Visa Categories

Exchange Visitors

• For more information on our weekly Education Hour question and answer session for educational institutions, click here.
• If you are the dependent of someone on an exchange visitor visa and are applying to join him/her, click here.
• If you are a parent of an exchange visitor in the U.S. and would like to visit your child, click here for more information about tourist visas.

General Information

The "J" Exchange Visitor Program is designed to promote the exchange of persons, knowledge, and skills in the fields of education, arts, and sciences. Participants in this program include students at all academic levels; trainees obtaining on-the-job training with firms, institutions, and agencies; teachers of primary, secondary, and specialized schools; professors coming to teach or do research at institutions of higher learning; research scholars; professional trainees in the medical and allied fields; and international visitors going to the U.S. for the purpose of travel, observation, consultation, research, training, sharing, or demonstrating specialized knowledge or skills, or participating in organized people-to-people programs.

Special Requirements

Scholastic Preparation

If you are applying for a "J" exchange visitor visa, you must have sufficient scholastic preparation and knowledge of the English language to enable you to undertake a full course of study in your school or other place of study in the United States. If your knowledge of English is too limited to allow you to study successfully, you must submit documentation that special arrangements have been made for English language tutoring by the U.S. institution.

Medical Education and Training

Exchange visitors participating in the "J" program for graduate medical education or training must meet certain special requirements. These requirements include: having passed the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination in Medical Sciences, demonstrating English competency, and agreeing to the time limitations based on the duration of their program. If you are a physician going to the United States on an exchange visitor program for the purpose of observation, consultation, teaching, or research in which there is little or no patient care, you are not subject to the above requirements.

The Two year home residence requirement

Most professionals in China, including students, are subject to the two-year home residency requirement when they travel to the U.S. on a J-1 visa. That means that you are required to return to China at the completion of your program and remain there for two years before you may apply for a U.S. work visa. This requirement does not bar you from applying for a student or tourist visa.

Required documentation for the J visa:

• A completed Form DS-2019. Participants in the "J" program must present a Form DS-2019 prepared by a designated sponsoring organization.
• Evidence of sufficient scholarship or personal funds to cover the your expenses during your stay in the U.S. Possession of "sufficient funds" means that you are not likely to engage in unauthorized employment in order to support yourself while in the United States.
• An I-901 SEVIS fee receipt indicating you have enrolled in the SEVIS program

Administrative processing (the “check”)

Some exchange visa applicants are subject to additional security processing based on the subject matter they intend to study and/or their backgrounds. In order to make this additional processing proceed as quickly and smoothly as possible, we suggest that you bring the following documents in English to your interview:

• Your resume or curriculum vitae including a list of all published research articles.
• A detailed research plan.
• A copy of your advisor’s web page.

This processing can take four weeks or longer to complete. Please keep this in mind when making your application and travel plans. The Shanghai Consulate has no method of expediting or speeding-up this processing.

To schedule an appointment through the China Visa Information Call Center, click here.