How to apply for J-1 Visa
- Thread starter thota
- Start date
aquagemini
Registered Users (C)
J visa will come through ECFMG sponsorship after getting into a residency program. That sponsorship letter helps one adjust status or obtain J visa from a US consulate. Some programs insist e/o visa (photocopy) during the initial joining process but I also know of a bunch of people who did their residencies without ever exiting US. They may have problem in reentering US. While the process of obtaining J visa itself is not difficult J Visa has far reaching effects on ones life and before opting for J visa you must make sure that this is what you want to do.
"Once on J visa it will stick to you like gum spit on New York subway station"
"Once on J visa it will stick to you like gum spit on New York subway station"
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Hi Aquagemini,
Thanks for your reply.How difficult to convert J1 visa to green card. Example if I get my GC by end of 2006, Let imagine I and my wife have a kid by then will my wife elgible to convert her J1 visa to GC?.
We don't mind go and work for J1 waiver but before that any possibility of getting conversion to GC.
Thanks for your reply.How difficult to convert J1 visa to green card. Example if I get my GC by end of 2006, Let imagine I and my wife have a kid by then will my wife elgible to convert her J1 visa to GC?.
We don't mind go and work for J1 waiver but before that any possibility of getting conversion to GC.
Right now My I-140 got denied and all other application are denied because of I-140. I don't see any hopes on sponsoring company because they don't have good financial record. So I would like to apply from the company where I currently employe. Hopefully I might get my GC in mid 2007. So what is your suggestion.
In a requirement to apply for J-1 VISA,
Provide a statement of need from the Ministry of Health of the country of nationality or last legal permanent residence. This statement must provide written assurance that the country needs specialists in the area in which the physician's commitment to return to that country upon completion of training in the united States
How to contact this office and what are the document I should send to them.
Thanks
Provide a statement of need from the Ministry of Health of the country of nationality or last legal permanent residence. This statement must provide written assurance that the country needs specialists in the area in which the physician's commitment to return to that country upon completion of training in the united States
How to contact this office and what are the document I should send to them.
Thanks
H1b or not to be !
Try to stay away from a J1 visa for graduate medical education if at all possible. There is no way to get out of the home residency requirement except through 3yr service in an underserved location or through the VA. The usual 'no-objection' statement way of getting out of the home residency requirement is not available for physicians. And forget about an 'extreme hardship' waiver, having to go home is not a hardship in their eyes.
If you have a GC cooking, you have more reasons to stay away from the J1 for your wife. (actually, if you enter your name in the dependents portion of the J1 forms, YOU will be subject to the HRR as well.)
If you are still bent on screwing your life up with a J1, here is the way to get it done:
-- contact the department of health of your home country to provide you with a letter that has the verbatim text required by the department of state. Be sure that the office of the department of health you are talking to is indeed the one that ECFMG has on file for this country. (In my case the street address changed creating a mess. Through intervention of my countries consulate I managed to get this straightened out)
-- go on the www.ecfmg.org website and look for the 'exchange visitor sponsorship program' link (EVSP). It will tell you what steps you have to go through to get sponsorship.
-- print out the application forms and fill them out. Have the 'designated program representative' at your wifes hospital sign the respective portion of the form and enter the necessary program and hospital ID numbers.
-- send the forms to ECFMG along with I believe a $200 check.
-- wait 10 days to 3 months (10 days in december 3 months in march).
-- ECFMG will send a form called DS2091 (used to be IAP66) to the hospitals 'designated program representative'. You can pick it up there. ECFMG also enters your wife into SEVIS.
-- Either apply for change of status with INS or go to your home country and apply for a J1 visa for your wife using the DS2091 form. In addition you will need another letter from your program attesting that she is 'in good standing' with the program.
-- the second your wifes status is changed to 'graduate medical education J1', either through COS or by entering on the visa, she is doomed. For the next 6-10 years she is effectively excluded from taking advantage of all of the usual ways of immigration (work family amnesty). No soup for you.
To come back to your questions:
> Let imagine I and my wife have a kid by then will my wife
> elgible to convert her J1 visa to GC?.
Positively absolutely NO. They don't give a s__ whether you and your children are citizens by then, they also don't care whether your wife makes 1/2 mil$ p.a. by then, all that counts is the J1.
> We don't mind go and work for J1 waiver but before that
> any possibility of getting conversion to GC.
No, the moment her status has changed to GME-J1 she has a 2 year home residency requirement, period. The only way to get the HRR waived is by working for a practice in an underserved location or for the veterans administration for 3 years.
