H1B visa

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Aeki

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  1. Podiatry Student
I just wanted to give a heads up for any foreign (including Canadian) students applying for podiatry school. When I applied for a residency 5 years ago it was VERY difficult to find a hospital willing to sponsor a visa. I’m afraid with the new rules from the White House it might be impossible.

Being 300k+ in debt and applying for a very small number of residency slots is stressful enough as it is. Now the government is actively hostile to you as a foreign student. Please please please take this into consideration. This isn’t a typical podiatry bashing post, I love my job and I make a great living. But it was a hell of a bumpy ride to get here and I don’t want to see anyone’s life get ruined.

Side note, there are many hospitals in underserved or inner city parts of the USA that are largely staffed by H1B visa holders.

 
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This is an important issue for the foreign students or students requiring a visa that are currently in Podiatry schools and those that are planning to apply for Podiatry school. Foreign MD/DO students usually obtain a J1 visa for the residency training in US through the sponsorship of ECFMG. However, Podiatry students usually cannot get a J1 visa since Podiatry is not a sponsored medical specialty under ECFMG. Though, there may be a few exceptions out there where a Podiatry student may get sponsored for a J1 visa. This would mean that the Podiatry students will likely need to find a hospital willing to sponsor them for H1B visa for the residency training. As Aeki posted, the new $100,000 annual fee for H1B visa will now be a barrier for hospitals to justify the cost of sponsoring foreign Podiatry student to complete residency training at that their institutions. Of course, there is OPT training option, which would not be sufficient to cover the 3 years of residency training. Since medicine is not eligible for the 24 months STEM OPT extension, Medical and Podiatry students will need to covert to J1 or H1B visa after the initial 12 months of OPT training coverage. I am sure that there will be legal challenges to this $100K initial H1B visa fee. In the meantime, current and prospective foreign Podiatry students will really need to weigh their options, as Aeki had pointed out. If this $100K initial H1b visa fee does survive the legal challenges, I do sympathize with the current fourth year foreign Podiatry students that may face hurdles in obtaining residency training in the US.
 
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After applying for clerkships this year, i can confirm that many of the programs that sponsor h1b visas have emailed me saying they either put a pause on sponsoring h1b visas or they "dont know what the future holds" due to the new policy by trump. I've only applied to programs that sponsor J1 visas.
 
I wonder how many Canadian students are attending podiatry school.
At least at my school, i know of at least 7 across 1st-4th year. At least with us if we do a J1 visa we can always go practice in canada but those that are not definitely have it harder.
 
Does anyone have a list of programs that sponsor H-1B visas? I’ve been trying to reach out to programs, but most haven’t responded. Any help would be really appreciated!
 
Does anyone have a list of programs that sponsor H-1B visas? I’ve been trying to reach out to programs, but most haven’t responded. Any help would be really appreciated!
You should ask your school to contact AACPM or whatever podiatry alphabet soup organization organizes all of the podiatry residencies.

Even if the clerkship/residency website says they sponsor H-1B visas - it doesn't mean its going to be up to date or take into account the current situation.

EDIT: I don't see this as a "you sitting down on a Friday and figuring it out task". The profession/leadership needs to step up and figure out what it can do for its non-citizen students.
 
You should ask your school to contact AACPM or whatever podiatry alphabet soup organization organizes all of the podiatry residencies.

Even if the clerkship/residency website says they sponsor H-1B visas - it doesn't mean its going to be up to date or take into account the current situation.

EDIT: I don't see this as a "you sitting down on a Friday and figuring it out task". The profession/leadership needs to step up and figure out what it can do for its non-citizen students.
Thank you for your insight. I’ve been reaching out to programs individually, but I’ll also follow up with my school to see if they can contact AACPM for clarification regarding H-1B sponsorship.
 
Thank you for your insight. I’ve been reaching out to programs individually, but I’ll also follow up with my school to see if they can contact AACPM for clarification regarding H-1B sponsorship.
I speak for no one but myself, but I think you have to find a way to make this an "everyone", "profession" problem - not a you problem.

The Chamber of Commerce is now suing the Trump administration over this. Unfortunately, issues resolved through litigation are often uncertaint and slow to resolve.
 
Hello, I am a Canadian student looking to apply next cycle to podiatry schools. So if I am understanding this correctly, this visa will limit my chances of securing residency? In the case where I am unable to obtain residency, does that mean I am essentially screwed? I know that I cannot apply to VA anyways.
 
Hello, I am a Canadian student looking to apply next cycle to podiatry schools. So if I am understanding this correctly, this visa will limit my chances of securing residency? In the case where I am unable to obtain residency, does that mean I am essentially screwed? I know that I cannot apply to VA anyways.
If you speak French, you can work in Quebec.
 
Hi, is there a list of residency programs that accept international students?
 
Hi, is there a list of residency programs that accept international students?
Not on this forum. You need to ask your school or AACPM or someone for help. Maybe some other student on here will share what they've learned with you, but you are likely competing with others for a small number of spots.
 
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