Any US med student holding F1 visa have any experiences finding residency programs?

[aelita]

I am currently an OMS I with F1 visa. I know lots of residency program won't accept F1visa med students. I am wondering if any of you guys have experiences with picking residency programs that are friendly to F1 visa people. Thanks!

Also, I am engaged currently with my fiance. He will acquire his US citizenship in 2021 February, and we plan on getting married after that. (if this would make any difference)

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[NotAProgDirector]

Lots of residency programs will take you on an OPT visa which is an extension of your F. You will likely need an H visa after that.

Getting work authorization after marrying a US citizen can be a slow process and take months, or more than a year. Hence you may need an H visa.

DO NOT GET MARRIED UNTIL YOU SPEAK TO A VISA LAWYER. It can cause lots of problems. You can create travel issues (where you are unable to leave the US). It is very complicated.

 

[rhomboid]

1. Many top programs will allow you to work with F-1 OPT. However the OPT is only one year and you need to discuss in advance with programs to support H visa after F-1 OPT.
2. Your fiance will acquire US citizenship in 02/2021. I suspect that this means he has a green card and will accumulate a total of 5 years or 4 year and 9 months of continuous presence in the US. Nowadays there is a lot of delays and he might not acquire his citizenship in the expected timeline.
3. If he currently has GC and you marry him now, he can support GC for you. This is usually a 2-3 year process, and I suspect this would be faster than to wait until he gets his citizenship. The whole process is not as smooth as you would expected, and there is certain time frame when you cannot leave the country. Always consult a lawyer before making any of these moves.