Tag Archives: j1 visa

US Immigration & Employment Trends 2009

Immigration News, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Whether you are searching for job and want to be sponsored on an H1B visa, E3 visa, L1 visa, TN visa, J1 visa, H2B visa, F1 Visa OPT, Green Card or indeed any other US Visa, it is important to be wary of current migration and employment trends within the United States to know where to best find a job.

Of course many people on the US visas we mention above have been laid off in 2009 and have since found subsequent employment. And others, despite the gloomy economic climate, have continued to search for employment and sponsorship from within the US and from afar.

Now as 2009 is drawing to a close we can look at some of the recent patterns and movements of people (both US citizens and immigrants) to different parts of the country in search of better opportunities. As we write this today, the most recent US unemployment rate is hovering just above the 10% mark, which is at a level not seen for close to 30 years. On top of that what many believe the true unemployment rate to be given many people have been forced to settle for part-time work or have given up look entirely, is closer to the 17% mark.

Now a recent New York Times interactive unemployment chart we highlighted shows that this unemployment is not distributed equally and that if you are college or even higher educated and in certain age brackets, the rates for your demographic is far lower. Given the typical immigrant to the US is highly educated and under 40, the employment prospects are far brighter.

What we haven’t illustrated before is the geographical changes as a result of this nearly 2 year long recession we have experienced in the US. In 2009 for example;

  • Texas (already the 2nd largest state in the US) received the greatest population growth in 2009, adding 478,000 new people
  • Texas’ population is now 24.8 million and has continued a trend for most of this decade leading the US in population growth
  • About half of the 2008-09 population growth in Texas was due to migrants both US based from other states and foreigners from overseas or previously residing in other US states
  • Texas only went into recession itself in mid 2008 a full 6 months after the US as a whole did in December 2007
  • Texas’ unemployment rate remained at least one full point below the US during most of this recession and currently is at around 8% which is 2 points below the national rate
  • In Texas in October and November there was a net gain of 70,000 positions compared to a National drop of 122,000 in this same period
  • Finance, Health and Education were the main drivers of this employment growth for Texas
  • Overall in 2008, while the US lost over 3 million jobs, Texas gained around 61,000 positions
  • Elsewhere California (381,000), North Carolina (134,000), Georgia (131,000) and Florida (118,000) had population gains in 2009
  • California remained the most populous state with 37 million and the US as a whole grew to 307 million people (annual increase of 0.86%)
  • Popular destinations for immigrants like New York and other North East locations have higher or equivalent unemployment rates than the National Average

So as you can see there have been a lot of interesting changes in the US throughout the course of 2009 and we hope this type of information will help guide your decision about where you might like to work, live and study in the US

CJ

J1 Visa – 2 Year Residency Rule Waiver

Guest Posts, Visa Info, , , , , , ,

The J1 visa is issued to the foreign exchange students who have traveled to the United States for the reason of getting some training or some sort of education. As per the clause of the J1 visa (Professional Career Training Program) the people traveling to the United States on the J1 visa would be required to stay in the home country for the next two years post the completion of the training in the U.S for which the visa was issued in the first place.

The basic reason for this requirement defined by the US government, is that the person who has acquired the advanced skills and knowledge from the U.S by the virtue of the exchange visitor program, he or she should go back to the home country and spread the knowledge to people there. But there could be a lot of reasons and requirements because of which the visitor might not be able to travel back. Under such situations there is a provision of waiver of such clause at the discretion of the United States government.

This J1 visa waiver is suitable for the people, who falls in any of the under mentioned categories.

  1. Like medical graduates who had originally entered in to the United States and now post the completion of the education they would like to stay back in the United States.
  2. People who are foreign nationals and had come to the US. For the purpose of participating in any of the government funded programs, the same would also apply to the programs those are funded by other countries in the United States or by other international organizations.
  3. The people who are foreign nationals, who had attended the exchange program and are now required to go back to their home country but there the knowledge would be of little or no importance due to the lack of the resources there.
  4. If the J1 visa holder is able to obtain a NOC or a no objection certificate from the government in his home country.
  5. If the project the J1 visa holder is working on is of importance to the federal government or any of its agencies, in that case the federal government might choose to waive off the clause.
  6. If by the compliance of the J1 visa clause would be subjecting the spouse and the children of the person to a lot of hardship and problem then again the case could be reviewed for a waiver. But under such a situation the children and the spouse of the person has to be a citizen or atleast a permanent resident of the United States.


Guest Author

Tushar Mathur