Understanding the 12 and 24 Month Bars

The J BARs are rules on whether or not a scholar can have a second stay (have already used the J visa before) in the U.S. in J-1 status. The BARs say that you are or are not allowed to have a new period of J visa sponsorship based on how long you were in the U.S. and under which J visa category. There are many different J-1 categories, each with  separate rules.  The BARs only effect scholars wanting to start a new period of the J-1 Research Scholar / Professor category. Scholars are either not subject to the BARs, subject to a 12 month BAR or subject to a 24 month BAR. In the extreme case a scholar would not be able to use J-1 sponsorship for a two year period. (This is a different rule from the two-year home-residency requirement.) The following chart shows how long you would have to wait before you could obtain a new J-1 Research Scholar or Professor visa based on your previous J visa ststua. Please speak to an OISS advisor for details.

 

Scholar visa status for LESS than 6 months

If you have or had this
J visa category 		  Wait time for
new J-1 Research Scholar/Professor visa
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J-1 Student Non-Degree   greenNo Wait
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J-1 Student   greenNo Wait
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J-1 Short Term Scholar   greenNo Wait
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J-1 Specialist   greenNo Wait
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J-2 Dependent       greenNo Wait
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Scholar visa status for MORE than 6 months

If you have or had this
J visa category 		  Wait time for
new J-1 Research Scholar/Professor visa
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J-1 Student Non-Degree   green12 Months
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J-1 Student   green12 Months
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J-1 Short Term Scholar   green12 Months
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J-1 Specialist   green12 Months
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J-2 Dependent of any J-1 category except Research Scholar/Professor                 green12 Months
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J-2 Dependent of Research Scholar/Professor Category   green24 Months
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If you have or had J-1 Research Scholar status for any amount of time (one day to five years)

   green24 Months
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