Policy Clarified for J-1 MAVNI Recruits and Their Families

J-2 spouses and children of J-1 naturalized citizens under the MAVNI program are not subject to the two year home residence requirement

Just last week, the U.S. government issued a policy guidance letter clarifying that the two-year home residence requirement for certain J visa holders ceases to apply to U.S. Army recruits who naturalize under the MAVNI program.  The two-year rule also ceases to apply to immediate family members of those recruits.  

As background information, some J-1 visa holders and their immediate family members are required to return to their home countries and stay there for at least two years after the exchange visitor program is over. This requirement is typically triggered when the exchange visitor program has government funding, the exchange visitor is a national or permanent resident of a country which has deemed the field of specialized knowledge or skill necessary to the development of the country, or the purpose of the exchange visitor program is to receive graduate medical education or training. Spouses and children of such J-1 visa holders also become subject to the two year home residency requirement.

J-1 applicants who enlist in the army under the Military Accession Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program typically naturalize and become U.S. citizens at the end of their basic training. They are not required to comply with or obtain a waiver of the two year home residence requirements as a pre-condition to naturalization or army service. Their spouses and children, who were admitted as J-2 dependents, then apply for permanent residence as immediate relatives for a U.S. citizen. Some USCIS offices have taken the view that such J-2 depends remain subject to the two year home residence requirement and must either comply or obtain a waiver before they may become permanent residence. In an effort to synchronize operations, this policy guidance now clarifies that the government does not consider J-2 family members subject to the two year home residence once the principal J-1 applicant joins the army and naturalizes under the MAVNI program.