Ask HN: Has anyone sponsored a J1 specialist or trainee? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Has anyone sponsored a J1 specialist or trainee?

15 pointsmezod25 comments

Hi, I'm trying to figure out how to sponsor a foreign professional for a J1 visa to work with us. All the info I find links me to https://j1visa.state.gov/participants/how-to-apply/sponsor-search/?program=Specialist , which is a list of designated sponsors, mostly universities and cultural organizations... Do I have to apply through them? Doesn't make much sense...

Has anyone ever had to deal with a similar problem? We considered H1B but the process is costly and slow.

Any links, info or contacts are highly appreciated!! Thanks!

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I was in USA few times on J1 as an intern. It is the best visa, if you like to hire someone for 3 months internship while someone studies at Universities.

Though this is not H1B replacement, as this visa require that trainee/intern have intern to leave the USA after the program.

If you are employer, you need to contact sponsoring organization. For all internships I used: http://culturalvistas.org/programs/us/j-1-internships-traini... (they got different name before "CDS International") The paperwork is light, even startups with reasonable funding can get the visa.

Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer.

I'm a French citizen, but I joined OpenDNS (acquired by Cisco since) on a J-1 Visa.

Most of the paperwork has to be actually done by the candidate, but the process was pretty straightforward.

I had to pay about $500 for the express/priority/whatever-it's-called version of the Visa, plus insurance coverage, plus the fee for a local third-party I used for the application, for a total of about $1500 (that the company was supposed to reimburse but never did).

Unlike the H1-B, the petition for the J-1 can be done at any time.

The J-1 can be extended twice, and is valid up to 1.5 years. It can be upgraded to a H1-B, although this requires leaving the country for a couple weeks in-between.

Not looking to hijack the OP thread here but could you provide some additional information on your case?

I'm thinking of attempting this next year (try to get a J1 visa) when I finish my Data Science MSc, so could you let me know how easy it was to find a company, how long it took you to find the position, what was the reason for your work (thesis, internship), what's your salary level compared to a normal position in the company etc

Also regarding the J1 visa it was my understanding that you have to return to your home country for 1-2 years before being able to apply for a H1B, is that not the case?

Any information is welcome. Thanks in advance

You need to return to your own country and wait for 2 years to get another J-1 after it expires (1.5 years).

But transitioning from a J-1 to a H1-B doesn't require waiting that much. I was out of the country only for 1 month or so.

> J-1 after it expires (1.5 years)

1.5 years might be for your case. For research scholars you can extend it for up to 5 years.

> But transitioning from a J-1 to a H1-B doesn't require waiting that much. I was out of the country only for 1 month or so.

The current processing time for an H1-B visa is eight months. You also aren't required to leave the country.

I'd be careful taking your experience and extrapolating it to all situations. People here may be mislead by some of the information you provided.

I was on a j1 and missed the h1b lottery but I was told I was not required to go home if I won.

A friend (also on a j1) who won the lottery never had to return home.

He is going home for the holidays however and may now have to go to an embassy to have his passport done before returning to the US. Will know in the new year if this is the case.

> He is going home for the holidays however and may now have to go to an embassy to have his passport done before returning to the US. Will know in the new year if this is the case.

Yes. If you leave the US without a valid (and appropriate) entry visa stamp in your passport, you will need to go to a US embassy to get one.

the default 2 year rule does not apply to everyone

depends on your nationality/where you live

the 2 yr rule depends on the funding agency and your profession. Most fellowship/postdoc positions funded by the government have this requirement.

Note that it didn't require the help of a lawyer.

Just filling a bunch of paperwork asking for the same information over and over again.

The specific projects you are going to work on also have to be clearly defined.

My understanding of the J1 is that it is a cultural exchange visa and that the intent is that it's very short term work and specifically not as an alternative to the H1B.

Another caveat is that the position could be designated as subject to the 2 year residency rule, and therefore your employee would not be allowed to work in the US for 2 years after their J1 expires.

I'm an Irish Citizen. I was on a j1 graduate visa for 12 months. I just arrived back in my home country this week.

The process is straight forward but you will lose the first month waiting for approval of the placement. Depending on the country you might need to have the position approved before your SERVIS start date.

A friend of mine from Catalonia like you (according to your github account) applying from Spain had to have his placement preapproved.

He managed to get a h1b half way through the year, the transition over to h1b mid j1 was actually very easy without him having to return home which is interesting, due to the dual intent of the h1b. If he does go home however he has to then go to an embassy to get the visa inserted into his passport.

Also you are not always subject to the 2 year rule. It did not apply to my application nor my friends. If I go back for a second j-1 as a trainee it will be subject to it next time however.

Feel free to asking any questions.

Note that the person you sponsor will most likely be subject to the two-year home residency requirement: after their J1 expires, they are required to return to their home country of residence for at least two years before converting to any US immigrant visa (i.e. any visa which could lead to permanent residency or citizenship).

If your employee doesn't intend to stay in the US, that's fine, but if they, say, get married while in the US, they'll have significant obstacles in their way.

There are certain circumstances in which this requirement doesn't apply or can be waived, but I won't presume to know if they apply to you.

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/study-exchange/stu...

I was a j1 trainee thrice. lifting 2 year residency condition was a prerequisite for h1b. Clearing it was a beurocratic but straightforward process which involved mailing some papers to my own country's consulate. It probably depends on the origin country, but for me since my funding was given by the us school i was interning at, and since there was no involvement of my government, it was rather straightforward.

Good thing that is all over now :)

Glad it all worked out for you!

I would definitely recommend any J1 candidate take a careful look to the 2-year residency requirements and their particular situation. Sometimes it is relatively painless paperwork to have it waved, however in some situations they can pretty seriously enforce it.

J-1 trainees get sponsored by a third party exchange organization, not the company they will be interning at. Typically you (as the host company) and the candidate work with the exchange organization to complete the paperwork to get the visa.

When I did my J-1 internship back in 2001, I used CIEE, which was pretty painless and straightforward: https://www.ciee.org/intern/

I've been on a J-1 multiple times with different employers and they've always used Cultural Vistas. Cultural Vistas has to be the worst, most bureaucratic organization with which I've ever had the displeasure of interacting. All of their employees lack basic critical thinking skills to the point that I've often wondered if I'm dealing with an automated system written by government contractors.

Are there any sponsoring organizations for J-1 that are not such a pain on the intern/trainee's part?

We have done this multiple times at Breezy. You won't want to go it alone but the fees aren't astronomical. I can make good intros; my email is in profile.

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/study-exchange/exc...

https://www.ice.gov/sevis/overview#wcm-survey-target-id

I think with this kind of situation the best thing for you to do is lawyer up.

Lawyers cost money to fill the same long-ass forms that you can fill up yourself!

The J-1 visa is going away, according to Trump. Just a heads up...

I'm on my second J1 Visa, it's pretty straightforward:

- proving to be a student

- proving that the job fits with the studies

- proving that the job is gonna be done in good conditions

- proving to have enough money to live there

- etc.

You can get one even if you are not a student.

The only requirement to be a "trainee" is to be less than 40 years old.

i was in the states twice on a J1 visa. highly recommended. easy to get. there is age limit though

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