Some foreign scholars coming to the U.S. are now eligible for five-year visas, the State Department announced last week.
Scholars who hold J visas under the department’s Exchange Visitor Program, can enter and leave the U.S. an unlimited number of times over five years, instead of the previous three-year cap. However, visitors must wait two years between receiving the new visas and scholars who have held another nonimmigrant visa within the previous year are not eligible to participate.
The extension was decided almost 18 months ago, but the policy shift was delayed to allow the Department of Homeland Security to make necessary changes.
