I NEED HELP!!!
I'm a foreign student(F-1) going to med school in Texas, USA. I have to prepare for residency application but from what I found out, only J-1 visas are accepted by most resident programs in the U.S. But I don't know the first thing about requesting the Statement of Need from the Ministry of Health in South Korea to get J-1. How do I contact them when I haven't even back in Korea for the past 13 years!!! Are there any J-1's out there who can help me??? Also, how do I waive the "2-year return home" required by J-1 Visa? I need help!

Sae

> I have to prepare for residency application but from what
> I found out, only J-1 visas are accepted by most resident programs

Some programs will sponsor H1b, and that is what you should be aiming for. What specialty are you interested in ?

Programs will write all kinds of things on their website. But this applies mostly to us non-citizen FMG's (fresh of the boat). As a US grad, you will have a good choice of residencies willing to sponsor H1b for you.

You might be stuck going for a slightly less desireable residency, e.g. at a good community program due to the visa issue. But in your situation, a J1 would be a real problem.

Also, as you are getting a graduate degree in the US, you are not subject the 65.000 H1b visa limit. You can apply for one of the 20.000 extra visas allocated for US graduates. (in addition, university and non-profit teaching hospitals are exempt from the quota).

> in the U.S. But I don't know the first thing about requesting
> the Statement of Need from the Ministry of Health in South Korea
> to get J-1. How do I contact them

IF you want to go down that perilous path, you can contact ECFMG to give you the contact at the South Korean ministry of health. They are sticklers, it really has to be the person in their list, with the letter coming from the correct office address.

> Are there any J-1's out there who can help me???

I knew one SK J1. But he left after 1st year to go back and take care of his parents.

> Also, how do I waive the "2-year return home" required
> by J-1 Visa? I need help!

3 ways

- work for the veterans administration for 3 years after you are done with residency. Often, some nepotism is necessary to get these positions, particularly in the city VA's.

- work in a medically underserved area for 3 years and get the support of an 'interested goverment agency'. This is either the respective states department of health (most common), or the Appalachian Regional Comission (an organization by the feds to help impoverished counties in the appalachian mountains) or the Delta Regional Authority (same for the mississippi watershed).
'waiver jobs' are highly variable. From normal jobs with large multispecialty practices to slavery like drudgery in a small office somewhere in the boonies. You want to stay away from that.

- claim 'exceptional hardship to a US citizen'. This only works if you have handicapped US citizen kids that would be an 'exceptional hardship' to the US taxpayer if you were forced to leave.


Here are two things to look at:

-get canadian permanent residency and have 'health canada' give you the goverment letter. That way, if the waiver thing doesn't work out, you at least are not stuck going back to SK, a country that at this point you don't really have ties to. (Canada is like the US without the NRA. Maybe not the greatest place in the world to be a patient, but from what I hear a decent place to practice as a doc for a couple of years).

- do a transitional year on 'OPT' (it is tied to your F1, a period of authorized practical training). This gives you a year to look for a decent program to do your residency on H1b. Also, as USgrad you can get a medical license after one year. If you find a prospective employer, you can get started with your green-card right there.

Again, as a US grad, many IM PES and FP programs will gladly sponsor you for an H1b. Most of the 'no H1b' cr*( applies to non-citizen FMGs only.