Cordell Hull Foundation J-1 VISA RENEWAL PROCESS
If your continued participation in our J-1 exchange teacher visitor program for the next school year has been approved, you must obtain an updated DS-2019 form after your school has provided the information requested by CHF.
Read the back side of your renewal DS-2019 form, then sign and date where required in the bottom portion on the front side. If you do not leave the U.S., you do not have to renew the J-1 visa in your passport. The renewal DS-2019 form will keep you in J-1 status. After completing the bottom line, fold and staple it inside your passport. Keep all previous DS-2019 forms folded and stapled in your passport, in such a way that the U.S. Immigration Officer may read them without unstapling from your passport.
If you are planning to leave the United States, first check the valid dates of the J-1 visa stamp in your passport. If the J-1 visa is expiring, you must return to an American Embassy in the country you visit to update your J-1 visa stamp.
Important note: Depending upon your country of origin, you may be able to re-enter the U.S. two weeks before your J-1 visa passport expiration if you have a renewal DS-2019 form showing you in valid J-1 visa status for at least one more school year.
Chinese alert: If you return to China, you must renew your J-1 visa stamp before re-entering the U.S., regardless of whether you have in your possession a renewal DS-2019 form from the Cordell Hull Foundation. The American Embassy in China is currently issuing J-1 visas to teachers for one-year periods only.
If you are staying in the U.S. and will not need to re-enter the US, all you need to remain in status is:
renewal DS-2019 form with travel validation signature good for the upcoming year.
The Exchange Visitor Program was designed to give foreign nationals an opportunity to discover American culture. Living and working in a country is the best way to learn about and adapt to a foreign culture and hone your language skills if you are not a native speaker of English. Traveling in the country is the second-best way. During the summer, we advise you to travel around the US, where you can find a wealth of interesting cities and places to visit. You will benefit from staying and exploring the US rather than returning to your home country, where you have lived all your life and can easily visit again at the end of your J-1 Exchange Visitor Teacher Program with CHF. After you return to your home country, travel to the U.S. will be more difficult, expensive and time-consuming. If you do not leave the US, you never need to return to the American Embassy to update your J-1 visa stamp. All you need is a renewal DS-2019 form CHF, and your continued J-1 status kept active in the online SEVIS database.
If you do decide to plan international travel before or during J-1 passport visa expiration, begin the process of J-1 visa renewal by reading the instructions in the non-immigrant visa section of the American Embassy website in the target country. Check www.cordellhull.net/CHF1 and click on your country for quick links to access American Embassy webpages worldwide.
Be sure to double-check the website again just prior to gathering your paperwork. Visa application rules change frequently and without notice.
You will have to pay an entrance fee to a bank in advance of approximately $131 (going up to $140 as of June 4, 2010). Check the website for instructions as to cost and method of payment. In order to gain entrance to the Embassy, you must show the original receipt for having paid this fee. You do NOT pay the SEVIS fee again. It is only a one-time fee.
The following U.S. Embassy interactive application form must be completed for your visa application on the Internet: Form DS-160. See http://www.cordellhull.net/PW10/DS-160.html for information on this new form in 2010. Be sure to include all required documents and answer every question on the application forms. List a home address and telephone no. in your home country. One requirement of a J-1 non-immigrant visa is to have a residence abroad. Print out a receipt for completing the DS-160 and bring it to your visa interview. Make sure your application is complete. If not, your visa may be denied. Form DS-160 is available at https://ceac.state.gov/genniv
To obtain a J-1 teacher or J-2 dependent visa stamp in your passport, most embassies require you to present in person:
(1) this letter, (2) the renewal DS-2019 form that you have signed and dated,
(3) a digital passport photo meeting the strict requirements described on the American Embassy website,
(4) your biometric passport, valid for 6 months beyond the expiration date in Section 3 on your DS-2019 form,
(5) printed-out of receipt for completing interactive Visa Application Form DS-160 online,
(6) original bank receipt for having paid the visa application fee - $140 as of June 4, 2010, if paid separately from completing Form DS-160.
DS-160 (NEW): The new DS-160 Online, Nonimmigrant Visa Electronic Application, has already replaced previous nonimmigrant application forms DS-156, 157, 158. The roll-out of the new DS-160 began in early 2010. Most U.S. Embassies and Consulates have now implemented the form as of May 2010. Doublecheck the website of the American Consulate where you are scheduling your interview to confirm whether the DS-160 is now in effect, and/or ask the appointments operator when you make your J visa appointment.
When you re-enter the US, you must have the DS-2019 form. If not, you may be denied entry. You will receive a small white I-94 card on the airplane. Before leaving the immigration inspector, check to make sure the I-94 card is marked "D/S" next to "UNTIL" (no expiration date) and that J-1 is your visa classification. Staple the white I-94 card inside your passport and also the DS-2019 form after presenting it to the inspector. If you are photographed and fingerprinted upon entry to the U.S., do not be alarmed. It is a routine procedure.