Canadians Applying to the US

[anonymous0001]

Ok my canadian peeps, I'm in a bit of a predicament and I'm looking for advice.

I am a Canadian currently studying in Canada, looking to go to the US for residency. From what I gather there's 2 major visa types, the J-1 and H1B. The J1 is the easiest to obtain and most programs are willing to have a J1 resident. The problem with it is that it requires you to return to Canada for 2 years before you can go back on a H1b. Obviously the H1b is preferred because it doesn't have these requirements.

However, here's the problem: we can't get an H1b until we do our step 3, which we can't do until after we graduate. That leaves a very short period of time between May and July for us to do the exam, get all our visa paperwork in, and hope that there's still spots left for the year.

Does anyone who applied to the American match in the past have any insight into whether if I have a correct understanding of the problem? Are there any other ways to get a H1b after 1 year and after my step 3 if I match to the US? I heard about an OPT year but I believe those are only available to Canadians who went to a US school on a F1 visa. Any way to convert from a J1 to a H1b halfway through residency? How easy is it to get a waiver?

Hope ya'll folks have a little more experience and can answer these questions! Thanks for reading!

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[bearintraining]

Ok my canadian peeps, I'm in a bit of a predicament and I'm looking for advice.

I am a Canadian currently studying in Canada, looking to go to the US for residency. From what I gather there's 2 major visa types, the J-1 and H1B. The J1 is the easiest to obtain and most programs are willing to have a J1 resident. The problem with it is that it requires you to return to Canada for 2 years before you can go back on a H1b. Obviously the H1b is preferred because it doesn't have these requirements.

However, here's the problem: we can't get an H1b until we do our step 3, which we can't do until after we graduate. That leaves a very short period of time between May and July for us to do the exam, get all our visa paperwork in, and hope that there's still spots left for the year.

Does anyone who applied to the American match in the past have any insight into whether if I have a correct understanding of the problem? Are there any other ways to get a H1b after 1 year and after my step 3 if I match to the US? I heard about an OPT year but I believe those are only available to Canadians who went to a US school on a F1 visa. Any way to convert from a J1 to a H1b halfway through residency? How easy is it to get a waiver?

Hope ya'll folks have a little more experience and can answer these questions! Thanks for reading!

I had these same concerns when I had to choose between an American school and a Canadian one for my MD. The reality is, you will not be able to get an H1-B until you've spent 1 extra year post-MD in Canada (doing what I don't know) - there simply is no time to make it work out. (for instance, you can't even apply to sit for step3 until you've received your diploma, the grades take several weeks to get, you can't process a H1-B without it, etc. etc.)

Also, switching from a J1 to an H1-B is likely not going to work for a number of reasons:
1) You can only get a J1 for certain specialties. Essentially, Canada has to say "yeah we need more X, so we approve it".
2) My understanding is that the 2 year requirement does not go away, even if you change VISAs. It can only be waived (by Canada) after the fact.
3) Once you're on a J1, your US residency program will have little to no incentive of spending the extra money and time on having you move to an H1-B.

You are correct that OPTs are only for F1 visa students in the US at an American MD program.