

(You are right the B-1 is only for temporary business)

[TakeruK]

We went through almost a year of angst trying to figure out all the possible ways we could go to the US for me to get a PhD and my spouse to also do something meaningful other than school. After all of our searching, we concluded that the most viable way for spouses of graduate students to find work in the US is the J-1 visa, unless one of the two has immediate family members who are American/permanent residents! I'm sure in special cases there might be other pathways though. I'm always glad to share what we learned in hopes that it will help someone else too

[psych21]

Me and my dept also couldn't show proof of full funding for the entire program and thus I had to come on a F1 visa. My husband is in F2-land. F2 sucks.

[solid_idea]

Hi NirEC, I am also a entering graduate student who would like to get the J1. 

I called the Bechtel internal center and they told me I was eligible for the J1 visa even though I only had 1 year of guaranteed funding.

I am quite perplexed and sent you a personal message with more details, hope to hear from you soon!  

[crosser]

Hi solid_idea, I am in the same situation as you (PhD in Appl Phys) and I need to get the J visa, could you provide more details how you received it?

I would be grateful for a private message or a post down here.

[fuzzylogician]

On 2/28/2018 at 4:16 PM, crosser said:

Hi solid_idea, I am in the same situation as you (PhD in Appl Phys) and I need to get the J visa, could you provide more details how you received it?

I would be grateful for a private message or a post down here.

This thread is almost four years old. You'll probably get more out of starting a new topic and asking your questions right here.