A J-1 physician must return to his or her home country after completion of the residency or fellowship program for a period of two years before joining a medical practice in the U.S.  For J-1 physicians and the medical employers who wish to hire them immediately, the two year home residency requirement imposed by the J-1 visa is obviously a significant drawback.  Fortunately, there are ways of obtaining a waiver of this requirement (J-1 waiver).  For most, the Conrad 30 Program is the best route to a waiver. The Conrad 30 Program permits each state (plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) to sponsor up to 30 physicians for J-1 waivers each year. For more information regarding the Conrad 30 Program, click here.
 
For those of you completing J-1 residency or fellowship programs in 2010, this is the time to start working on your J-1 visa waiver. Many physicians have followed our guide: "Three Key Steps To Win a J-1 waiver" (see our previous issues) and have succeeded in obtaining their waivers timely.    
 
It is important to remember that the J-1 waiver Conrad State 30 Program is only one of the programs available to obtain a J-1 visa waiver. Other programs include the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), the Delta Regional Authority, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) , and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Waiver program.   For more information regarding these programs, click here.

 

If securing a J-1 waiver quickly is important to you, contact us to schedule a complimentary telephone consultation with one of our attorneys to help you execute a winning strategy. Call 469-916-7900 ext. 2 or email ppowell@badmuslaw.com.

H-1B visas are still available for those who are not exempted from the numerical limitation.  As of August 14, 2009, approximately 45,000 H-1B cap-subject petitions and approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree (Masters) cap exemption had been filed. USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn.   Click here for more information.

For example, a resident physician on H-1B status that completes his residency program at a non-profit hospital (a cap-exempted employer) is offered a job at a private (for profit) practice (cap-subject employer). For this physician to be able to work at the private practice,  an H-1B visa application to "change of employers" must be filed while there are H-1B visas still available. Otherwise, the physician will have to stay with the same employer or look for a new employer that is cap-exempted.
 
If securing an H-1B visa quickly is important to you, contact us to schedule a complimentary telephone consultation with one of our attorneys to help you execute a winning strategy. Call 469-916-7900 ext. 2 or email ppowell@badmuslaw.com.