Bringing F-2 & J-2 Dependents
to the United States
Eligibility
In order to bring dependents to the United States , you must be maintaining status as an F-1 or J-1 student and must show that you have sufficient finances to support your family here without any of you being employed. Your spouse and unmarried minor children (under age 21) are eligible to apply for F-2 or J-2 visas. No other family members are eligible.
Procedures
Come to the OIE with your passport, Form I-94, page 3-4 of your Form I-20(F-1's) or DS-2019, and evidence of your financial support for your family. You should have the Form I-20 or the Form DS-2019 most recently issued to you in your possession. If you are maintaining status and have the necessary financial support for your family, and if there have been no substantial changes in the information on your Form I-20/DS-2019, the Assistant Vice President will issue a dependent Form I-20 (F-1's) or issue a new DS-2019 (J-1's) for the purpose of bringing your family to the United States. (If there have been substantial changes in the information on your Form I-20 or if you no longer have that form, you must obtain a new Form I-20 for yourself also.) When you have the Form I-20's or DS-2019's, send them to your family with instructions for them to apply for F-2 or J-2 visas at the United States consular office. In addition to the Form I-20/DS-2019, they will have to present valid passports, evidence of their financial support, evidence that they intend to return to their home country at the conclusion of your studies in the United States, and perhaps other information which the consular officer may specify.
Action by Consulate and USCIS
If the consular officer is satisfied that your family members are bona fide student dependents who intend to return home and that they have sufficient funds for their support here, he or she will issue F-2/J-2 visas to them. Your dependents may then come to the United States and will be admitted to the country for duration of status. That means they may remain here with you until you complete your studies. Your family may remain in the United States in F-2 or J-2 status only while you are here in F-1 or J-1 status.
Caution
Do not allow your family to come to the United States in some other immigration status or before they have received the Form I-20 or DS-2019 and F-2 or J-2 visas. If they do, they run the risk of being denied admission to the United States at the port of entry, or of having to go in person to the immigration office in Kansas City to have their eligibility for admission determined, or of being denied a change of status and being required to return home early. Always obtain a Form I-20 or DS-2019 and instruct your family carefully to come to the United States only in F-2 or J-2 status (unless they qualify for some other and more advantageous status and can maintain that status during the intended time of their stay here.)
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Last Updated July 31, 2007