Has DOGE Already Started? Biden Administration Does Its Part - Eliminates "Make Work" J-1 Visa Skills List for Several Countries

This post discusses the December 2024 decision by the US Department of State to eliminate the Skills List for Several Countries

December 21, 2024: The incoming Trump Administration has proposed a Presidential Advisory Commission to be co-headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy called DOGE (“Department of Government Efficiency”).

Note that DOGE is a misnomer since it is not a “Department” of the government but ties into some kind of crypto currency, Dogecoin, which Musk has long promoted (perhaps as a joke?)

DOGE is supposed to focus on making recommendations to reduce expenses, remove regulations, and increase government efficiency.

It would appear that even though Trump is not yet back in office, as his inauguration will be on January 20, 2025, DOGE has already been in operation as this past week Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk took to the social media platform formerly known as Twitter to oppose a bipartisan bill that would have extended government funding and provided disaster relief and spend money on other initiatives.

That initial bipartisan bill was defeated and a different bill was put forward at the last minute with more slimmed down expenditures, keeping the government open. President Biden signed that slimmed down bill earlier today. I think Musk and Ramaswamy consider their efforts a big win.

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Earlier this month, on December 9, 2024, the Biden Administration got into the spirt of DOGE by eliminating the J-1 Skills List for several countries. You can find the official Federal Register announcement here.

This announcement means that people who currently have or PREVIOUSLY held J-1 visa status and are subject to a requirement to return home for 2 years pursuant to the Skills List are not required to obtain a No Objection based waiver.

The Skills List, as of December 9, 2024, has been eliminated for the following countries:

• Albania

• Algeria

• Argentina

• Armenia

• Bahrain

• Bangladesh

• Bolivia

• Brazil

• Chile

• China

• Colombia

• Congo

• Costa RIca

• Dominican Republic

• Gabon

• Georgia

• Guyana

• India

• Indonesia

• Kazahstan

• Laos

• Malaysia

• Mauritius

• Montenegro

• Namibia

• Oman

• Paraguay

• Peru

• Romania

• Saudi Arabia

• South Africa

• Sri Lanka

• Swaziland (Eswatini)

• Thailand

• Trinidad & Tobago

• Turkey

• UAE

• Uruguay.

Importantly, as stated above, this elimination of the Skills List benefits people currently on J-1 visas but also people from these countries who PREVIOUSLY HELD J-1 visa status and are still subject to the Skills List.

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Equally important to note is that people who have come to the United States on J-1 visas and receive government funding (like Fulbright Scholars), or physicians who come for clinical residency or fellowship (graduate medical education or training) — they remain subject to the two year home residence requirement as those individuals were never eligible for a “No Objection” waiver.

Individuals who come on J-1 waivers and receive government funding or are involved in clinical residency/fellowship as physicians — they must return home to their home country for 2 years prior to obtaining either H-1B or green card status unless they can receive a special waiver through -

• Exceptional Hardship to a U.S. Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident Spouse or Child; or

• Persecution; or

• Interested Government agency (IGA) - including the State Conrad program and DHHS waivers for physicians.

To read more about the Waiver of the Two-Year Home Residence requirement, check out the USCIS Policy Manual which provides lots of details here.

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The J-1 Skills List and “No Objection” waiver for several years seemed to serve no purpose at all, other than to create a tedious administrative hurdle to be handled by J-1 visa holders from the above countries, or to “make work” for lawyers who sometimes advised individuals on these waivers.

While there are reasonable question marks as to what DOGE will be doing and whether Musk and Ramaswamy can be effective, there is no question that in probably every area where the federal government operates, it could be more efficient.

In the immigration realm, there are many things that could be eliminated to save people time and money and to save the resources of the government. The elimination of the Skills List will now save for workers at the U.S. Department of State who have plenty of other things they could be doing. For example: Let’s expand that domestic mail-in visa revalidation program!