Published in the Federal Register on December 9, 2024, and effective immediately, the US State Department has updated the J-1 Skills List for the first time since 2009. This update substantially reduces the list of countries whose J-1 Exchange Visitor Program participants in designated skill areas are subject to the two-year foreign residence requirement. 

Background: The J-1 Two-Year Foreign Residence Requirement

J-1 Exchange Visitor visas are available to foreign nationals who want to participate in exchange visitor programs in the United States. There are multiple categories of J-1 visas; the most common are for interns, trainees, visiting professors and scholars, au pairs, and “summer work-travel” for work at seasonal resorts.

Certain J-1 Exchange Visitors are subject to a foreign residence requirement after completing a J-1 program in the United States. This rule mandates that affected J-1 visa holders must return to their home country or country of last residence for at least two years after their exchange program ends and before obtaining certain US immigration benefits. Until this requirement has been satisfied or waived, the individual may not:

• Apply for an H, L, or K visa, or an immigrant visa, at a US Embassy or Consulate
• Change status to another nonimmigrant visa category within the US
• Adjust status in the United States to Lawful Permanent Resident 
   

J-1 visa holders who are subject to this rule are those who:

• Participate in programs funded by the US government or by their home country government; 
• Receive graduate medical education or training in the US; or 
• Have skills that are deemed to be in short supply in their home country, as listed on the Exchange Visitor Skills List

Update: Revision to Countries on Skills List

For the first time in 15 years, the US State Department has updated the Skills List. Countries on the Skills List include those with at least one area of study or field of specialized knowledge designated as necessary for further development of that country. Most listed countries have multiple affected fields, and some include all fields.

The revised Skills List update removes thirty-seven countries that were included on the 2009 list, including China, India, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, South Korea, and many others. The full list of countries that remain on the Skills List, and the list of designated skills for each, is available here.

The Skills List revision merely removed countries but did not update the skills for the countries that remain on the List. For countries listed on the revised Skills List, the skills areas remain the same as in the 2009 Skills List.

The State Department has updated the Skills List based on data regarding economic development, country size, and overall outbound migration rates. The Department has chosen criteria viewed as an objective, measurable indicator of a country's standard of living and development and are closely linked to the accumulation of human capital within a given country. This is intended to ensure countries with low levels of development and those countries with higher levels of development but with circumstances that hinder the development of a skilled workforce will remain on the Skills List to ensure the return of J-1 Exchange Visitors and support the development of that country.

Retroactive Application of the Revised Skills List

This revised Skills List supersedes the Skills List published in 2009. Accordingly, J-1 nonimmigrant Exchange Visitors who were subject to the two-year foreign residence requirement at the time of their admission in J-1 status based on the Skills List will no longer be subject to that requirement if their country is no longer designated in the revised Skills List. 

Individuals from countries removed from the Skills List may find J-1 program participation to be a viable option if the foreign residence requirement previously served as a barrier.

Prior updates to the Skills List have been infrequent. First introduced in 1972, the Skills List has been updated only four times: in 1978, 1984, 1997, and 2009. With the most recent update, the State Department has indicated an intent to review the Skills List every three years, with updates as appropriate.