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Hello, I'm not sure if this would be best placed in the J1 visa forum or here, so if it's in the wrong spot forgive me.
I have a few questions regarding the J-1 visa of a friend, just some general things. To give a bit of background, she came to the USA about two weeks ago on a J-1 visa as an Au Pair. However, she decided that the Au Pair program may not be for her, but she would still like to stay and visit the USA as a tourist. Simply, my question is, what are her options?
She is from the Czech Republic, and since we have a visa-waiver program agreement with them, my thought was that it would be easiest for her to return home, spend some time with her family for a week or so, and then come back to the US on an ESTA for three months. She is not subject to the foreign residency requirement as part of her J-1 visa, so would this course of action pose any issues? Is there any problem (legally, or with her being allowed entry) with this method? My reason for suggesting this is that it's actually about $140 cheaper for her to do this than to submit an i-539 form and attempt to switch her visa from J1 to B2.
The other option is exactly that, have her submit an i-539, and change to a B2 visa if the change is accepted. But we aren't sure how all of this would work. If she chooses to go the ESTA route, it's as easy as her telling the agency "I want to return home" then coming back to the US on an ESTA shortly after she returns to the Czech Republic. However, if she submits the form for a change of visa, does she have to notify her Au Pair agency first? Or is she able to submit the paperwork, complete the change, THEN go to the agency and say "oh, by the way, I switched my visa starting on [XYZ date] and I'll be quitting the program then."?
Thanks for the help! If there are other routes that would be better to take as well, I'd love to hear them. This is just all I could come up with, myself.
I have a few questions regarding the J-1 visa of a friend, just some general things. To give a bit of background, she came to the USA about two weeks ago on a J-1 visa as an Au Pair. However, she decided that the Au Pair program may not be for her, but she would still like to stay and visit the USA as a tourist. Simply, my question is, what are her options?
She is from the Czech Republic, and since we have a visa-waiver program agreement with them, my thought was that it would be easiest for her to return home, spend some time with her family for a week or so, and then come back to the US on an ESTA for three months. She is not subject to the foreign residency requirement as part of her J-1 visa, so would this course of action pose any issues? Is there any problem (legally, or with her being allowed entry) with this method? My reason for suggesting this is that it's actually about $140 cheaper for her to do this than to submit an i-539 form and attempt to switch her visa from J1 to B2.
The other option is exactly that, have her submit an i-539, and change to a B2 visa if the change is accepted. But we aren't sure how all of this would work. If she chooses to go the ESTA route, it's as easy as her telling the agency "I want to return home" then coming back to the US on an ESTA shortly after she returns to the Czech Republic. However, if she submits the form for a change of visa, does she have to notify her Au Pair agency first? Or is she able to submit the paperwork, complete the change, THEN go to the agency and say "oh, by the way, I switched my visa starting on [XYZ date] and I'll be quitting the program then."?
Thanks for the help! If there are other routes that would be better to take as well, I'd love to hear them. This is just all I could come up with, myself.
