What is a J visa?
The Exchange Visitor (J) non-immigrant visa is for individuals qualified to participate in the study and work based visitor programs. The J visa is divided into two parts namely J-1 and J-2 visa. The primary goals of the Exchange Visitor Program or J-1 Visa are to give participants the opportunity to engage with the Native Americans, strengthen and test their English language abilities, share their culture, and learn or build new skills that could benefit them in future careers. Whereas, the J-2 visa allows a non-immigrant dependent like unmarried children below the age of 21 or spouse to be accompanied by the J-1 exchange visitor or later join J-1 holder in the United States. In both cases, an Immigration Support Service Company is very beneficial to hire which guides properly and saves a lot of time. Eligibility and Departments of the J-1 visa program The J-1 visa program has fifteen different categories of participants, of which thirteen categories include privately-funded programs and rest two categories are publicly funded. To obtain a J-1 visa, an individual must fall under any of the following program categories: â—? Privately-funded Programs o Professors/ Research Scholars o Short-term Scholars o Trainees o Interns o College and University Students o Teachers o Secondary School Students o Specialists o Alien Physicians o Camp Counselors o Au Pairs o Summer Work Travel Program
Publicly-funded Programs o Government Visitors o International Visitors
Eligibility for the J-2 visa program The eligibility of a J-2 visa completely depends on a particular exchange program being offered by the sponsor organizations to the J-1 visa immigrant. Although some categories allow for dependents or spouses to accompany a J-1 visa immigrant there are specific programs that do not allow. A J-2 visa is not permitted in following exchange program categories: o Au Pairs o Camp Counselors