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all info u need for h1 & j1 is here! - drsur
#1
hi guyz,
i found this post sumwhere about h1 and J1 process.
dunno how accurate this is, but it seemed very helpful, so i m copy pasting it here.
thought i shud help this forum a l'll bit!


attorney fees vary from $500-$1500
$150-175 credential verification
$190 normal processing
$1000 premium processing
fedex$30-40



" I have different views and most of them are based on my own experience.
And no offence; I just want to put some more information here as it is vital that everyone makes an informed decision about visa issues attached with residency. if you need further information, you can visit immigration forum at www.immigration.com or www.murthy.com
Here are the issues I have with this info .
H1B visa:
Pros:

1." It is an immigrant visa...H1B visa can be changed to greencard after residency or fellowship if employer sponsors a green card"
LEGALLY H1B IS NON-IMMIGRANG VISA. (IMPORTANT TO REMEMVER WHEN YOU FILL VISA FORM!). BUT IT IS EXCLUDED FROM SEC 214 (B) SO YOU DONT HAVE TO PROVE "NOT A INTENDING IMMIGRANT" AND SO, CHANCES OF REJECTION ARE LESS AS MOST REJCTIONS ARE BASED ON THAT SEC 214 (B). AGREE WITH THE FACT THAT IT CAN BE EASILY CHANGED TO GC.

2. Valid for six years with one year extension after that
ONE YEAR EXTENSION OF H1 IS MORE COMPLEX ISSUE AND IS DETAILED IN MY ANOTHER POST NEXT TO THIS ONE TITLED "IMPORTANT VISA INFORMATION"; I POSTED IT IN PAST, AND WILL POST AGAIN FOR THOSE WHO DID NOT SEE IT IN MARCH/APRIL. IN SHORT H1 CAN BE EXTENDED TILL YOU GET GC REGARDLESS OF DURATION, BUT UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES, DETAILED IN THAT MSG.

3. Not neccesary to renew every year
AGREE WITH THIS. RENEW EVERY THREE YEARS.

CONS:
1. Severe compromise on quality of training
DON'T COMPLETELY AGREE. DETAILS IN MY OTHER POST ABOUT "IMPORTANT VISA INFORMATION"

2. Only community hospitals offer H1B...very few good programs offer H1b
DISAGREE. AGAIN DETAILED IN "IMPORTANT VISA INFORMATION"

3. Subsequent fellowship opportunities lesser since residency is done in small community programs which do not have fellowships...so you will not have letter from attendings from Cardio/ GI when you apply for those fellowships....plus residents from community hospitals are not preferred for fellowships since the community programs concentrate on patient care than research, presentations or publications that are important when applying for fellowship.,..
DO NOT COMPLETELY AGREE.

4. If you cannot find fellowships immediately after residency, then you have to find a job, get GC in 2 years and then do fellowship...
TOTALLY AGREE ON THIS. BUT IT TAKES ABOUT THREE YEARS GAP IF YOU DONT GET FELLOWSHIP IMMEDIATELY, AND THAT GAP IS RELATED TO FACT THAT YOU HAVE TO APPLY ONE YEAR IN ADVANCE FOR FELLOWSHIPS.

5. Spend close to $ 4000 (if program does not pay for it) for H1B processing (plus $ 1000 for premium processing)
TYPICAL EXPENSE IS ABOUT $700-1200 (DEPENDING ON LOCATION) PLUS $1000 FOR PREMIUM PROCESSING.

6. Long time for paperwork by Lawyer, labour department and USCIS so start date of July 1 maybe delayed.
DISAGREE, TIME IS ACTUALLY LESS THAN J1. TOTAL 7-10 DAYS OF USCIS PROCESSING TIME AND PAPER WORK WITH LAWYER TAKES ANOTHER WEEK. IF PROGRAM IS NOT UNDER CAP, NO CHANCE OF DELAY

7. Your husband or wife who comes as dependent on H4 cannot do a residency until he/ she changes to H1 or you get a gc/ EAD.
AGREE ON THIS ONE, SPOUSE HAS TO GET HIS/HER OWN H VISA TO WORK.
J1 visa
PROS:
1. Most important: MUCH BETTER QUALITY OF TRAINING
DISAGREE...DETAILED IN "IMPORTANT VISA INFORMATION"

