WHEN and WHERE TO RENEW MY J-1 VISA?

When TO

If I am planning to leave the U.S. and the J-1 visa in my passport is expiring before I return.

If my J-1 passport visa will expire before I visit my home country next Christmas, and I will not have time to go to an American Embassy there before re-entering the U.S. next January.  Note that some American Embassies close for a week to ten days during the Christmas holidays to allow American staff to return to the U.S. to spend the holidays.

When NOT

I am staying in the U.S. for the entire next year and will not leave the country.  All I need to do is fill in the bottom line on my renewal DS-2019 form, fold it in such a way that it can be viewed in its entirety when unfolded, and staple the form into my passport (along with all previous DS-2019 forms).

My Home Country

You can always apply to renew your J-1 visa status in your country of origin.
You can apply to renew your J-1 visa status in a country you visit if that country is willing to accept Third Country National applications. 

Check the website of the American Embassy of the target country first and read the instructions in the Non-Immigrant Visa section. 
For a list of Websites of U.S. Embassies and Consulates in foreign countries, go to:  http://www.usembassy.gov/

Canada – Third Country Nationals (TCNs)

Most Third Country Nationals (citizens of countries other than Canada applying for visas to visit or work in the United States) can apply to renew J-1 visa status in Canada. 

For detailed instructions for contacting U.S. Embassies in Canada via phone or internet, click on CANADA_RENEW_Visa.

To make an appointment online, go to: https://www.nvars.com/Production/userhome.aspx

Mexico – Third Country Nationals (TCNs)

New website for making appointments in Mexico: www.usvisa-mexico.com.

All ten posts in Mexico, including for the first time the interior posts of Guadalajara, Hermosillo, Monterrey, Merida, and Mexico City will now accept nonimmigrant visa applications from third country nationals.

Only TCN’s renewing the same visa type for which they received the first visa EITHER in the “home” country (that of residence or citizenship) or at a border post in Canada or Mexico. For example, an Indian national who got his first J visa stamp in Mumbai could get a renewal in Mexico. A British citizen who got his first J-1 visa in Ottawa, Canada (a border post), could renew it at any post in Mexico. But a Japanese national who received her first J-1 visa in Paris while visiting could NOT renew in Mexico. Likewise any TCN who has never had a visa stamped in the passport in a particular category cannot get the first visa stamp in that category in Mexico.

Unfortunately, persons ineligible to process a visa in Mexico will still receive an appointment via the automated system but will be denied upon arriving at that appointment.  Always check the consular web page for particular visa issuance requirements before proceeding to a visa appointment at www.travel.state.gov.

If you are unsure whether you are eligible to renew your visa in Mexico, use the telephone no. on the website to make your appointment rather than the online appointment system.