Foreign Vets eligible for internship/residency matches in USA and Canada? (Not currently in Canada or USA)

[Vet Ali Raza]

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Hi everyone,
I'm a DVM graduate from Pakistan. I am already registered with NEB Canada and passed both BCSE and NAVLE exams. I'm curious am I eligible for the rotating or general internship and residency matches in USA or Canada?
Is there anyone who has applied from Asia and got selected with relocation assistance?
A little knowledge sharing would be very helpful for me. TIA!

 

[supershorty]

My understanding is that if you graduated from a program that is not accredited with the AVMA, you are not eligible to practice in the US until you have completed full ECFVG certification. While passing the BCSE is a portion of that, it is not the entire thing. You can find more information here: ECFVG - About Us

 

[JaynaAli]

A lot of the internship and residency programs no longer accept non-citizens because of both the time it takes to obtain visas and because of prevailing wage requirements. During my residency, my school stopped taking any applicants who needed visa sponsorship. Of course on their website they didn’t say that outright, but we were told we could accept anyone who needed a visa. I think/hope its a little more transparent now, but after you complete your licensing requirements and begin to apply, you may need to carefully read any VIRMP listings to see if they offer visa sponsorship or not and maybe reach out to programs directly to see if the programs are even an option for a noncitizen applicant.

 

[VIN-Foundation]

You are eligible to apply for the match through the VIRMP. But you will need to make sure you are eligible for the particular program(s) you are interested in. There are two issues for international applicants:

Visa requirements. Many programs are not currently accepting house officers that require a visa to work in the United States.

State license requirements. Essentially all of the private practice programs will require a license to practice in their state. Most of the academic programs do not require a license but there are exceptions.

Both of the above will be clearly specified in the program descriptions, which will be available in early October for the positions starting in June/July 2026.

 

[supershorty]

Most of the academic programs do not require a license but there are exceptions.

This is not correct.

Some don't require passing NAVLE prior to starting, but most *do* require state licensure. I just did a quick scan through the US academic programs on VIRMP and the ones that do not require state licensure are Cornell, Oregon State, Purdue, UF, Illinois, Penn, and Tennessee. All of the other programs do require it.

 

[VIN-Foundation]

Many of the academic programs allow for an institutional or faculty license. They consider a "state license" but it only allows you to practice at the university. You still have to register for that type of license but you don't need to take NAVLE or be from an AVMA-accredited university. U. Georgia, Iowa State, Kansas State, LSU, Mich. State, Ohio State, NC State, VA-MD are some examples.

 

[Minnerbelle]

You are eligible to apply for the match through the VIRMP. But you will need to make sure you are eligible for the particular program(s) you are interested in. There are two issues for international applicants:

Visa requirements. Many programs are not currently accepting house officers that require a visa to work in the United States.

State license requirements. Essentially all of the private practice programs will require a license to practice in their state. Most of the academic programs do not require a license but there are exceptions.

Both of the above will be clearly specified in the program descriptions, which will be available in early October for the positions starting in June/July 2026.

Do you know any internships that will sponsor visas?

There are a number of residencies that do, but I don’t know any internships that will for visas outside of TN visas and possibly OPT, neither of which OP would be eligible for…

 

[VIN-Foundation]

Some of the internships sponsor visas. Auburn, Mississippi State come to mind. You can search for those specifically on the VIRMP site. But you need to read the program description carefully and contact them with any questions. Some of the programs that show up in the search for "visa sponsorship" indicate they in fact don't. I think this happens because the admin person clicks the wrong thing when they submit it.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Some of the internships sponsor visas. Auburn, Mississippi State come to mind. You can search for those specifically on the VIRMP site. But you need to read the program description carefully and contact them with any questions. Some of the programs that show up in the search for "visa sponsorship" indicate they in fact don't. I think this happens because the admin person clicks the wrong thing when they submit it.

Yeah I’ve noticed that there are a bunch that indicate they do, but they either don’t at all or they specifically mean only TN visas.