Self Help - J1-Waiver transfer

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Registered Users (C)
Hello,

I'm starting a new thread for information for all the J1-waiver recipients. A lot of us are either new or don't know how difficult/easy or what steps are needed. And if someone's situation would make waiver transferable or not.

It would be great if everyone who has gone through could contribute the circumstances and what was the situation; what was the proof of the circumstances and what was submitted to USCIS (or any other agency).


Frist, the waiver is transferable under "extenuating cicumstances". It could be personal or job related.

Waiver transfer is basically H1-B transfer and is granted by USCIS ONLY.

Here is what is needed for Conrad-30 waiver transfer :

1) Proof of extenuating circumstance: E.G. facilty closure, job loss because of insuffient patients, salary not paid. These are obvious, someone could add more from their experiences.

Proof could be letter from current employer stating the circumstances.

2) Your affidavit stating the circumstances.

3) New I-129, which is same as your original I-129 but for new facility's credentials.

4) Contract for new job. The new job has to be in either HPSA or MUA. Attach documentation that site is HPSA or MUA. This is not required but to be safe. USCIS should be able to figure out if the site address is in HPSA or MUA but why take a chance.

5) Attach copy of the original waiver petition, current I-94s, I-539 change of status. Preferably with premium processing.

6) Copy of State medical license

7) Copy of recent pay-stubs showing you're still in status.

This what is required by the law. But it is nice to have the following if you can get it:

a) "Letter of concurrance" from your state department of Health who issued your original waiver

b) "Letter of concurrance" from state department of Health if you're going to a different state.

People think, these "Letter of concurrance" are required for the transfer, but they are not. It is nice to have them to support your case though.

Lastly, this is not meant to replace a legal advise from a competent lawyer. Please seek legal advise before proceeding.
 
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Thank you for putting this together. I have heard that some state health services charge $250K for waiver trasnfers outide the state. Any truth to it? Also how difficult would it be to transfer a waiver to another state. Please advise.
 
nickmetha said:
Thank you for putting this together. I have heard that some state health services charge $250K for waiver trasnfers outide the state. Any truth to it? Also how difficult would it be to transfer a waiver to another state. Please advise.

I know some states require $250K damages if J1 waiver doctor breaches the conract. These damages, if I'm not mistaken, goes to your employer not state. This clause should be in your contract. Check your contract.

But, 1) waiver transfer is granted under extenuating circumstances, e.g. facility closing, non-payment of salary or some other breach by your employer etc.... In this case you're not breaking the contract, your employer is breaking the contract. Make sure this is the case.

2) As I said in the note above, you don't even have to ask your state for the transfer, apply direct to USCIS for H1-B transfer
 
Thanks again for your response. In my contract there is no such clause (250K). Extenuating circumstance...would marriage be considered one and especially if your wife is living another state.

Thanks
 
hi,
i would like to transfer to another state because of a personal situation. if i get a waiver job in another state and my employer is willing to let me go, how do i go about it? my attorney told me that it is not possible unless the circumstances are "extenuating" which usually means the employer firing me or the facility shutting down. both aren't likely in my case. also, he told me that my state health department will allow me to relocate only in this state due to their clause.
however, if i find a job in another HPSA, another state and my employer lets me go, i don't understand what the problem is and why i can't move.
any suggestions on how i can go about this? my personal situation is difficult but don't know if it is extenuating.
how does one bypass the state health department?

please help because if i can move, i would really like to move.
 
arc is only IGA who wants 250k clause in their contracts. If your sponsoring j-1 federal agency is arc then they are the worst people to deal with when it comes to dealing with j-1 transfers. they want u to stay within arc jurisdriction otherwise 250k clause can be invoked and they will be unhappy.
waivers can be transferred and you can create extenuating circumstances.you have be creative.
however , j-1 waiver transfers can potentially complicate things at time of green card and this transfer issue can come back and haunt you. anybody who is transferring , make sure you get all the letters from involved agencies for your support for that time.
all this is coming from personal experince and pain.
 
farsheedj said:
however , j-1 waiver transfers can potentially complicate things at time of green card and this transfer issue can come back and haunt you. anybody who is transferring , make sure you get all the letters from involved agencies for your support for that time.
all this is coming from personal experince and pain.


It should not,

According to CIS regulation, they're not suppose to open up J1-transfer case at the time of Greencard.
 
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I got an offer for J1 waiver job from Employer -A which I signed recently (and supposed to start work after JUly 2007 whenever I get the J-waiver ). But since then for some reason has tried to deny me the position 2-3 times for some small reasons ( those reasons do not make much sense ) but since at that time that was the best ( or almost the only) offer I had , I kind of begged and convinced them to offer me the job ( even though there were several things mentioned ( should I say not mentioned ) in the contract , which I was not happy with at all . They have the signed contract with them for several days but still they are delaying to submit the J1 waiver paper work to the State health dept.
Now I have a great offer from other state -Employer -B ( everything in the contract and pay is the best I can dream of) .

Q1) Can I accept the new contract B and break the old contract- B even though in my contract with Employer- A its states that I cannot break the contract myself. ( J-1 waiver paper work is not yet submitted to the state health dept yet but I did apply for the Case #)

Q2) Can the new empoyer sue me for breaking the contract make use of "250k clause" in the contract.

