U.S. Electives - Canadians

[mlenartowicz]

Hi all!!

Has anyone who is a Canadian citizen done residency electives at a U.S. institution? I am trying to figure out what paperwork I need in order to not have any issues at the border. The U.S. institution does not require a J-1 for me to rotate, but the Dal PGME website states that there is something called a DS-2019 form that all Canadian residents should have even if a J-1 Visa is not required. I am a little confused as to what I should have since on one hand all the Canadian sites say that we should have a J-1 yet the U.S. institution I am hoping to rotate through tells me it's not necessary. They told me lots of people from Canada have rotated without a J-1, but then my question is - what visa would they have gotten when crossing the border?

If anyone has gone through this process I would much appreciate your input!!

M

 

[gutonc]

I don't know the answer to your question but make sure you're talking to the GME office at the institution, not just the residency program coordinator/director to get the information correct. Since that stuff is handled at the institutional level, not the department/division/program level, the GME people are the ones who know the rules best.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

This turns out to be an extremely complicated question, without a clear answer.

I'm going to assume that you are a non-US citizen, current resident at Dalhousie, and you're looking to do an away rotation in the US. If you're currently a student looking for a student elective, then the answer is very easy (and posted elsewhere).

Much hinges on exactly what you are "doing" when you do your away rotation. If it's considered a "job", then you'd need a work visa -- hence the need for a J1 (or H1b, but no one is giving you an H1b for a single rotation). If this isn't a job, then you can get away with a visitors visa (B1). Exactly what it is isn't clear. Your salary will continue to come from your Canadian residency program, the US program isn't going to pay you anything. Hence, it's not like you'll really have a job there, it's as if Dal loaned you out to some place in the US. So, you should be able to do this on a B1 visa, which is exactly what that visa is created for -- short term foreign national doing business in the US.

On the other hand, programs could insist on the whole SEVIS / DS2019 deal. That's the process that sets up the possibility of getting a J visa. Note that if you get a J visa, you will certainly have the 2 year rule attach. That may not be a big deal -- you'll be going back to canada, and will simply have to wait 2 years before you can apply for another work visa.

The ugly mess is that you don't really know what's going to happen until you try to cross the border. I don't exactly see the point of having a valid DS2019 at the border -- without a J, it would seem a useless piece of paper. Without a J, when you try to cross, the border agent could let you through, or send you home. You don't really know. With a valid J you'll get through for sure, but will now have the 2 year rule attached.

My advice is to talk to the US consulate directly. Also, as the Dal website mentions, some programs will insist on the J, and if that's the case it makes your decision easy. Your question for the consulate is, given your situation, whether a B1 or J visa is needed. Take down names when you get an answer, and try to get it in writing if at all possible. I'd also go talk to the people at Dalhousie. When searching this topic on the intrawebs, their site is actually the only one that seems to address it. The more experience they have with this, the better for you.