Skip to main content
University of Florida

Repeat Participation Bar

When you complete your J-1 program and leave the US, you may not be eligible to participate in certain J-1 programs in the US until a specific amount of time has passed. This depends on whether you are subject to the 12-Month Repeat Participation Bar. 

The US government created this bar to ensure that the J-1 visa is properly used as a temporary exchange visa, not a long-term employment visa.  

This bar cannot be waived. 

12-Month Bar

 

All J-1 exchange visitors who participated in any J-1 category for more than 6 months are subject to the 12-Month Bar. For example, if your program is only one semester long, then you are not subject to the 12-Month Bar. If your program is longer than one semester, then you are subject to the 12-Month Bar.  

If you are subject to the 12-Month Bar, you will not be eligible to participate in a J-1 Research Scholar or J-1 Professor program until 12 months after the end date on your DS-2019. 

Key Points

 

  • The 12-Month Repeat Participation Bar only affects future participation in the J-1 categories of Research Scholar and Professor. It does not prevent you from returning to the US in any other J-1 category or using any other visa for which you might be eligible. 
  • If the bar applies to you, then it will also apply to your J-2 dependents. 
  • This bar does not require you to be in any particular country to satisfy it. The only thing required to satisfy the bar is the passage of the necessary amount of time. 
  • This bar cannot be waived. 
  • This bar is not the same as the 212(e) Two-Year Home Residency Requirement.