Originally posted by fcelestin
thanks for the advice guys, I'm gonna look into all this visa stuff ASAP. So, what are the other disadvantages to the J1 apart from the two year home requirement? (I think the home requirement can be waivered) Why is the H1 more desirable?
I am currently a matched US MS4 (no greencard, Canadian citizen) going to residency that will sponsor me an H1B. I have done some research on this topic over the past application cycle.
As already pointed out previously, the home requirement is the most important disadvantage of J1. But other problems may also arise with a J1 is: 1. since J1 is an "exchanger visa" can you get your country to "sponsor" your "exchange"? Some countries are easier than others. 2. H1B is much more desirable for non-citizens because it can be transitioned to a green card AFTER residency when/if you are employed by a hospital. 3. Hospitals LOVE J1 and HATES H1B because they have to do very little paperwork and pay very little fee for J1, whereas H1B requires them to do mucho paperowork, and basically makes them legally liable if you somehow screw up or leave the program, and it requires them to pay a handsome amount of processing fee. Almost all hospitals that sponsor international citizens sponsor J1, relatively few do H1B's and if they do, only under certain circumstances. 4. Hard to get a prelim year to sponsor you an H1B because you are only there for a year.
I'll dissect each one with more detail.
1. What country are you from? Some country will give you a document for J1 easily, whereas some others (ie. Canada) will require lots of paperwork and you passing MCQEE before they will sign that paper to allow you to accept J1. Make sure you find out.
2. H1B is basically a technical skills visa. It gives you a lot more freedom after you finish your training, and that it can be transitioned into a permanent residency (ie. green card) when you are employed after residency. Since most people do med school/residency in the US with eventual US practice in mind, this is the most natural transition. J1 is very awkward because of the home residency requirement, and although it can be waived if you desire to work in under-served areas or some govenmental agencies like some inner city VA, the rules are becoming more stringent. And the recent talks about making the home residency requirement 5 years makes J1 a big gamble.
3. Believe me, most hospitals that deals with significant international citizens love J1 and frown on H1B. In fact, some places will publicly state that they can ONLY do J1. If you can only take H1B, dont even bother with those programs... Call them and find out where they stand, and can they make exceptions given your qualification as an AMG... If they can't, and you need H1B, then dont even bother - nothing is worse than not able to start residency because of visa problems. In my personal case, I know I can only take H1B, and I turned down some interviews at prestigeous institutions this past cycle because of their inability to assure me that they can sponsor H1B. Make sure you mention you are USMG and not IMG when you talk to them, because many of them are willing to make exceptions if you are an US grad because you have more leverage, whereas if you just say you are international, then they will assume you are IMG and impose their "J1 only" requirement, as they know your leverage is much less.
4. Prelim years are only 1 year, and most prelim programs can only do J1 because H1B is a lot of work, a lot of processing and a lot of money. In this regard I dont blame the program, but if you have already matched into the specialty program that requires a prelim year (say rays or anesthesia) then you will need your primary program (the anesthesia program) to apply your primary visa. But if you ONLY got a prelim spot and went unmatched for the primary specialty, then to be honest I dont know how I would approach it. Personally I am doing a straight categorial program, so I didn't do much research on this topic.
Hope this helps.
