Hello all:
My husband is a foreign physician currently working in a foreign hospital and plans to do a one year clinical fellowship (non-standard program) starting July 1 this year. However, the International Office ("IO") of the U.S. hospital has not been helpul and provided very inconsistent and confusing timeline information and suggested H1-B premium processing or ECFMG-sponsored J-1 at different times. What is even worse, our impression is that my husband may easily miss the July 1 deadline in either visa processing.
We have no immigration intent, and our main concern is for my husband to arrive in the U.S. and start training on time. We have a say in which visa type to proceed with, but if we proceed with H1-B premimum processing, we will have to pay the fees on our own account and will not be able to enjoy J-1's 2-year exemption from social security tax, which together would make an additional cost of $7,000 or so.
We would like to know which visa type works best for us to ensure my husband's timely arrival, in view of the following confusing timeline below. If H1-B is not providing a shorter timeline, we are reluctant to bear the additional costs.
The IO's estimate for H1-B premium processing is 4-6 weeks orally at some point and 8-9 weeks on the document, and they refused to account for the basis for such difference. The time consists of:
(Training certificate) ?
International Office review 1-2 weeks
Prevailing wage 3 weeks
Job posting 2 weeks
DHS petition 2 weeks (15 days for premimum processing)
The time required for applying for Training License (which I suspect can be done simultaneously with IO's review of documents?) and issuance of visa stamp is not included.
The estimate for ECFMG-sponsored J-1 for non-standard progam is 7-10 weeks on the document, consistig of:
IO's review 1-2 weeks
ECFMG processing 6-8 weeks
From their written estimate, the two procedures look pretty much the same. But we would like to know: How reliabe do the above time estimates look? Is therer really a difference in the processing time for the two visas in practice? How long does it generally take to obtain the Training License? Is it worth an overall cost of $7,000 (including fees and tax implications) to buy H1-B premium processing? What is my husband's chance of getting J-1 or H1-B by the end of May if we manage to get all the documents ready in mid March?
The communications with the bearacratic IO advisors have been fairly frustrating and not productive. We are unable to make a sensible decision based on such information. Any experience or comment would be much appreciated!
- pliinus
My husband is a foreign physician currently working in a foreign hospital and plans to do a one year clinical fellowship (non-standard program) starting July 1 this year. However, the International Office ("IO") of the U.S. hospital has not been helpul and provided very inconsistent and confusing timeline information and suggested H1-B premium processing or ECFMG-sponsored J-1 at different times. What is even worse, our impression is that my husband may easily miss the July 1 deadline in either visa processing.
We have no immigration intent, and our main concern is for my husband to arrive in the U.S. and start training on time. We have a say in which visa type to proceed with, but if we proceed with H1-B premimum processing, we will have to pay the fees on our own account and will not be able to enjoy J-1's 2-year exemption from social security tax, which together would make an additional cost of $7,000 or so.
We would like to know which visa type works best for us to ensure my husband's timely arrival, in view of the following confusing timeline below. If H1-B is not providing a shorter timeline, we are reluctant to bear the additional costs.
The IO's estimate for H1-B premium processing is 4-6 weeks orally at some point and 8-9 weeks on the document, and they refused to account for the basis for such difference. The time consists of:
(Training certificate) ?
International Office review 1-2 weeks
Prevailing wage 3 weeks
Job posting 2 weeks
DHS petition 2 weeks (15 days for premimum processing)
The time required for applying for Training License (which I suspect can be done simultaneously with IO's review of documents?) and issuance of visa stamp is not included.
The estimate for ECFMG-sponsored J-1 for non-standard progam is 7-10 weeks on the document, consistig of:
IO's review 1-2 weeks
ECFMG processing 6-8 weeks
From their written estimate, the two procedures look pretty much the same. But we would like to know: How reliabe do the above time estimates look? Is therer really a difference in the processing time for the two visas in practice? How long does it generally take to obtain the Training License? Is it worth an overall cost of $7,000 (including fees and tax implications) to buy H1-B premium processing? What is my husband's chance of getting J-1 or H1-B by the end of May if we manage to get all the documents ready in mid March?
The communications with the bearacratic IO advisors have been fairly frustrating and not productive. We are unable to make a sensible decision based on such information. Any experience or comment would be much appreciated!
- pliinus