APPIC Internship: Canadians applying to US, visa?

[ProPsyc]

Hello fellow comrades,

I've perused around forums but wasn't able to find a definitive answer to my inquiries, perhaps those having gone through the process may offer me some guidance.

I'm a Canadian citizen in Clinical Psychology undergoing the 2012 APPIC internship application and wishing to applying to the US. Searching for intership programs in the APPIC directory, I've noticed that some intership sites require applicants to have an US Citizenship.

I've called the intership site and they've mentioned that a working visa will be required prior to application, or at least stating that it is in progress.

My inquiry is two-fold with respect to visas:

1.Intership site requiring US Citizenship

which type of visa will be required as most visas require the firm to sign or sponsor the applicant?
I don't believe the student visa is applicable, nor a TN-visa.

2. Intership site not requiring US citizenship

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

ProPsyc

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[RayneeDeigh]

I'm also a Canadian applying to US sites.

You basically will probably want to hire an immigration lawyer. There are J visas, F visas, and TN visas... all of which CAN work in this situation, but it depends on the various quirks of the customs people on that day. It's really best to have an expert helping, or at least that's what I've heard. I know a few people who were accepted to US sites but couldn't get the VISA so they had to default on the offer.

As for sites not requiring US citizenship, there is an option to search for that in the APPIC directory. You just click the little bubble for "no" under "requires US citizenship."

We are absolutely not able to apply for sites that require US citizenship. There's really no loophole for this one, you're stuck with the other sites. But there are a lot of good ones, so good luck in your search!

 

[PerhapsMaybeOk]

this would be more useful (for others) if you posted in the internship 2012 thread..comrade.

 

[ProPsyc]

this would be more useful (for others) if you posted in the internship 2012 thread..comrade.

could admin merge this thread to the 2012 APPIC thread?
thanks!

@ RayneeDeigh: thanks for the visa info.
Although, it would appear that the F-1 Visa (students) and the TN Visa (professionals) would not be applicable to my situation.
The J-1 Visa would likely be the visa identified as it would be for an internship program.

This would mean it will narrow only internship site applications displaying US Citizenship as not a requirement.

 

[RayneeDeigh]

could admin merge this thread to the 2012 APPIC thread?
thanks!

@ RayneeDeigh: thanks for the visa info.
Although, it would appear that the F-1 Visa (students) and the TN Visa (professionals) would not be applicable to my situation.
The J-1 Visa would likely be the visa identified as it would be for an internship program.

This would mean it will narrow only internship site applications displaying US Citizenship as not a requirement.

Be careful, the information on the web is not always complete or accurate. The F-1 visa and the TN visa CAN be made applicable to internship situations and are sometimes used through loopholes. The J-1 Visa is more common but there is some sort of problem because it prohibits direct service to clients so a lawyer will have to help you with that.

 

[RGirl]

I cannot emphasize enough how much you should try to consult with the site or former interns if at all possible, as this process can be a real nightmare. For instance, I should have been able to get a J1, but my work was through a hospital that was technically separate from the university it was named after, and thus they did not have the ability to grant J1's without going through the whole approval process, which costs a lot of money. I then almost got a J1 through another department, but they wouldn't let me do direct clinical work on that one.

TN's can be a good one, if you can get the internship director to call your work a research assistantship (if you are doing research as part of the internship, of course). And you can always try for the regular work Visa (I forget the name), though you have to jump through way more hoops than a TN.

Lastly, the honest truth in my experience and that of several others applying to internship in previous years is that a lot of US sites simply don't want to deal with the paperwork (as they usually have to complete at least a bit), so they often are more reluctant to offer interviews to competitive Canadian applicants-- it's not like there is any shortage of qualified Americans out there. It really helps if your university has any sort of connection to a specific American program-- e.g., past intern, work colleague, collaborator, etc.

Best of luck!

 

[madeincanada]

Lastly, the honest truth in my experience and that of several others applying to internship in previous years is that a lot of US sites simply don't want to deal with the paperwork (as they usually have to complete at least a bit), so they often are more reluctant to offer interviews to competitive Canadian applicants-- it's not like there is any shortage of qualified Americans out there.

I absolutely have not had this experience as a Canadian training in the US for both graduate school and internship. I did not hear once during an internship interview that my citizenship was a detriment, or a reason why I did not receive an interview.