J1 Visa Travel Limitations
Program End
You may travel within the US and its territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Marianas, US Virgin Islands, American Samoa) with your expired J-1 Visa up until 30 days after the end date on your DS-2019.
You may not travel outside of the US with either an expired J-1 visa or an expired DS-2019 with the intent to return to the US, even if your proposed trip falls within the 30 day grace period, unless you have a valid ESTA clearance and can return to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (presuming you are from a VWP country), or a current B-1/B-2 visa stamp in your passport if you are from a non-VWP country. An ESTA clearance is valid for up to two years.
You are allowed to have a valid B-1/B-2 visa in your passport at the same time as you have a valid J-1 visa but, if you do, you must enter on the J-1 visa if entering the country to begin or continue your program per your DS-2019. Please see this link for a current list of VWP countries.
If you require a B-1/B-2 visa to reenter after the expiration of your J-1 visa, we do not recommend temporary trips to Canada or Mexico (unless you are a Mexican national going to Mexico) for this purpose. The likelihood is too great that you will be rejected or delayed in obtaining the new visa and returning on a timely basis. You should instead obtain a visa in your home country.
You may not travel outside of the US with either an expired J-1 visa or an expired DS-2019 with the intent to return to the US, even if your proposed trip falls within the 30 day grace period, unless you have a valid ESTA clearance and can return to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (presuming you are from a VWP country), or a current B-1/B-2 visa stamp in your passport if you are from a non-VWP country. An ESTA clearance is valid for up to two years.
You are allowed to have a valid B-1/B-2 visa in your passport at the same time as you have a valid J-1 visa but, if you do, you must enter on the J-1 visa if entering the country to begin or continue your program per your DS-2019. Please see this link for a current list of VWP countries.
If you require a B-1/B-2 visa to reenter after the expiration of your J-1 visa, we do not recommend temporary trips to Canada or Mexico (unless you are a Mexican national going to Mexico) for this purpose. The likelihood is too great that you will be rejected or delayed in obtaining the new visa and returning on a timely basis. You should instead obtain a visa in your home country.
Program Extension
Host departments rarely request to extend the duration of the program for which the J-1 visa holder is in residence at the Getty. However, in the event such a request is made, the Office of Scholars, Interns, and Professionals (OSIP) must approve the program extension before the additional residency time is confirmed.
Upon receiving the official letter of the program extension from your host department, OSIP will prepare and provide you with a new, amended DS-2019 with your new program end date. You must carry this new DS-2019 and your original one, with your passport. The new DS-2019 supersedes the original one only while you are in the United States.
If you plan to travel outside the United States, for program or personal reasons, after being granted a program extension, you may need to obtain a new J-1 visa decal in your passport in order to re-enter the US.
If the old J-1 visa has expired or will expire while you are abroad, then you will be directed to a US consular post during your trip. Since consular procedures can be complicated, OSIP will contact the Getty outside counsel who will check to see if there is a consular post at the destination and inform us of the procedure.
Please be assured that although the OSIP team will do everything we can to assist you if your travel is absolutely necessary, failure to inform us of any trips you may take leading to or during the expiration time period, will lessen our ability to assist you and will increase the chances of being refused re-entry to the US.
Once your program has officially ended, the "PROGRAM END" information at the top of this page will apply to travel within and outside of the US.
Upon receiving the official letter of the program extension from your host department, OSIP will prepare and provide you with a new, amended DS-2019 with your new program end date. You must carry this new DS-2019 and your original one, with your passport. The new DS-2019 supersedes the original one only while you are in the United States.
If you plan to travel outside the United States, for program or personal reasons, after being granted a program extension, you may need to obtain a new J-1 visa decal in your passport in order to re-enter the US.
If the old J-1 visa has expired or will expire while you are abroad, then you will be directed to a US consular post during your trip. Since consular procedures can be complicated, OSIP will contact the Getty outside counsel who will check to see if there is a consular post at the destination and inform us of the procedure.
Please be assured that although the OSIP team will do everything we can to assist you if your travel is absolutely necessary, failure to inform us of any trips you may take leading to or during the expiration time period, will lessen our ability to assist you and will increase the chances of being refused re-entry to the US.
Once your program has officially ended, the "PROGRAM END" information at the top of this page will apply to travel within and outside of the US.
 | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
