The US State Department has released its Exchange Visitor Skills List by Country, which identifies 44 countries whose residents may be forced to return home for two years after completing an exchange visitor program before applying for some US immigration benefits.
 

The list includes countries from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Pacific Islands. African countries make up the majority.
 

Section 212(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act grants the US Secretary of State the ability to identify certain countries as plainly requiring specified fields of specialized knowledge or abilities.
 

If a person’s country of nationality or residence and their field of expertise are both on the Skills List, they must spend two years physically present in their home country after completing their exchange program before becoming eligible for certain immigration benefits, such as permanent residency or specific visa changes.
 

The requirement is not uniform for all exchange visitors from these countries. It is only valid when both the country and the relevant skill field are stated.
 

The State Department emphasizes that each country’s skills list may differ, and nationals are invited to consult the Federal Register website for complete information specific to their own country.
 

Countries subject to a two-year home residency
According to the federal government, these are the 44 countries whose nationals are subject to the two-year home residency rule:

 

Belize

Benin

Burkina Faso

Burma (Myanmar)

Cabo Verde

Cambodia

Cameroon

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Djibouti

Ecuador

El Salvador

Eritrea

Ethiopia

Fiji

The Gambia

Ghana

Guatemala

Haiti

Honduras

Jamaica

Kenya

Kosovo

Lebanon

Liberia

Malawi

Mali

Mauritania

Mozambique

Nepal

Nicaragua

Niger

Nigeria

Palestinian Authority (West Bank and Gaza)

Philippines

Rwanda

Senegal

Tajikistan

Tanzania

Timor-Leste

Togo

Tonga

Venezuela

Yemen

Zambia