J1 Vs H1 Visa

[loku]

Hey Guys,

So here's the story. I've lived in US for about 9 years now but I'm not a US citizen/Greencard holder. I've been on Student visa the entire time. I've done all my medical education in US and now i'm in 3rd year of med school, and asl you all know the time is close to apply for residency. I have 2 questions:

1. There are couple of hospitals that I found are willing to offer me a residency on J1 visa. Do you think its a good idea to take it? I've lived in US for 9 years, i'm not sure how I would convince a US counselor working in US embassy that I intent to return back to India for 2 years? Do you think its a problem? Has anyone else done it, did they have any problems?

2. There are couple of hospitals who are willing to sponsor H1 visa as well but they're pretty competitive. I'm confused if I should rank a hospital who's willing to give me H1 higher or one the J1. The residency at both these hospitals are pretty good and I won't mind doing a residency in either one of them.

Any advice is highly appreciated .

Thank you all! Happy Physicians day!

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[gyngyn]

You are still a long way from ERAS submission, much less a rank order list discussion. Pro-tip: always rank programs in the order that you prefer, not based on what you think they will do with you!
Make an appointment with your student affairs dean to discuss these matters.

 

[MemeFactory]

Hey Guys,

So here's the story. I've lived in US for about 9 years now but I'm not a US citizen/Greencard holder. I've been on Student visa the entire time. I've done all my medical education in US and now i'm in 3rd year of med school, and asl you all know the time is close to apply for residency. I have 2 questions:

1. There are couple of hospitals that I found are willing to offer me a residency on J1 visa. Do you think its a good idea to take it? I've lived in US for 9 years, i'm not sure how I would convince a US counselor working in US embassy that I intent to return back to India for 2 years? Do you think its a problem? Has anyone else done it, did they have any problems?

2. There are couple of hospitals who are willing to sponsor H1 visa as well but they're pretty competitive. I'm confused if I should rank a hospital who's willing to give me H1 higher or one the J1. The residency at both these hospitals are pretty good and I won't mind doing a residency in either one of them.

Any advice is highly appreciated .

Thank you all! Happy Physicians day!

I would say go for the H1 visa if possible. J1 is a huge pain if your goal is to stay in the U.S for good. I know people who came here on a J1 visa and had to return to the U.S Consulate in a foreign country every year or two to renew the visa. it took them 15 years to finally get a green card. If you have a lot of publications you might also consider EB1 or EB2. Good luck!

 

[loku]

I would say go for the H1 visa if possible. J1 is a huge pain if your goal is to stay in the U.S for good. I know people who came here on a J1 visa and had to return to the U.S Consulate in a foreign country every year or two to renew the visa. it took them 15 years to finally get a green card. If you have a lot of publications you might also consider EB1 or EB2. Good luck!

Thank you for your reply. Just a follow up question.I understand that i'll have to go to an embassy to renew visa and what not in future. But my main concern right now is that "Do you think the US embassy would deny me a J1 visa because I've lived in US for such a long time?"
Note: Last time I visited my home country was in 2009. I'm not sure how that looks in visa application.