Wife wants to use J visa to work and apply for waiver later, is this viable?

S

suxx0011

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

My wife, who is a F1 ph.D student now, wants to get into medical field to be a doctor very soon. I couldn't help her to get a green card soon enough under family-based immigration (we got married two years ago and I got green card before that). So far she has successfully passed related BOARD exams, etc. and about to participate national MATCH for becoming doctors. It seems there are only two possible options for her (without a green card) to get into that field:

(1) H1 visa: She has to pass BOARD exam step 3 to be able to apply for that, and since there is not enough time for her to do that (she has to prepare for ph.D thesis, and TOEFL / BOARD clinical assessment exam, etc.), so it's not possible for her to go with this path if she wants to participate MATCH in next Febuary/March (interviews will be scheduled much earlier).

(2) J1 visa: She can use this to get into the field, and later possibly she could apply for WAIVER since I have green card (three years later, I will apply for Citizenship) and we just have a baby born here, so we could state in the future that she couldn't be seperated from the family here, etc.

Note: Waiver in medical/physician field is different from other fields, and it does not require examption from the home country of the applicant. One possible WAIVER path is family-based WAIVER, which is that applicant is a spouse of a green card holder / citizen, and seperation could cause hardship to the family, etc. We want to use this one.

Question:

Is option (2) viable? Could there be any problems? When later I became a citizen and apply for green card for her then, would her J visa WAIVER has to be granted before she could get green card?

Thank you very much!
 
Unfortunately, YES.

Tread very carefully; Your assumptions are all correct except that the hardship waiver is not automatic. Even if you are a naturalized citizen, that does not mean that you could not go back to her country of citizenship for 2 years. The more practical way is to wait out another year until she can complete hr step3 and then try for H1b. If she takes a J1 visa, be prepared for hardships!
 
H-1 path is definitely a winner, big time. However, if she chooses to get J-1, there is another waiver option besides hardship - it is getting sponsorship by IGA (Interested Governmental Agency) through work in HPSA/MUA/ARC.

Carefully weigh your options. Talk to experienced immigration attorney. Consultation fee will return many times over.
 
option 2? probably NOT

hi, being a *J1 victim* myself, i can tell ya:

................. u wrote .......
(2) J1 visa: She can use this to get into the field, and later possibly she could apply for WAIVER since I have green card (three years later, I will apply for Citizenship) and we just have a baby born here, so we could state in the future that she couldn't be seperated from the family here, etc.
......... ..........

This *Hardship waiver* request is Mostly DENIED by DOS. ofcourse everything IS possible, but Q is about the chances -- Very slim.
If i was in this situation, i WON'T EVEN CONSIDER a J1. Ur wife will have to complete 3 years in a waiver job OR go back to her home country for 2 years.

ofcourse this is my personal opinion. someone may not agree to it.

read this information from one of the J1 specialist attorney websites:

http://www.usvisainfo.com/object/pdf/j1/faq_hardship_waiver.pdf
 
Hi all
I completely agree with J1 victim it is like Lord Ram went to BANVAS for 14 hrs we J holders have to go for 3/5 years depending on if one wants to get Permanent alian card through NIW for MDs working in MUA/HPSA . If it is possible to wait one year and get H visa it is definitely better than getting J and then going through the waiver job in MUA/HPSA. I know being a professional it is very frustrating to sit at home and waste 1 year just to get H but I think it is worth it It doesnot really matter in the long run but yes it does matter if one wants to do fellowship after residency on J he/she is stuck to get waiver first and then do the fellowship
Hope this help
PS These are my personal views and final decision should just not be made solely on this discussion board
All the best:cool:
 
Let me add my two cents

I am currently doing a J1 waiver - if I had to do it over again, I would go for H1B visa.

J1 waiver would severly limit the scope of where your wife could pratice in future, at least till the waiver was done and u may have to disrupt your family life because of that. Are u flexible enough to move to a "middle of nowhere place"?

Consider this option carefully - J1 should be avoided if possibe.
 
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