Brazil Removed from the Skills List: What Changes for J-1 Visa Holders

In December 2024, the U.S. Department of State announced a landmark revision of the Exchange Visitor Skills List, removing 35 countries from the list that subjected J-1 visa exchange visitors to a mandatory two-year home residency requirement. Brazil was among the countries affected, along with China, India, South Korea, and other economies that have grown significantly since the list was last updated in 2009. For thousands of Brazilians who research, teach, and study in the United States, this change fundamentally reshapes the path to lawful permanent status.

What the Skills List Is

The Exchange Visitor Skills List is an instrument created under Section 212(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. It identifies fields of knowledge deemed critical to the development of certain countries. When a citizen of a listed country participates in a J-1 program in one of those fields, they are automatically subject to the two-year home residency requirement: the obligation to return to their home country for two years before they can apply for an H, L, or K visa or adjust status to lawful permanent resident.

The rule was conceived in 1961, when the U.S. enacted the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act. The premise was that knowledge acquired by exchange visitors in strategic fields should, at least temporarily, benefit their home countries. However, the list remained frozen for 15 years, reflecting development needs that no longer matched the economic reality of countries like Brazil.

What Changes in Practice

With Brazil’s removal in December 2024, Brazilians who entered J-1 programs on or after the effective date of the updated list are no longer subject to the mandatory two-year return under the Skills List. This means researchers, physicians, university professors, and postdoctoral fellows can, upon completing their programs, transition directly to other visa categories without leaving U.S. territory.

The most common pathways after J-1 include:

• H-1B: specialty occupation work visa for employers sponsoring the researcher or professional in a qualifying role
• O-1: visa for individuals with extraordinary ability in science, arts, education, business, or athletics
• EB-2 NIW: national interest waiver green card, with no employer sponsor required
• Adjustment of status through a U.S. citizen spouse or U.S. citizen child

Who Remains Subject to the Return Requirement

The revision does not extinguish obligations already established for participants who entered the U.S. before the updated list took effect. Those whose DS-2019 was issued indicating subjection to 212(e) under the prior list remain, in principle, bound by the requirement. An ongoing legal debate concerns retroactive application, and immigration attorneys have been closely monitoring subsequent guidance from the State Department.

Beyond the Skills List, three other situations continue to trigger 212(e) automatically: direct funding by the U.S. government or the exchange visitor’s home government, participation in a graduate medical training program sponsored by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG), and any manual notation of the requirement on the DS-2019 by the consular officer.

Waiver Pathways

Those still bound by the two-year return requirement may apply for a waiver of the obligation. There are five legally recognized grounds recognized by the State Department:

• No Objection Statement: the home country’s government declares it has no objection to the J-1 holder remaining in the U.S. Not available to exchange visitors funded by the U.S. government
• Interested Government Agency: a U.S. federal agency requests the waiver, arguing that the J-1 holder’s work is in the public interest
• Persecution: the applicant demonstrates a well-founded fear of persecution upon return
• Hardship: the J-1 holder shows that returning would cause exceptional hardship to a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse or child
• Conrad 30: a program specifically for physicians who agree to work in Health Professional Shortage Areas for three years

The waiver process is handled by the State Department’s Waiver Review Division and, depending on the basis, may also involve USCIS. Processing times range from four to twelve months as of mid-2026, according to data published by the division itself.

Brazil in the U.S. Academic Pipeline

Brazil is among the top ten countries sending students to the United States. In the 2023–2024 academic year, more than 41,000 Brazilians were enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions, according to the Open Doors Report by the Institute of International Education. Thousands more serve as visiting researchers, guest faculty, and fellows in postdoctoral programs.

The Institute for Progress estimated that between 35,000 and 44,000 professionals on J-1 visas in critical fields were affected by the return requirement before the revision. Removing populous countries such as Brazil, China, and India is expected to retain a significant share of that human capital within U.S. institutions, hospitals, and laboratories.

Strategic Implications

For Brazilians considering J-1 programs in 2026, the easing of restrictions opens options that previously required far more elaborate planning. The classic route — enter as a researcher, complete the program, leave the country for two years, return on a new visa — is no longer the default. Instead, it is possible to view the J-1 as a gateway to a continuous trajectory in the U.S., particularly in STEM fields, medicine, and frontier research.

Some practical considerations remain relevant. The DS-2019 must be reviewed individually: even though the Skills List no longer applies to Brazil, Brazilian or U.S. government funding can trigger 212(e) on separate grounds. Foreign-trained physicians remain subject to the requirement by virtue of ECFMG sponsorship, and a U.S. consular officer may still include the obligation manually in specific cases.

For programs involving sensitive fields such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, cybersecurity, and semiconductors, the trend observed in 2025 and 2026 is toward heightened scrutiny at every stage, even without the Skills List barrier. Complete documentation of funding sources, institutional affiliations, and research plans remains essential.

Victoria Harper

Editor-in-Chief

Meet the author

Leading journalism and editorial content at Visto n’ Visa, Victoria helps make immigration topics clear, trustworthy, and easy to understand. Her focus is on delivering useful, human, and relevant content for people exploring new paths abroad.