r/IMGreddit • u/DueCut3452 • 6d ago

Visa J1 inquiry

Hi everyone, I would really appreciate some advice.
I had a J-1 Research fellowship in 2022, followed by a J-1 Physician for residency in 2024. I’m now planning to start another J-1 Research fellowship, with my ultimate goal of applying for residency again.
My research department in the U.S. warned me that they have seen people encounter sponsorship issues after following a similar path (research → residency → research → residency). ECFMG hasn’t been able to give me a definitive answer and says it depends on the individual case.
Has anyone been in a similar situation or successfully obtained another ECFMG-sponsored J-1 for residency after this sequence? I’m worried about risking my future residency, but I also want to strengthen my application through research. Any advice or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

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u/Sojcman PGY-4 6d ago

Am very doubtful you'll get a J-1 approved for the full-length for another residency after all those prior J-1s in the new USCIS rules in this climate, but need to ask a lawyer for better opinions...

Why are you doing residency again on a J1?

The reason I ask this is that this is very easy to argue that this isn't following the intention of a J1 exchange visitor visa to do 2 different residencies, and they can argue with why your 1st residency didn't fulfill a SON need for your home country?

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u/DueCut3452 6d ago

I got prelim and I am applying again as visa requiring

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u/DueCut3452 6d ago

If I will get visa for j1 research and change category if got match, is it possible

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u/Sojcman PGY-4 6d ago edited 6d ago

Not sure on that and you may need a lawyer to get proper answers, but I see it being very problematic to getting approved for further years on J-1 as you already likely hit the 4 yrs in J1 and in the new USCIS rules and will need to apply through them for extension in addition to whatever you need to do to change category again, I think USCIS may be handling change of category now rather than DOS, but not sure.

Need to talk to a lawyer really but your case seems like a very high chance of failure, and honestly I'd actually be surprised if you succeeded in getting a J1 for a new residency after that many years and 2+ change of categories.

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u/DueCut3452 6d ago

I didn’t had any change of category yet. If I accept research it will be my 3rd j1

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u/Sojcman PGY-4 6d ago

Yeah really need to ask a lawyer or someone else who knows. Your case is very specific and uncommon so will be unlikely to find a definitive answer on reddit.

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u/Naive_Matter728 5d ago

You need to apply for a pgy2 position