NIW for physician who has completed nearly 6 years on H visa

I

irwinpat

Registered Users (C)
My physician friend will be completing her residency in Internal Medicine in 6 months time. She is presently on a H1 visa. On completion she would have around 8 months left for the 6 years of H visa.
Now if she wants to continue stay in the US and practise what would be the best way to go. She has no paper filed for I-140 so there is no question of extending H1 beyond 6 Years.
Would NIW be suitable in this case, and can it be applied before completing Residency.
If the NIW is approved which work visa could she apply for ? Or can she get a EAD based on the NIW and release her from the requirement of obtaining any non immigration visa like H1.
 
Is she working in HPSA

She would be able to apply for NIW only if she has been previously working in an underserved area. She can get ead if I-140 is approved but she has to be on a valid visa for maintaining her status. For getting GC approved, she has to work for 5 years in an underserved place. Not sure if she can do that now with her h1 expiring.
 
No Title

I thought she required the NIW so if approved she would have to work in HHS- shortage area. Not the other way round you work in Shortage area and then get NIW approved.
Also how long it would take to get I-140 after NIW approval( am I missing something, I thought if You have NIW approval you don\'t require I-140). I thought it was possible to file for AOS (I-485)and get a EAD , but INS will act on the case only after completion of 5 years service in the HHS - shortage areas.

My point is if she can get her NIW approval before she complete her residency , she has still 8 months of h1B visa left , where she can work in the shortage are, and apply for the EAD. She is currently not working in a shortage area.
Am I right or missing something.
 
NIW is same as applying for I-140

She can apply for NIW only after she gets employed in an underserved area. For that she needs someone else to sponsor her for h1. She can then get her 140 approved (NIW) and you dont have to do LC. But she will be able to apply for the last stage only after the 5 years are over. you can visit the forum for physicians
 
Attorney Input

I checked this out with my attorney. You are on the dot regarding most of the things, but the only difference is the 1-485 stage can be applied immediately after obtaining a NIW approval . Only thing it will be processed after you have shown proof to have completed 5 years service in the shortage area. And in the meantime you can apply for you EAD once you start working on a H1.
I checked the Physical thread , but most of the Physicians applying for NIW were previously on J1, it very rare to see a person with H1 applying for a NIW.
 
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