Once the 3 years are over you, the GC holder would be able to sponsor her as your wife, with another 6 years of wait for that. (careful, the moment an immigrant petition has been filed on your wifes behalf, she can run into trouble getting a J1 non-immigrant visa)
Bottom line:
Your wife will be better off finding a residency sponsoring her for H1b. It costs more money and is a pain in the a__ in and by itself, but if you are already on the immigration track a J1 is a GIGANTIC STRATEGIC MISTAKE.
Look around here and on the USMLE.net forum to find hospitals that sponsor H1bs for residents. Some of them are pretty crummy programs, but given the external circumstances at play it might be necessary to accept a sub-par education in order to preserve your immigration options.
Try to stay away from a J1 visa for graduate medical education if at all possible. There is no way to get out of the home residency requirement except through 3yr service in an underserved location or through the VA. The usual 'no-objection' statement way of getting out of the home residency requirement is not available for physicians. And forget about an 'extreme hardship' waiver, having to go home is not a hardship in their eyes.
If you have a GC cooking, you have more reasons to stay away from the J1 for your wife. (actually, if you enter your name in the dependents portion of the J1 forms, YOU will be subject to the HRR as well.)
If you are still bent on screwing your life up with a J1, here is the way to get it done:
-- contact the department of health of your home country to provide you with a letter that has the verbatim text required by the department of state. Be sure that the office of the department of health you are talking to is indeed the one that ECFMG has on file for this country. (In my case the street address changed creating a mess. Through intervention of my countries consulate I managed to get this straightened out)
-- go on the www.ecfmg.org website and look for the 'exchange visitor sponsorship program' link (EVSP). It will tell you what steps you have to go through to get sponsorship.
-- print out the application forms and fill them out. Have the 'designated program representative' at your wifes hospital sign the respective portion of the form and enter the necessary program and hospital ID numbers.
-- send the forms to ECFMG along with I believe a $200 check.
-- wait 10 days to 3 months (10 days in december 3 months in march).
-- ECFMG will send a form called DS2091 (used to be IAP66) to the hospitals 'designated program representative'. You can pick it up there. ECFMG also enters your wife into SEVIS.
-- Either apply for change of status with INS or go to your home country and apply for a J1 visa for your wife using the DS2091 form. In addition you will need another letter from your program attesting that she is 'in good standing' with the program.
-- the second your wifes status is changed to 'graduate medical education J1', either through COS or by entering on the visa, she is doomed. For the next 6-10 years she is effectively excluded from taking advantage of all of the usual ways of immigration (work family amnesty). No soup for you.
To come back to your questions:
> Let imagine I and my wife have a kid by then will my wife
> elgible to convert her J1 visa to GC?.
Positively absolutely NO. They don't give a s__ whether you and your children are citizens by then, they also don't care whether your wife makes 1/2 mil$ p.a. by then, all that counts is the J1.
> We don't mind go and work for J1 waiver but before that
> any possibility of getting conversion to GC.
No, the moment her status has changed to GME-J1 she has a 2 year home residency requirement, period. The only way to get the HRR waived is by working for a practice in an underserved location or for the veterans administration for 3 years.
Once the 3 years are over you, the GC holder would be able to sponsor her as your wife, with another 6 years of wait for that. (careful, the moment an immigrant petition has been filed on your wifes behalf, she can run into trouble getting a J1 non-immigrant visa)
Bottom line:
Your wife will be better off finding a residency sponsoring her for H1b. It costs more money and is a pain in the a__ in and by itself, but if you are already on the immigration track a J1 is a GIGANTIC STRATEGIC MISTAKE.
Look around here and on the USMLE.net forum to find hospitals that sponsor H1bs for residents. Some of them are pretty crummy programs, but given the external circumstances at play it might be necessary to accept a sub-par education in order to preserve your immigration options.
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Hi,
Thanks for that. We are more or less at the same stage there.
- I am on H1B & my wife on H4
- I am expecting my labor clearance any time now (but cant say till I get it).
- She recently finished with all her USMLE exams (Step-1,2,3 & CSA)
- Right now applying for the programs
My company HR friend spoke with the lawyer & though it was not a detail conversation. As per the lawyer, if at all my wife will start residancy on J1, there should not be any issue while filling for a GC for her (basicaly 140-485). The status autmotically changes once she gets her EAD. We also feel she may no longer have to use J1 while doing residency.
Your suggestion sticking to H1 is very much understandable, but with already reduced seats & likings for FMG's & much reduced H1 visa preferences, J1 is the only visa we can think about.
Do you see same difficulty as that for "thota" while filling GC for my wife after my LC? or is it someway different?
I really appreciate any response to this. Do u suggest I should talk to the lawyer again in detail?
