[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 45, Volume 1]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 45CFR50.3]

[Page 123-124]
 
                        TITLE 45--PUBLIC WELFARE
 
                           AND HUMAN SERVICES
 
PART 50--U.S. EXCHANGE VISITOR PROGRAM--REQUEST FOR WAIVER OF THE TWO-YEAR FOREIGN RESIDENCE REQUIREMENT--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 50.3  Policy.

    (a) Criteria and information pertaining to waivers. The Department 
of Health and Human Services endorses the philosophy of the Exchange 
Visitor Program that exchange visitors are committed to return home for 
at least two years after completing their program. This requirement was 
imposed to prevent the Program from becoming a stepping stone to 
immigration and to insure that exchange visitors make their new 
knowledge and skills available to their home countries. Accordingly, the 
Board carefully applies stringent and restrictive criteria to its 
consideration of requests that it support waivers for exchange visitors. 
Each application is evaluated individually on the basis of the facts 
available.

In determining whether to recommend an exemption for an exchange visitor 
from his/her obligation to the Exchange Visitor Program, the Board 
considers the following key factors:

[[Page 124]]

    (1) The program or activity at the applicant institution or 
organization in which the exchange visitor is employed must be of high 
priority and of national or international significance in an area of 
interest to the Department. The Board will not request a waiver when the 
application demonstrates that the exchange visitor is needed merely to 
provide services for a limited geographical area and/or to alleviate a 
local community or institutional manpower shortage, however serious.
    (2) The exchange visitor must be needed as an integral part of the 
program or activity, or of an essential component thereof, so that loss 
of his/her services would necessitate discontinuance of the program, or 
a major phase of it. Specific evidence must be provided as to how the 
loss or unavailability of the individual's services would adversely 
affect the initiation, continuance, completion, or success of the 
program or activity. The applicant organization/institution must clearly 
demonstrate that a suitable replacement for the exchange visitor cannot 
be found through recruitment or any other means. The Board will not 
request a waiver when the principal problem appears to be one of 
administrative, budgetary, or program inconvenience to the institution 
or other employer.
    (3) The exchange visitor must possess outstanding qualifications, 
training and experience well beyond the usually expected accomplishments 
at the graduate, postgraduate, and residency levels, and must clearly 
demonstrate the capability to make original and significant 
contributions to the program. The Board will not request a waiver simply 
because an individual has specialized training or experience or is 
occupying a senior staff position in a university, hospital, or other 
institution.
    (b) Waiver for members of exchange visitor's family. Where a 
decision is made to request a waiver for an exchange visitor, a waiver 
will also be requested for the spouse and children, if any, if they have 
J-2 visa status. When both members of a married couple are exchange 
visitors in their own right (i.e., each has J-1 visa status), separate 
applications must be submitted for each of them.