2. Get into competitive programs
DISAGREE...DETAILED IN "IMPORTANT VISA INFORMATION"

3. Get into University based programs
DISAGREE...DETAILED IN "IMPORTANT VISA INFORMATION"

4. Can get into fellowships (competitive and good universities)
DISAGREE...DETAILED IN "IMPORTANT VISA INFORMATION"

5. Minimal visa processing expenses
AGREE ON THIS ONE, AS MOST OF THE PROCESSING CAN BE DONE BY ONESELF...NO NEED FOR LAWYER. BUT THEN YOU SPEND AT THE TIME OF WAIVER...OVERALL SIMILAR AMOUNT, BUT IT DOES SAVE ABOUT $2000 BEFORE THE RESIDENCY, WHEN NO ONE HAS MONEY.

6. Shorter time frame for visa processing
IT DEPENDS, AND USUALLY NOT TRUE, SEE ABOVE FOR H1 PROCESSING TIME.

7. Maximum period of seven years
TRUE

8. Spouse can do residency or work on dependent J visa
TRUE.
CONS:
1. Cannot do MOONLIGHTING
TRUE IN MOST CASES

2. Cannot convert GC immediately....whatever you do...J1 visa marries citizen...TWO YEAR HRR (HOME RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT) applies
TRUE

3. Two choices.,..J1 waver (serve in Medically Underserved Area (MUA) for 3 years to change to H1B and then two years in MUA to change to GC)...these five years do not look good on CV unless the waiver is at a good place...for this, you may need to spend thousands on the lawyer and number of waiver opportunities are not many...but most people can get waivers...the two options after J1 residency are...to go ahead with fellowship, go back to home country for two years and come back...meanwhile, find GC sponsor employer and get GC in two years...many people have done that...and I know them personally...even couples...so if you are single or close to 25 years of age, this will be a very good option...second choice...finish residency, get a waiver- 5 years, then do fellowship on GC and then start practising...all this is assuming you are applying for Internal Medicine...all other specialties, esp surgery it is much more complicated...
AGREE ON THIS ONE. HERE COMPARE THE FACT THAT YOU CAN 'RESET H1 VISA CLOCK" WITH JUST ONE YEAR OUT OF US, AND GET ANOTHER SIX YEARS ON H VISA...JUST BY STAYING ONE YEAR OUTSIDE US.

4. Needs to be renewed every year
TRUE, BUT USUAULLY IT IS NOT A BIG DEAL ANYWAY.

5. Chances of rejection possible in home country since it is a non-immigrant visa like B1/B2
TRUE, BUT MOST PEOPLE GET IT. BUT CAN BE REJECTED UNDER SEC 214(B) AS MENTIONED ABOVE.

TO COMPLEMENT THIS, I AM POSTING SOME OTHER USEFUL THINGS ABOUT VISA AND HOW TO GO ABOUT IF YOU HAVE H VISAAND NEED FELLOWSHIP. I POSTED THAT INFO FEW MONTHS BACK, REPOSTING IT FOR THOSE WHO MISSED IT.

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE.











AND HERE IS WHAT HE HAD POSTED EARLIER ABOUT H1b VISAS...


And here again I am posting my old post:

