2 year rule and second j1 visa

[comex]

Hi,

Here is my situation:

I had J-1 for 4 months with Work/Travel program (2008)
I had J-1 for 7 months as being an Intern (2011)

In both cases I had 2 year rule applied. Now, I want to do another internship. It hasn't been 2 years since I have the last visa. Can I apply for another J-1 now or should I waive it first? And I had 7 + 4 months of J1 status. How long can I have this third J-1?

I believe Intern can have 12 months at most, so 12-7 = 5 months? Do different J-1 programs add them up or they are calculated separately?

Thank you!

[wavedom]

The 2 year rule only states that you can’t change status to H, L or LPR within 2 years. As far as I know, each visa is considered individually. If you want to do an internship you should get 12 “new” months regardless of previous visas. I also think that different visa programs (i.e. sponsors) have different rules, so check with the visa program about their requirements.

[comex]

Thanks wavedom! Good to hear that