Denied Statement of Need for J-1 visa from Italy

[zizzu]

My question is:
Any ideas on how I can obtain a Statement of Need from the Ministry of Health in Italy without having done medical school in Italy?

This is my story:
I'm an Italian citizen and after finishing high school in Italy I came to the US with the dream to become a doctor. I went to undergraduate school in the US for 4 years, then I got a master's degree and then miraculously got into a US medical school. I just matched into Emergency Medicine at a US residency. I am currently on an F-1 visa and waiting for my OPT EAD card to come in the mail. I have been trying to apply for a J-1 visa and one of the requirements is a Statement of Need from Italy. The Ministry of Health in Italy will not issue this letter because I did not go to medical school in Italy and never took the medical board exam in Italy:

Certificato "Statement of need" necessario per il Visto USA J- 1

I have studied in the US for 10 years, and paid over half a million of dollars in tuition. I feel like the earth is shattering under my feet. My residency program will not sponsor an H1b.

Any ideas on how I can obtain a Statement of Need from the Ministry of Health in Italy without having done medical school in Italy?

Am I missing anything? What should my next move be? Thank you

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[BananaIceman]

My question is:
Any ideas on how I can obtain a Statement of Need from the Ministry of Health in Italy without having done medical school in Italy?

This is my story:
I'm an Italian citizen and after finishing high school in Italy I came to the US with the dream to become a doctor. I went to undergraduate school in the US for 4 years, then I got a master's degree and then miraculously got into a US medical school. I just matched into Emergency Medicine at a US residency. I am currently on an F-1 visa and waiting for my OPT EAD card to come in the mail. I have been trying to apply for a J-1 visa and one of the requirements is a Statement of Need from Italy. The Ministry of Health in Italy will not issue this letter because I did not go to medical school in Italy and never took the medical board exam in Italy:

Certificato "Statement of need" necessario per il Visto USA J- 1

I have studied in the US for 10 years, and paid over half a million of dollars in tuition. I feel like the earth is shattering under my feet. My residency program will not sponsor an H1b.

Any ideas on how I can obtain a Statement of Need from the Ministry of Health in Italy without having done medical school in Italy?

Am I missing anything? What should my next move be? Thank you

I am in the same position but am from South Korea. I am trying to contact other officials at the Ministry of Health to no avail. Have you had any luck?

 

[NotAProgDirector]

You could:

1. Try to get a SoN from your home country. If you don't meet their criteria, seems unlikely to succeed. But you can ask for an exception.
2. See if your program will offer you an H1b given the circumstances. Also unlikely, but easy to ask.
3. Consider other visa options. You might be able to get an O-1 visa, especially if you have any published research. It's a stretch, and unclear if your GME office would allow it.
4. Marry a US citizen. Note that this is a slow process, and they look carefully to make sure it's not a "marriage of convenience". If they think you're faking it, they will deport you and prevent you from getting another visa.
5. Switch programs into one that will allow an H1b. This is your best option, if #2 isn't an option.

 

[bannie22]

Unfortunately, given your current visa status there is no second option. Your home country has to provide the statement of need. It is a very odd piece of documentation given the number of non-americans that would eventually not return to their home country to provide care. I've seen people have to leave their residency midway because their countries did not provide the statement of need after a few years into training.

 

[zizzu]

I am in the same position but am from South Korea. I am trying to contact other officials at the Ministry of Health to no avail. Have you had any luck?

Thank you all for replying. The J1 seems like a dead end. I am thinking about validating my american MD degree in Italy and taking the board exam in Italy, so that I might be able to get the Statement of Need. However, I am not sure if this would work. I am flying to Italy soon and will probably go to the Ministry of Health personally to ask.
The other option is to force the residency program to sponsor the H1b. I am not sure what I would tell them to convince them, or if I have any leverage. I will post again on this thread once I have some news.

 

[Shizy]

aaw...what happened? Hope you pulled through.

 

[zizzu]

aaw...what happened? Hope you pulled through.

I did not have any luck with the statement of need. It was impossible. Ended up getting the H1b, so lucky, my residency program was so kind to me.

 

[Shizy]

I did not have any luck with the statement of need. It was impossible. Ended up getting the H1b, so lucky, my residency program was so kind to me.

Such a relief!!! I'm very happy to hear that. All the best in your residency. God bless!

 

[ccrose]

I did not have any luck with the statement of need. It was impossible. Ended up getting the H1b, so lucky, my residency program was so kind to me.

Hi I'm so glad you got the H1B visa sponsored and so sorry you had to jump through the hoops for this.

I was wondering if I could ask you: once you complete med school, what is your visa status during residency (since OPT is only for 1 year and I know that medicine does not constitute STEM)? As for the J-1 visa, ideally when would one apply for this, as I know the goal is to serve underrepresented communities in the US...and then the goal is to apply for H1-B? I've tried looking some of this up but the numbers are so low that I'm getting stuck at some places. Any info you/anyone has on this would be great!