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Comment by jedisct1 | Hacker News Reader

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.

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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.

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