niw for doctors

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doc77

New Member
hi, i want to know if as resident one works in medically underserved area for 3 yrs can one file for g.c during residency or after 5 yrs of working for such area?if in residency it can be filed in which year?

me too in a similar situation,came here and joined reasearch job on h-1,for 3 yrs,now applying for residency,just have enough h-1 time to complete residency.then if i want to work here i may not have any more time left,so was wondering if i can hire an attorney and file for g.c during residency as g.p,or get into residency in MUA ,so i can apply for niw.

pls any options that i can look into?i may get extra 3 months after residency if i take 1 month leave during residency each year.so i will just have 3 months after residency on h-1.
 
There are a couple of difficulties with filing a NIW for residency:

- There is a precedent case where someone did something similar. She did everything including internship and residency on the EADs her NIW afforded her. 5 years later, USCIS went back, figured out that she did her residency on NIW and and kicked her out of the country. As part of that decision there is language that the NIW is not meant for residency but rather for practice in the sense of working as a licensed independent practitioner. So, if they figure out that your NIW is for residency, they could deny it.

- You need a 5 year employment contract for a position in a HPSA/MUA. Your residency contracts are in all likelihood 1 year at a time.

- You will need a support letter from the state department of health that your work is in the public interest. Depending on the state, they might require the same documentation as they require for a J1 waiver (proof of recruitment, letters of support from local physicians etc. etc.) They will in all likelihood NOT give you a letter unless you are able to actually provide services for their citizens.



There is however nothing wrong with filing a NIW during the last year of residency. At that point you can get a contract and the state support for your first attending position. That way, your 5 year clock starts ticking from the day you start practicing in the MUA/HPSA and you don't loose time waiting for the I140 to get approved.

Another option is to get a practice to file a labor certification for you (as GP) during residency. Once that is through, they can file an I140. Once everything is pending for more than 1 year, you can get extensions on your H1b.
 
is the last option possible ie ask a practise to start my g.c process during residency for a future job as a g.p?
 
one more doubt,say immediately after residenci if i plan to join hpsa can i file g.c under niw even before and get i-140 ready and may be use the ead?i am unable to figure this out.
 
Well, nobody these days is going to hire you as a GP. But if you lets say do an internal medicine internship. During 2nd year, you get in contact with a group for a job after residency, they agree to hire you and file a LC for a GP once you finish pgy-2 (so you can get a medical license in most states as a FMG). Once you finish residency they just hire you, the job title is just 'physician' but of course you work as board eligible internist for them.
 
> ,say immediately after residenci if i plan to join hpsa can i file g.c under
> niw even before and get i-140 ready and may be use the ead?i am
> nable to figure this out.

You can file the NIW while you are a resident, but it has to be for a job after residency. So, lets say early in your third year, you file NIW, it gets approved in 1-9 months. 5 months before you finish residency you file for EAD and you start working on EAD. That way, your 5 years start tolling from the moment you start practicing in the HPSA (bc your I140 is already approved). If you file NIW after starting, you loose all the time it takes until the I140 is approved (different from J1 waiver docs, your time spent in a HPSA in H1b without a NIW DOESN't count. Shusterman had a lawsuit on this but the goverment managed to quash it on a formality, something along the line of executive priviledge.) You don't want to file too early either (lets say in 2nd year). You have I believe 6 years to work the 5 years in HPSA in order to finally get your GC. If you I140 is approved >12 months before you start your job, you can get into trouble at the back end.
 
ceterum censeo:

I am not an immigration attorney but just a lowly doctor who has been through this maze before. Before you make any decisions, spring the $300 to sit down with an attorney familiar with the intricacies of physician immigration to come up with a game plan. Consult the thread 'attorneys' which is stickied in this forum to get some opinions on what type of attorney to look for. I wouldn't get a mole treated by having lawyer on the internet tell me that it looks benign. Neither should anyone use information from here to make life decisions without confirming it with a professional in this field.
 
