New H-1B visa bill.Urgent!

[hoosier82]

I'm a Canadian citizen deciding whether to goto medical school in the US. I'm really worried about how likely competitive residency programs(I 'd rather bail out of med if I were to become a family doctor) will offer me H-1B visa,especially with the new bill from senate:

http://news.com.com/Senate+bill+giv...ch+jobs/2100-1014_3-6172981.html?tag=nefd.top


Senate bill gives Americans preference for tech jobs


High-tech companies and others clamoring for additional H-1B visas to hire foreigners would be forced to give priority to American job seekers under a new U.S. Senate proposal.

Just before Congress departed for its spring recess at the end of last week, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced a bill--which appears to be the first of its kind in the Senate--designed to curb abuse of the controversial worker visa system.

"Our immigration policy should seek to complement our U.S. workforce, not replace it," Durbin said in a statement.

Dating back to 1990, the H-1B program allows foreigners with at least a bachelor's degree in their area of specialty to be employed in the United States for up to six years. There's currently an annual cap of 65,000 visas, at least on paper, with up to 20,000 extras available for foreigners who earn advanced degrees from U.S. universities. (Various exemptions bump the total allotment to just above 100,000.)

The 32-page Senate bill would impose a host of additional obligations on employers. They would be required to pledge that they made a "good faith" effort to hire an American before taking on an H-1B worker and that the foreigner was not displacing a prospective U.S. worker.

Employers would also have to advertise job openings for 30 days on the Department of Labor's Web site before making H-1B visa applications, and they would be prohibited from advertising positions only to H-1B holders.

On the DOfLabour's website?That's a lot of paperwork for my Director in residency to do. I wonder if my chance of matching into radiology in a big city is close to null, considering that there are tons of Americans competing for the same position. Even if I maybe getting better grades,how does my residency director demonstrate to DOL that I can't be replaced by an American. It's practically impossible.

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[Faebinder]

I'm a Canadian citizen deciding whether to goto medical school in the US. I'm really worried about how likely competitive residency programs(I 'd rather bail out of med if I were to become a family doctor) will offer me H-1B visa,especially with the new bill from senate:

http://news.com.com/Senate+bill+giv...ch+jobs/2100-1014_3-6172981.html?tag=nefd.top


Senate bill gives Americans preference for tech jobs


High-tech companies and others clamoring for additional H-1B visas to hire foreigners would be forced to give priority to American job seekers under a new U.S. Senate proposal.

Just before Congress departed for its spring recess at the end of last week, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced a bill--which appears to be the first of its kind in the Senate--designed to curb abuse of the controversial worker visa system.

"Our immigration policy should seek to complement our U.S. workforce, not replace it," Durbin said in a statement.

Dating back to 1990, the H-1B program allows foreigners with at least a bachelor's degree in their area of specialty to be employed in the United States for up to six years. There's currently an annual cap of 65,000 visas, at least on paper, with up to 20,000 extras available for foreigners who earn advanced degrees from U.S. universities. (Various exemptions bump the total allotment to just above 100,000.)

The 32-page Senate bill would impose a host of additional obligations on employers. They would be required to pledge that they made a "good faith" effort to hire an American before taking on an H-1B worker and that the foreigner was not displacing a prospective U.S. worker.

Employers would also have to advertise job openings for 30 days on the Department of Labor's Web site before making H-1B visa applications, and they would be prohibited from advertising positions only to H-1B holders.

On the DOfLabour's website?That's a lot of paperwork for my Director in residency to do. I wonder if my chance of matching into radiology in a big city is close to null, considering that there are tons of Americans competing for the same position. Even if I maybe getting better grades,how does my residency director demonstrate to DOL that I can't be replaced by an American. It's practically impossible.

About frigging time is all I got to say and I don't care if I get flamed for it.

Now having said that... you need to understand... it's a bill... it hasnt gotten through the senate and there is a good chance it wont go through considering the way politics work. Some company that is making insane money off the H1 visas will try and get enough senators to push down the bill.

 

[BearCat]

I am going into IM, and my residency currently is starting to apply for my H-1b visa. From what they tell me, I don't fall into any of these restrictions whatsoever (the job posting on DOL) and it shouldn't be a problem at all. They are paying for the whole thing, and handling everything.

Radiology itself is hard to get in, regardless if you need a visa or not. I'd research and call the programs to see if they sponsor H-1b for american graduates. If they do sponsor H-1b and decide to accept you, then you should be ok, since no programs like losing their resident half way through due to visa issues.

I believe you are just as competitive as any US citizens in applying for radiology, since you'll be a US grad. The other thing to find out is which school sponsors H-1b versus J-1 visas, and which schools simply don't sponsor anything (waste of your money applying there).

I have had a H-1b before in 2001, and the rules were similar back then. For as long as I know, in order to hire a foreign technician, the job has to be posted in the US, and if no one takes the position, then you can offer it to a foreign citizen. Now I don't know if my old job posted my position for a period of time, but I know they did have to write a letter to the DOL explaining why they need to hire me over a US citizen.

In summary, I won't worry about it too much. The idea that one needs to post a job first for Americans before turning to a foreign citizen has been there for years, it's not something the Senate just came up with. But since I can't predict what's to come, I would advise you for your own peace of mind, call up some radiology programs and ask them about visa issues.