Q3)How should I approach this with Employer A
 
HI great thread I really appreciate it for putting this together.I am an internist who is 19 mths into his waiver in arkansas.I m totally fed u p with my employer and been looking for a new job for 5-6 mths now.I m in the process of switching to one of the VAs as hospitalist.These re my extentuating circumstances I was just wondering what you thought of these


1-I was underpaid 3 mths ago i was deducted 3500 dollars off my regular paycheck from the clinic I have the stub that proves this.this was taken off since i used some of annual leave and they told me they took this off since i was going to leave the practice in the coming months

2-I was provided rental allowence as part of my contract.My rental allowence has not been paid for 6 mths this amount is around 3000 dollars This is clearly stated to be for 3 yrs in the contract.When I talked to the office manager about this he said they stopped paying this because I m leaving I have his email reply and my email as well as the pay subs showing I havent received this

3-Er day time coverage -this is not mentioned anywhere in my contract and I spend half of my day in the er at the near by hospital which is a separate facility.When I mentioned this to office manager and informed him why I wasnt informed of er coverage his response was ohh we take this for granted sorry i forgot .this also raised my insurance premium a great deal and am now classified as er doc as per my insurance. There re days I have to go to the er and see 10 patients i photocopied these charts with dates and my signature on it to support my case.

4-I was also asked to see a patient in labor in the er ( i am an internist what do i know about labor) although i clearly stated I was far from comfortable to see this patient.I also copied this chart and would be more than happy to provide you with these documents.


thanks for listening do you think these will be sufficient for transfer
 
What does USCIS do about employers exploiting j1 physicians?are there any steps taken to prevent these from hapening in the future?The treatment j1 docs receive in this country is disgraceful.USA so called cradle of freedom bla bla what a load of rubbish this is totally inhumane.We re not slaves
 
is there a site for checking prevailing wages for different counties for different subspecialties
 
If employer is not behaving then one needs to petition labor department and it may be ground for transfer.I had read about a case in Tennessee where court had orderd employer to pay back wages.
I have done waiver myself " one of the best" as my friends tell me,working for Louisiana state.Currently I have moved up to Medical Director's position .One of my physicians moved out of state and I have one vacancy .I will be more sympathetic to people with harsh waiver willing to transfer as getting waiver is not that tough anymore nowadays but we can pull strings to get concurrence letter from DHH.
Good luck
rsingh@corrections.state.la.us
 
Hi thanks for your reply what part of LA are you in and what part of practice do you have ?Is it hospitalist or clinic based practice?How long do waiver trasfers take?

Regards,
 
drrambo said:
How long do waiver trasfers take?

It is basically a "H1-B transfer under extenuating circumstances to another HPSA or MUA area". Having said that, with premium processing, it should be processed within 15 days after USCIS receives your application.
 
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Can someone tell me creative ways of extenuating circumstances for J1 waiver transfers......please help.

Few are:

Facility closure
Firing which is not good for an MD
Abuse or breach of contract
Payment of wages


Please help guys...someone must have done this before....Thanks in advance for your help.
 
please help help

I have J-1 waiver in state of Maryland that requires 40 h work /week but it should be at least 32 hours direct patient care. when i was negotiating the contract, they told me I just need to work 160h/month ( total 1760h/year)( I have the e-mail from recuriter about it) instead of 1920h( for 40hx 48 week per state requirement).
Now after i signed contract they told me i have to work exactly 40h /week for total 1920h because of state regs.
I am only physician who is hospital employee because of my visa, other people work as independent contractor and will pay with a private company.
they get pay 120$/h. and this company makes all of ER scheduling for me.
This pricvate company pays for my malpractice and bouneces, so i had to sign contract with them. According to their contract I should work 140h/month.
So if i work 1920h for them , they should pay me another 15000$ which has not been paid yet. and in compare with same ER doc who works as independet contractor, I recieve 15000$ less. intrestingly my friend did interview with them and they offered him 15000$ more thann my current salary.Is it against of DOL reg that mentions they should pay me 100% same they pay to a citizen????
2- Now they tell me my contract by private group is not legal and i have to go only with hospital contract but the same time they still covering my malpractice and also asking me to sign alot of forms for private company because they need to get money back from my work.So can they tell me my contract with private company who runs ER is not legal? Can I speak up for discrepency between private company and hospital contracts about my hours? Can I refused to sign any forms which sent by private company?
3- Can I use all these discrepencies ( not get pay as much as other ER doc in same hospital and different contracts and e-mails with different hours)for a reason to trasnfer without breaching contract( beacause i have 250 K clause in my contract)
4- if I can traansfer my waiver, will in need stay in same State or can move to another state?
please help me
 
Please let us know what your reasons for transfer are (if not too personal) and maybe someone can post how to "make" your personal circumstance "extenuating".

My reason for waiver transfer is personal and work related, However work related are hard to prove since there is harrasment and no body will back my story since they are scraed on losing their job. Personal reasons are away from wife, family, taking a toll emotionally, etc.

Any ideas!!!!!!
 
J1 waiver transfer

hi,
i transferred my waiver from PA to WA based on personal hardship. the process was not as difficult as one imagines it to be. this is what it entailed.
-H1B petition from the second J1 waiver site
-letter from WA DOH confirming that it is a J1 waiver site (not essential)
-affidavit of extenuating circumstances, and personal hardship.
-request for transfer.

i had informed PA DOH and my employer of my intent to transfer. they requested 6 month notice to find a replacement. so, i made the new H1B for 6 months later than when i notified them of my intent to file for transfer. thankfully, both PA DOH and my employer created no problems for me.

i put the application through premium processing and it got approved in 4 days. i am really surprised that it wasn't such a big deal as i thought it would be.

personal circumstance is that my husband and i live on 2 coasts, he moved after i started the waiver and had to do so, and it has caused considerable hardship. we did need a psychologist to endorse that.

hope this is helpful info for all. this forum has helped me a great deal. thanks.
 
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