Hello Hardon Please advice

I guess u guys knows my case more then any one else.
Always H1B, started employment with a abusive employer 6/02-10/05(RIR @ Dallas PD oct 2002, concurrent NIW 140/485 PD nov 2003, approved 9/05---- for five years 9/10). I moved out from him with hand shake 2 months ago with a big hospital my current employer with new H1B till 6/2007, PERM ripping with adds placed will file Jan 30 2006.

Since I moved out of HPSA( abondening NIW 2 months ago, my wife still uses her EAD doing a FP 2nd year 160 miles away in a big teaching hospital in same state and fortunately HPSA).

I am active staff at that hospital too, talk to my friend their who is working J1 waiver 4rth year now basically Self employed on NIW that he can give me weeknds their as moonlighting on 1090, and will formate a schedule showing me alternate weekends call which pretty much 40 hrs for me self employed getting payed for bills under his provider #.

I know I need to refile 140 again, and there is no office address except the hospital address, and mailing will be to physician mail box in doctors lounge.
Do u think I just wait till PERM 140 filed and not worry about abondening NIW for 5 months all togather, as no matter want happened to lawsuit
http://www.shusterman.com/toc-phys.html#3
I will get it faster by PERM, but what if EB2 retrogress, If lawsuit gets approved, all i need to spend are 1.5 more year in HPSA to complete NIW rather then 8.5 years. why not keep PERM going and refile NIW 140 get extra work and secure NIW 5 years time, but having a H1B 160 miles with one employer and using EAD at HPSA as S/E will cause any problems.
Please advice me. I am immigration literate Internist. I guess I consider u more knowlegeble then myself.
thanks for reading.




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> Since I moved out of HPSA( abondening NIW 2 months ago, my wife
> still uses her EAD doing a FP 2nd year 160 miles away in a big
> teaching hospital in same state and fortunately HPSA).

EAD should still be valid for its approved time, at least until you withdraw the pending I485 on which it is based.

> I am active staff at that hospital too, talk to my friend their who is
? working J1 waiver 4rth year now basically Self employed on NIW that
> he can give me weeknds their as moonlighting on 1090, and will
> formate a schedule showing me alternate weekends call which pretty
> much 40 hrs for me self employed getting payed for bills under his
> provider #.

Getting paid under someone elses provider number could represent medicare fraud. I would be very very careful with this arrangement. Getting your GC is one thing, spending 1-7 in the federal Pen. is another.
Also, I don't know whether they would eat your call arrangement as 'full-time employment'.

> I know I need to refile 140 again, and there is no office address except
> the hospital address, and mailing will be to physician mail box in
> doctors lounge.

Get a private mailbox with forwarding, register a corporation to the mailbox address to run your billing through it. The mailbox address doesn't necessesarily have to be in the HPSA, on all your paperwork you state the HPSA hospital address as your practice address (which is not even a lie).

> as no matter want happened to lawsuit http://www.shusterman.com/toc-phys.html#3

My understanding is that the lawsuit is dead, but I will gladly be corrected on this.
Actually, I stand corrected. The lawsuit apparently has gone to appeals. Great, looking forward to the outcome.

> I will get it faster by PERM, but what if EB2 retrogress,

For now, I would hold on to my PD from an already approved I140 for dear life. Try to get your case transferred from one approved I140 to another approve I140 (Pearson memo sept 2000).

> but having a H1B 160 miles with one employer and using EAD at HPSA
> as S/E will cause any problems.

Could be a stretch (and I held my breath for quite a while when I did something similar).
You don't want to raise their suspicion, tread very lightly when doing something like this (consider running your current job as a 1090 through the corporation you set up at your NIW site. This won't affect your pending PERM as this is for FUTURE employment and you are not required to work as an employee for the hospital in the time period until your I485 comes through. By having all your employment coming from the address at your NIW location, your likelihood of hitting a snag here is somewhat smaller)
 
Got to listen to the oral arguments on the Shusterman appeal. It is pretty entertaining how the judge takes the frazzled assistant federal attorney apart.

http://www.shusterman.com/toc-phys.html#3

Good news is that the judge is from Montana and seems to be aware of the issue as a whole. I guess there is some hope that the appeal will go through, but I wouldn't bet my immigration future on this.
 
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