F-1 Visa, Finishing PHD, want to go to Med School

[PoorHungryDoc]

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Hello,
I am a PhD student from India currently in the process of finishing my PhD. I have taken the April MCAT...awaiting results .
I am curently an F-1 Visa holder and I am soon going to start self-processing of GC. I was going to apply to medical school in 2007 but my advisor feels it will be better if I wait a year and then he feels I can get in-state tuition where I am going to school at right now.
But,this school will not even accept an application without GC and the approximate GC wait time is about 2 years.
I am in a fix. DO I wait or do I apply to schools that will take me, bit the bullet and pay out of state 😱 tuition.
ANybody with any experience regarding any or all of the above circumstances..please advice.
Thanks

 

[Scottish Chap]

Hello,
I am a PhD student from India currently in the process of finishing my PhD. I have taken the April MCAT...awaiting results .
I am curently an F-1 Visa holder and I am soon going to start self-processing of GC. I was going to apply to medical school in 2007 but my advisor feels it will be better if I wait a year and then he feels I can get in-state tuition where I am going to school at right now.
But,this school will not even accept an application without GC and the approximate GC wait time is about 2 years.
I am in a fix. DO I wait or do I apply to schools that will take me, bit the bullet and pay out of state 😱 tuition.
ANybody with any experience regarding any or all of the above circumstances..please advice.
Thanks

Congrats on finishing up your PhD and on taking the MCAT!

Unless your state school is in Texas (where, for reasons unknown to me even foreign visa holders are considered "in-state" if they gain admission), I think you'll be looking at out-of-state tuition for all four year at most schools. At least, that's the case for foreign students at the medical school I go to.

I was an international at the time of application but I got my GC half way through the application cycle so I know you definitely can change status and obtain reduced tuition at a later point. The F-1 visa is a huge hinderance to gaining admission to U.S. schools...as is a foreign undergraduate degree (even with a U.S. PhD), but it's certainly not impossible, so persevere and push forward. Good luck!

 

[PoorHungryDoc]

If I may ask what school do you go to?
How did you get in i.e. Were you a non-trad student to, if you were what did you do before you got in to medical school?

 

[MeowMix]

What you want to do is certainly possible, but it will be expensive and time-consuming.

First, how are you going to stay in the US once you finish your PhD? I thought the F1 usually expired when your program ended. If you get a postdoc, then you are usually on a J visa with a home country residency requirement, which must be waived before you can apply for a green card (that is what I did). The exception would be Canadian PhDs who get the special TN1 visa. For me, the whole process from finishing PhD/ending F1 to J visa to waiver to green card application to receiving the green card took >5 years, and that was pre-9/11. (If you are at a school with a foreign student office, and they can help you with your green card app, then be sure to use them!). Also, remember that once you file the green card application, you cannot leave the country without special advance permission, until you actually get the green card. If you do leave, they will not let you back in.

Second, you can apply as a foreign student, but you will almost certainly be considered out of state, and it will be expensive and extremely competitive. Most schools admit very few foreign students.

I would get in touch with the admissions offices of a few schools that you might be interested in, and find out what your chances are of getting in.

 

[albaniandoc]

I had F1 visa for four years. I go the green card through nursing. When I checked with med schools most of them would not consider a foreign resident without permanent resident status. In order for you to qualify for a green card you would have to have an employer to sponsor you. The problem is that as long as the green card is in process (takes two years as you know) you would have to work for the employer. I believe that with a PHD you could apply for OPT (optional practical training) or H1 visa.
I would advise that you check with specific schools. They might consider you while the green card is being processed. I know FSU enrolled me as in state even though I had just applied for a green card. The best thing to do is check with specific schools.

 

[hypotyposis]

Hi all,

This is awesome -I'm facing about the same difficulties as PoorHungryDoc, perhaps compounded by the fact that my PhD isn't in a sciences-related area and that I still have to write the thesis (trying really hard for this summer, but the people I'm working with aren't very enthusiastic about my decision to go into medicine rather than academia)!
I won't have a problem per se with the F-1 visa, only with the funding. I've looked at some schools which accept foreign students, and a couple of them seem to have some degree of financial aid. I'd be really interested to hear more from any F-1 student who made it into med school. Please send me a PM and we can exchange emails.

 

[Scottish Chap]

I had F1 visa for four years. I go the green card through nursing. When I checked with med schools most of them would not consider a foreign resident without permanent resident status. In order for you to qualify for a green card you would have to have an employer to sponsor you. The problem is that as long as the green card is in process (takes two years as you know) you would have to work for the employer. I believe that with a PHD you could apply for OPT (optional practical training) or H1 visa.
I would advise that you check with specific schools. They might consider you while the green card is being processed. I know FSU enrolled me as in state even though I had just applied for a green card. The best thing to do is check with specific schools.

The F-1 OPT visa only lasts for one year and immigration is so backed up that it's not worth the hassle (speaking from experience). It's best to start the perm res ball rolling.

 

[dr.z]

The F-1 OPT visa only lasts for one year and immigration is so backed up that it's not worth the hassle (speaking from experience). It's best to start the perm res ball rolling.

You can get OPT within 3 to 4 months once you submit your application. I got mine on time.

