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About a month before my current DS-2019 expires, I will be traveling outside of the United States and would like to apply for the new J1 visa with my new DS-2019 (will receive before).

My question is:

Can I apply for a new J1 visa before my current DS-2019 is expired?

Nightowl
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    Why wouldn't you be able to? – phoog Oct 10 '17 at 18:53
  • Because I technically will have a valid visa at the time of application and my current DS-2019 will still be valid. I can imagine that this might not be a problem. But I was hoping somebody was in a similar situation and could confirm that, at least from experience, before I pay a lot of money to apply and travel to the embassy. – Nightowl Oct 10 '17 at 20:16
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    I can certainly attest that having a valid visa is no impediment to a fresh visa application. The existing visa will be cancelled "without prejudice," meaning that the cancellation was for administrative reasons rather than sine sort of adverse action. I don't know whether your new visa validitywill bebased on the new DS-2019, but I suspect that it will be. Perhaps someone who knows will come along. In the meanwhile, have you thought of asking the department of state or CBP? – phoog Oct 10 '17 at 22:32
  • The cancellation is what I am worried about (also here: https://expatriates.stackexchange.com/questions/8046/renewing-a-j1and-j2-visas?rq=1). I guess it could mean that my currently valid visa becomes invalid, but I can not use the new visa to enter the US since the start date is later. Would they combine the duration that remains until the current DS-2019 expires and the duration of the new DS-2019 to give me the new visa valid for the combined duration starting from the date of application? This sounds unlikely to me, but maybe I am wrong. Writing the department of state / CBP is on my list. – Nightowl Oct 10 '17 at 23:27
  • US visas don't have a start date. They are valid from the date of issue. The only thing you need to worry about is the expiration date. – phoog Oct 11 '17 at 03:43

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