!Thanks
Thanks for that. We are more or less at the same stage there.
- I am on H1B & my wife on H4
- I am expecting my labor clearance any time now (but cant say till I get it).
- She recently finished with all her USMLE exams (Step-1,2,3 & CSA)
- Right now applying for the programs
My company HR friend spoke with the lawyer & though it was not a detail conversation. As per the lawyer, if at all my wife will start residancy on J1, there should not be any issue while filling for a GC for her (basicaly 140-485). The status autmotically changes once she gets her EAD. We also feel she may no longer have to use J1 while doing residency.
Your suggestion sticking to H1 is very much understandable, but with already reduced seats & likings for FMG's & much reduced H1 visa preferences, J1 is the only visa we can think about.
Do you see same difficulty as that for "thota" while filling GC for my wife after my LC? or is it someway different?
I really appreciate any response to this. Do u suggest I should talk to the lawyer again in detail?
!Thanks
> My company HR friend spoke with the lawyer & though it was not a
> detail conversation.
STOP ! DROP THAT PEN, STEP AWAY FROM THE DESK, DO NOT SIGN THAT VISA APPLICATION.
The lawyer probably only got half of the story here, or he has NO F___ IDEA WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT.
A unfullfilledJ1 foreign residency requirement (which EVERYONE who changes to J1 status for the purpose of graduate medical education gets) is one of the items specifically listed as a reason for the INS officers to DENY an adjustment of status (I485).
Realistically, if she accepts a J1 now, her case will be pretty much separate from yours. With the need to get a J1 waiver, she probably won't be able to take advantage of your approved labor-cert/I140.
Get your own immigration attorney (not your companies H1b shyster). Shell out the $300 and discuss your and your wifes case with someone who knows what he is talking about and who is not beholden to the company. There is no simple solution here, it sounds like a case very similar to thota's, but you want to be sure that you know exactly what you are doing. She might be better off waiting another year until her EAD (based on your case) comes through and to do the residency on EAD.
> detail conversation.
STOP ! DROP THAT PEN, STEP AWAY FROM THE DESK, DO NOT SIGN THAT VISA APPLICATION.
The lawyer probably only got half of the story here, or he has NO F___ IDEA WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT.
A unfullfilledJ1 foreign residency requirement (which EVERYONE who changes to J1 status for the purpose of graduate medical education gets) is one of the items specifically listed as a reason for the INS officers to DENY an adjustment of status (I485).
Realistically, if she accepts a J1 now, her case will be pretty much separate from yours. With the need to get a J1 waiver, she probably won't be able to take advantage of your approved labor-cert/I140.
Get your own immigration attorney (not your companies H1b shyster). Shell out the $300 and discuss your and your wifes case with someone who knows what he is talking about and who is not beholden to the company. There is no simple solution here, it sounds like a case very similar to thota's, but you want to be sure that you know exactly what you are doing. She might be better off waiting another year until her EAD (based on your case) comes through and to do the residency on EAD.
agree with hadron. once you get a J1 physician status (or visa), you are INELIGIBLE for any kind of immigration benefit UNTIl you get a waiver or do 2 years of HRR (home residency requirement).hadron said:
.
WRONG. once a J1 physician, ALWAYS a J1. there is NO escape, even if you got it for 1 day. You can not file AOS (I485) until you comply with waiver requirements.sacrh said:
also ---- if an I-140 is filed, one can not get a J1 (I-140 is immigrant intention and J1 is supposed to have NON-immigrant intent).
if she goes on J1 and then you file your I140/I-485, you can not file her I-485. but she can use *follow to join* to keep her priority date for your I485 AFTER she has completed the HRR/waiver requiremnt.
aquagemini
Registered Users (C)
The forgoing discussion is amusing in the sense that people who are not yet trapped seem to be unaware of it till the very end like an unsuspecting duck. The J visa is one of the biggest traps Americans ever discovered at the behest of all powerful AMA anti IMG lobby.
I strongly advocate a mandatory consultation with an immigration attorney for anyone signing up for a residency program. Many people are not aware of the long-ranging implications of a J1 and don't know the alternatives.
Some folks could even come here on a GC if they planned far enough in advance. I know of people who have written the book on their specialty and published well and still got roped into J1 servitude for a fellowship.
I also know folks who could have gotten their GC through marriage but f__ it all up by signing on that dotted line on the back of an IAP66/DS2091.
Some folks could even come here on a GC if they planned far enough in advance. I know of people who have written the book on their specialty and published well and still got roped into J1 servitude for a fellowship.
I also know folks who could have gotten their GC through marriage but f__ it all up by signing on that dotted line on the back of an IAP66/DS2091.