J1 or H1b for residency and fellowship?

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J1 or H1b for residency and fellowship?

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3 Posts

Ben_fmg
Forum Newbie

Topics: 3
Posts: 4

05/08/07 - 07:21 PM

Hi there,

I am planning to apply for a residency in the US and I have some questions regarding J1 and H1b VISAS. It may sound a little early to worry about things like that because I still have a year in Med School but planning is never wrong, I guess...

So far I understand that most programs sponsor a J1 while a few might offer you an H1b if you have completed Step 3 before a certain date (the match?). I have also heard that J1 VISAS allow you to stay for the duration of your program with a maximum of 7 years (after which the 2-year-home country residency or the waiver must follow). H1b on the other hand are limited to 3 years with a possibility to extend them for another 3 years (total of 6), but with the advantage of allowing you to apply for a green card.

I am interested in doing an IM residency (3 years) followed by a fellowship. My question are:

1.) is it possible to immediately start a fellowship after completing a residency when you hold a J1 VISA (if it fits into the 7 year limit)? Are there any problems or is this very common among IMGs?

2.) how does it work with an H1b if you, for example, want to do IM (3 years) and a cardio fellowship (4 years) which comes down to 7 years, one more than allowed?

3.) how does it work in general (for both VISA types), if you want to do your residency and fellowship at two different hospitals? Any problems with that (except the part of getting accepted into the program :-) ? Can you transfer VISAS or do you have to re-apply?

Thanks for your help guys!

Ben

bbb
IM Program Coordinator
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Topics: 33
Posts: 5,034

05/09/07 - 07:55 AM

Ben_fmg wrote:
1.) is it possible to immediately start a fellowship after completing a residency when you hold a J1 VISA (if it fits into the 7 year limit)? Are there any problems or is this very common among IMGs?

2.) how does it work with an H1b if you, for example, want to do IM (3 years) and a cardio fellowship (4 years) which comes down to 7 years, one more than allowed?

3.) how does it work in general (for both VISA types), if you want to do your residency and fellowship at two different hospitals? Any problems with that (except the part of getting accepted into the program :-) ? Can you transfer VISAS or do you have to re-apply?

1. Yes, you can start a fellowship immediately

2. This is why an H1b visa isn't the visa of choice.

3. No problem to change hospitals for J1 visa. Could be a problem for the H visa depending on the hospital, cap or cap exempt.....

___________________
bbb - trying to combine common sense and humour into realistic answers, but not going to guess on anyone's chances of getting into a position....

Ben_fmg
Forum Newbie

Topics: 3
Posts: 4

05/10/07 - 10:59 AM

Thank you!

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