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J2 - what documents?


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Hi friends! I'm a PhD student living in Michigan, originally Canadian. I just got married in May and am switching from an F1 to a J1 so that my British husband can apply for a J2. We've just submitted his application and also scheduled his interview for late August. My q is - does he need an official copy of our marriage certificate in hand for his interview?? I've ordered two copies to my parents' house in Ontario but I'm not sure when it will arrive so I'm a bit nervous that this interview may be too early for him to actually have this with him...

TIA!

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Hi!

My spouse and I just moved back to Canada after being on J-1 and J-2 status for the last 5 years. Standard disclaimer: the following is just based on my experience, and I'm not an expert on this, so your experience may vary! Probably a good idea to contact your school about this and/or legal experts. But hope this is still helpful.

The full information from the Department of State on J status/visas can be found here: https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/study-exchange/exchange.html

Although there is no direct requirement for the marriage certificate, as with almost any dealings with US immigration/customs, there is always a potential that they will request documentation beyond what is minimally required.

In theory, the DS-2019 should only be issued to your husband if you already proved your marriage to your school's international office. Therefore, in theory, they don't "need" to see the original marriage certificate. However, my experience with USCIS was that they often request things that have already been produced (maybe it's just bad organization, or maybe it's to make it harder to be fraudulent). For example, when my spouse (J-2) applied for employment authorization in the US, our first application was returned to us because they wanted a marriage certificate copy (even though this was already proven when attaining J-2 status). On the other hand, when we entered the US for the first time, they didn't look at the certificate at all (my spouse is also Canadian so no visa interviews for either of us).

So my opinion is that your husband should do his best to have as many originals or copies of documents on hand as possible. It's far better to have it and not need it. If he doesn't get the original marriage certificate on time, he should have whatever version you submitted to your school to get the DS-2019 for him in the first place. If the original marriage certificate doesn't come on time, don't worry about it too much because it might not be asked for. Since you already have the interview scheduled, I'm not sure if it's worth rescheduling or delaying.

But you should definitely talk to your school about it. Based on your sidebar info, it seems like your school might have a very good office, since when I have tried to search for international student related things in the past, your school's international office website pops up a lot with plenty of useful information!

Also, happy to answer any other J1/J2 related questions if they come up later :)

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10 hours ago, TakeruK said:

Hi!

My spouse and I just moved back to Canada after being on J-1 and J-2 status for the last 5 years. Standard disclaimer: the following is just based on my experience, and I'm not an expert on this, so your experience may vary! Probably a good idea to contact your school about this and/or legal experts. But hope this is still helpful.

The full information from the Department of State on J status/visas can be found here: https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/study-exchange/exchange.html

Although there is no direct requirement for the marriage certificate, as with almost any dealings with US immigration/customs, there is always a potential that they will request documentation beyond what is minimally required.

In theory, the DS-2019 should only be issued to your husband if you already proved your marriage to your school's international office. Therefore, in theory, they don't "need" to see the original marriage certificate. However, my experience with USCIS was that they often request things that have already been produced (maybe it's just bad organization, or maybe it's to make it harder to be fraudulent). For example, when my spouse (J-2) applied for employment authorization in the US, our first application was returned to us because they wanted a marriage certificate copy (even though this was already proven when attaining J-2 status). On the other hand, when we entered the US for the first time, they didn't look at the certificate at all (my spouse is also Canadian so no visa interviews for either of us).

So my opinion is that your husband should do his best to have as many originals or copies of documents on hand as possible. It's far better to have it and not need it. If he doesn't get the original marriage certificate on time, he should have whatever version you submitted to your school to get the DS-2019 for him in the first place. If the original marriage certificate doesn't come on time, don't worry about it too much because it might not be asked for. Since you already have the interview scheduled, I'm not sure if it's worth rescheduling or delaying.

But you should definitely talk to your school about it. Based on your sidebar info, it seems like your school might have a very good office, since when I have tried to search for international student related things in the past, your school's international office website pops up a lot with plenty of useful information!

Also, happy to answer any other J1/J2 related questions if they come up later :)

Thank you so much!!! I know I've encountered you on these fora in the past talking a lot about your J process so you have always been incredibly helpful! It turns out that when I submitted my request for our certificate on Saturday (!) it was processed immediately so it should be at my parents' house by this week. I get back home on July 30th so I'm thinking that I should have more than enough time to get an official, certified copy sent over to the UK if I go to the post office on July 31st, so he can take it with him. Just in case I'm also going to send him all of my past travel documentation and a USB with our wedding photos. We've been living on opposite sides of the Atlantic since August 2015 so I'm pretty anxious about what we'll need to "prove" our relationship... I'm hoping they won't be as intense with us as they would be for an immigrant visa. Michigan's int'l office has been incredibly easygoing about the whole thing so I'm hoping our luck continues... 

Edited by ciistai
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7 hours ago, ciistai said:

Thank you so much!!! I know I've encountered you on these fora in the past talking a lot about your J process so you have always been incredibly helpful! It turns out that when I submitted my request for our certificate on Saturday (!) it was processed immediately so it should be at my parents' house by this week. I get back home on July 30th so I'm thinking that I should have more than enough time to get an official, certified copy sent over to the UK if I go to the post office on July 31st, so he can take it with him. Just in case I'm also going to send him all of my past travel documentation and a USB with our wedding photos. We've been living on opposite sides of the Atlantic since August 2015 so I'm pretty anxious about what we'll need to "prove" our relationship... I'm hoping they won't be as intense with us as they would be for an immigrant visa. Michigan's int'l office has been incredibly easygoing about the whole thing so I'm hoping our luck continues... 

Glad to hear that! I've heard that it could be helpful for these long-distance relationships if your husband brings proof of your relationship and wedding with him to the interview, as one of the "just in case" items. So, things like pictures, programs, whatever stuff you have leftover from the wedding. Pictures of you two from past years could help. Again, it's pretty unlikely and as you said, they probably won't be as harsh as an immigrant visa. I have a friend who married an American while in the US and applied for PR status and agents went into their apartment (with permission) to ensure they were actually cohabiting instead of just a "green card marriage". Extreme case, I think, but if your husband has these documents, why not bring them!

Oh also: since your husband is not entering the US on J-2 for the first time with you accompanying him, you just need to ensure you have entered as J-1 for the first time prior to his entry.

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