 

[Scottish Chap]

You can get OPT within 3 to 4 months once you submit your application. I got mine on time.

So did I but, since it lasts just one year, you're filling out paperwork and paying more fees as soon as you get the OPT visa to get the next visa and the time to issue depends very much on the BCIS service center that has jurisdiction over the state you reside in. For example, I found the Vermont Service Center very inefficient and they made several errors while the Maryland Center was fast and efficient. Also, you must have an employer sponsor F1-OPT and you can only get it if you work in the work in the same area that your F1 training was in. For a few people (not the OP since postdocs are easy to find), this is a problem.

 

[pasadama007]

I had F1 visa for four years. I go the green card through nursing. When I checked with med schools most of them would not consider a foreign resident without permanent resident status. In order for you to qualify for a green card you would have to have an employer to sponsor you. The problem is that as long as the green card is in process (takes two years as you know) you would have to work for the employer. I believe that with a PHD you could apply for OPT (optional practical training) or H1 visa.
I would advise that you check with specific schools. They might consider you while the green card is being processed. I know FSU enrolled me as in state even though I had just applied for a green card. The best thing to do is check with specific schools.

hi, I'm also in nursing school and will graduate next May. 🙂 I'm also F1. Since you got your green card through nursing, I'm just wondering when is the appropriate time to start the sponsorship process for green card. Is it after you got your nursing license? Moreover, I'm also thinking of med school. How early did you start your post-bac prereqs. Is it more sensible to wait after getting the green card?

 

[dr.z]

So did I but, since it lasts just one year, you're filling out paperwork and paying more fees as soon as you get the OPT visa to get the next visa and the time to issue depends very much on the BCIS service center that has jurisdiction over the state you reside in. For example, I found the Vermont Service Center very inefficient and they made several errors while the Maryland Center was fast and efficient. Also, you must have an employer sponsor F1-OPT and you can only get it if you work in the work in the same area that your F1 training was in. For a few people (not the OP since postdocs are easy to find), this is a problem.

For the OPT you don't need the employer sponsor you. Also now the processing center specializes in one area. One center now takes care of certain issues and other takes care of the other things.

If you file for OPT long before you graduate (at least 120 days), you should be able to get your permit. If it doesn't get there on time, you can get a temporary card too. Immigration issues change constantly so you have to keep up with it.

 

[albaniandoc]

I got mine within 45 days, but that was in 2001. I guess they have changed now. Although, it took exactly one year to the day to receive my green card. You really don't need a sponsor for OPT.

You can get OPT within 3 to 4 months once you submit your application. I got mine on time.

hi, I'm also in nursing school and will graduate next May. I'm also F1. Since you got your green card through nursing, I'm just wondering when is the appropriate time to start the sponsorship process for green card. Is it after you got your nursing license? Moreover, I'm also thinking of med school. How early did you start your post-bac prereqs. Is it more sensible to wait after getting the green card?


I graduated, got the licenses and my employeer started the application process. I did not to have an interview because they are speeding things up for nurses. I got hired July 2003, applied for green card (it took a while to do the paperwork) in January 2004, got the green card exactly one year, in January 2005. I applied for OPT 3 months before graduation and got it within 45 days. OPT gave me a chance to take the time with the green card paperwork. I started school in the summer of 2004. I was studying for the BSN program. The university granted my in state tuition since I had lived in the area for over 6 year and had worked with OPT. I did not start taking pre reqs for med school until last fall.
Nursing is the perfect profession if you need paperwork and need a sure way of getting them. Pm me if you have any questions. My biggest advice to any of you guys, would be to not go about doing things alone and hire an attorney. I have had an attorney since the first day that I set foot in the states. I went from J1, to B2 (tourist), F1, F1 again (applied for work permit, under economic hardship) OPT, green card. The last attorney charged my wife and I 5K for doing the paperwork, but today I stand with a green card, but friends of mine that did the paperwork by themselves are draggin the process. They are either missing supporting documents or filled out the wrongs forms. It is a nightmare. Get a good lawyer and don't worry about the money.

 

[travelbug73]

Poorhungrydoc,

Even with self sponsorship, you will end up in one of the 3 categories EB1-3 (I'm assuming you are not going through family or a citizen spouse). Unless you can show that your application is EB1 worthy (I'm not suggesting it is not), you will more likely be in the EB2 category (with an NIW). EB2 India is retrogressed at this moment to Jan 01, 2003. Unless there is some immigration relief (we don't expect any anytime soon given the House's take on this), the current wait time is not 2 years but more like 3-4 years or even longer.

In light of this situation with immigration, you might want to try to apply to schools that accept international students (which are not many) if you would like to get in the next cycle. I wouldn't hold my breath for the GC to be approved anytime soon. Some schools even offer scholarships to international students. Of course, if you are not offered a scholarship you will have to show either 1 or all 4 years' worth of tuition/fees in an escrow account. Another thing you could do is find a citizen co-signer and then you can get Federal loans.

Please PM me or post if you have any specific questions.

 

[Creightonite]

same boat here... f-1 holder and 2 more years of PhD left... Just currently looking into sources of $$$. Was anyone able to borrow the money from the bank without a cosigner?