There are two 2-year bars applicable to the J-1 Teacher Visa. You cannot get around the second bar:
No waiver applies.
TWO YEAR BAR for J-1 Teacher Visa #1:
After the end of the 1-5 year J-1 visa term, teachers must return to their home country to share what they have learned in the US. The end date is June 30 of the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd year or the 4th or 5th year (if you extend your status during the third year).
In May 2020 and April 2021, the State Dept. offered a special 1-year extension for a 6th year due to the Covid 19 travel bans imposed by the State Department and the White House starting in Spring of 2020, which were not lifted until November 8, 2021.
They have not offered a 6th-7th year J-1 teacher visa extensions since 2021.
We do not anticipate that the Exchange Visitor Bureau will offer it again.
Can I apply for a waiver of the 2 year bar?
No, do not do that. Click on and watch the video which explains why:
You must return to your home country for two years at the end of the J-1 visa term (1-5 years), unless you marry an American citizen, in which case you will apply for a different visa status. Note: At the point you marry an American citizen, you are no longer eligible for Exchange Visa Status. You must apply for the correct visa status as the spouse of an American citizen immediately. The marriage is viewed as “intention to immigrate” by US immigration.
2 YEAR HOME Residency Requirement for J-1 Teacher Visa #2:
If you do not have a 212-E Stamp on the bottom of your J-1 passport visa, it means that you are not subject to the 2-year home-residency requirement.
This is an ADDITIONAL 2-year bar. You must not apply for a waiver of this 2-year residency requirement if you plan to request an extension of your J-1 teacher visa in the 3rd year, to extend for a 4th-5th year. To apply for this extension, you need to present all 3 of the previous year’s Cultural Activity Reports including all the components required for Activities 1 & 2 in Elementary Schools and also Activity 3 in foreign-language immersion schools (in which the exchange teacher teachers in a foreign language) or schools that bear the name “International.” Teachers who teach a foreign language class as a second language are not subject to the requirement to produce the third cultural activity (outside school grounds), but we encourage them to complete the third activity, as they have so much to share.