This is a question I answered recently.



Question: "Hi, I came to Los Angeles on August 31, 2011 with J1 Visa. I left USA on February, 2012. I am subjected to 2 years rule. I stayed in my country for 18 months. I came to USA again for master education on August 15, 2013 with F1 Visa. I went to my country again this summer(June-July 2014) and stayed there in 2 months.

I have a question for this. Is 2 years rule mandatory to be done incessantly(nonstop time)? So I can go to my country every summer for 1 or 2 months in order to complete 2 years. Do my trips counts for J1 two years rule? Can I do this way? Thank you so much."



Answer: The home residence requirement is a total of two years, so the two years can be broken into two trips, perhaps more. However, it is unclear if very short trips will qualify. After all, this is a home RESIDENCE requirement, and you have to establish that you have resided in the home country, not that you took a vacation there. I had a client who broke the trips into 18 months and 6 months. That was sufficient for the Department of State.