I have seen a lot of posts about visa issues on the forum; comparing H1 and J1 visa and questions about H1 visa duration.
I think I have something to add here for all of you who are looking for some kind of visa.
I have personally through the process and currently doing cardiology fellowship on H1 visa; and I have gathered a lot of information about this issues that may be helpful for those of you who are just preparing to apply.
1. A very good number and mixture (meaning big universities to small community) programs sponsor H visa. Those programs who do not sponsor H visa do it as they do not know what it is and how easy it is to do it. Legally it is never a big deal. Only handful of programs really ever had legal issues; and that too due to their laxities and now they do not sponsor H visa any more. I have seen many times, even programs that say they will offer only J visa eventually sponsor H visa after the match! (all you have to do is to let them know that process is actually simpler than J visa!). Programs that do not sponsor H visa are not BETTER programs; they just dont know the process.
2. The biggest advantage of H visa is that at the end of residency/fellowship you have much better chance of a better employment opportunity compared to J visa and also you have to do that job only for 1-2 years; not 5 years. I will explain this by examples: at the end of residency many of my collegues who were going for jobs/greencards were offered job at institutions like Cleveland clinic, William Beaumont hospital etc. who will sponsor their green card. (these are not extraordinary candidates). I dont think you can get J waiver at such top notch places! they are getting a great start of their job career; and that too they have to do only for 1-2 years; after that they may stay there or do something else. You do not have that liberty with J visa. (the way this 1-2 year duration works is: they start green card process right away; it takes 4-5 months for labor certification PERM processing, then another 6 months for I140 and once I 140 is approved you can change employers on portability while awaiting I 485 which takes variable time from 1-3 years. Also once I 140 is approved you can travel in and out of US without any visa on Advance Parole document and you can also get EAD).
With J1 visa, you simply have to do at least three years of waiver (only few people are lucky to get it at a decent place) and then you start with the same H visa unless you are at a VA hospital where you can work for another two years and file for Green card under NIW category...so at least 5 years of working in underserved area and may be more.
3. Another important question is what do you do after six years on H visa: There are a lot of options!!
Option 1: If you are in a three year fellowship program, and if you find an employer 18 months in advance to file for green card (which is not difficult at all) then you can get your labor certification done and I 140 Filed (not approved) before the beginning of last year of fellowship; then you can keep extending your H visa till GC gets approved totally and again same rules apply for the process as I described above.
Option 2: If you have a lot of publications, you can file for EB1 category green card on you own during fellowship and if that gets approved, Bingo..! you got it. Not for everyone but many people do meet the criteria (there are ten criteria and you should meet three of them, they are listed on www.uscis.gov).
Option 3: Lets talk about the worst case scenario: you get employer just close to the end of your fellowship (and trust me, you will get that!! even in internal medicine people get 4-5 local employers hunting behind them) you still can file for green card and start working, all you can not do is; you can not extend your H visa and so you can not travel outside US till I 140 gets approved (total one year from the start of process), at which time you will get EAD and Adavance Parole and then you can travel freely. During this entire period you are not on any status; just pending greencard.
Compare to what will happen with J visa: You still have to find waiver job, that usually is in primary care; and again you have to do it at least 3 years and then go for H visa and green card processing just as mentioned above OR another 2 years and NIW greencard.
Option 4. "Reset the H visa clock". All you have to do is to stay out of US for one year (it does not matter where you go, you may go to your home country, or any other coutry doing job or just go for world tour!!) and you get another six years on your H visa!!
Option 5: OK, if nothing works, this is universal solution: Go back to your home country or any other country outside US for one year and your H visa clock resets...you get another six years on H visa!
4. Getting fellowship on H visa: It is not impossible or even more difficult to get fellowship on H visa. I can tell my own experience: out of 170 cardiology programs in the country 90 sponsors H visa and similar number soponsors J visa!! If you are a good candidate, visa is not an issue. Even the programs that do not sponsor H visa for internal medicine will sponsor H visa for fellowship!! (example SUNY Syracuse and there are quite a few on this list).

Good Luck.

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#2
Excellent work dear. So nice of you. Will you please guide me what should i do. I got residecny at Jewish hospital cincinnati. I am going to take my step3 by next week. For H1 in ohio u need state liscence. So by the time my liscence is ready my step3 result will be announced. The mail issue is that i want to get my visa stamped fro my home country Pakistan Will i have enough time. What is the best solution for me. Waiting for your reply.
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#3
all hail niravbhai mamdani

apurva
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#4
DRSUR, THANX FOR ENLIGHTENNING THOSE OF US WHO WISH TO GO FOR MATCH NXT YEAR
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#5
Very good post. Excellent.

Thank you.
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#6
thanks, and my only question is,,, if i do preliminary in H1 visa,, can i change to J1 for the categorical next yr?? thanks,, pls help;
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#7
Hello Dr. Sur,

Excellent post!!!

Thanks a ton
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#8
you all are very welcome.

to galdc: as far as my info goes, shifting from H1 to J1 is never a big problem.
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#9
thanks drsur. u saved my day. gl.
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#10
waiver for psychiatry is easy or not?Thats why I am worried about J- 1
My program also do H-1 but I did not do my step-3 yet.My exam on april.So can I apply for my state license without step -3?
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