VISA Sponsorship – Work Permits

The amount of time required to obtain visas is unpredictable but can be significant, so all incoming House Staff should promptly begin the process to apply for a new visa or transfer a current visa.

J-1 Exchange Visitor Visa
The J-1 has been the visa most commonly held by international medical graduates (IMGs) engaged in residency training in the United States. The Graduate Medical Education Office of Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Roosevelt is responsible for processing of J-1 visa applications for physicians participating in clinical training programs. If you have been identified as an individual who is going to receive J1 visa sponsorship, we had enclosed a pre-filled application with your contract. Processing time for sponsorship applications may take up to 10 weeks. For more information about the J-1 visa process, go to Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates.

Please complete the application and attach all required documentation and send to the ECFMG directly. Any missing information will delay the processing significantly, so please make sure your application is complete.

H1-B Temporary Worker Visas
Under certain circumstances, Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Roosevelt may sponsor international medical graduates for H1-B visas for the purpose of receiving graduate medical education training. For H1-B sponsorship, the Graduate Medical Education Office is the only department at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Roosevelt authorized to sponsor International Medical Graduate (IMG) physicians participating in clinical training programs. If you are expecting to receive this sponsorship, please make sure that your program director or program coordinator has notified the GME Office.

The only candidates who will be considered for H1-B sponsorship must be categorical candidates entering a training program of at least 2 years in length, who are (1) ECFMG certified and (2) must have ALSO passed and received their USMLE step 3 by the time of the MATCH.

All sponsored candidates for H1-B visas must use the services of the lawyer associated with Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Roosevelt.

Other Work Permits
If you are expecting to receive a work permit by means other than the J-1 or H1-B visas, please review the circumstances with your program director or coordinator who should communicate this information to the GME Office.

Original source: http://www.wehealny.org/professionals/slr_gme/Visa_Information.html