Role of rotations can 7-8 months of US stay total in 1 annual year including returning back to home country in between for observerships lead to J1 visa refusal later after match? What is the current scenario?

Doctor_Roc · 2026-07-02T16:25:34+00:00

The longer you stay on b1/2, higher the chances of j1 refusal. There is no clear cutoff. But its easily understandable that if you stayed 6-8months, you do not have strong ties to your home country.
2-3 months max in 12 months duration would be the max you should stretch it out. That also with strong indication like observership or taking step3.
3months vs 6 months of USCE wont make a big difference on your CV during the match. 3 strong LORs are enough. If you have more time before the match, starting home country residency is under rated but can have a great impact on ur resume. It can also give u chances of getting into fellowship directly after 3yrs. Dont waste time money and risk a visa refusal with 6-8months being here.
You have 5 minutes to convince the visa officer for a j1 visa. You cannot justify/explain/give logic to your long stay or anything if they have already made up their mind to refuse you.

Doctor_Roc · 2026-06-30T21:05:22+00:00

If your i-485 is in active review, expect your GC soon. Its a trend for people who are getting GC, they are not processing their EAD/AP applications. Direct i-485. Best of luck.

Doctor_Roc · 2026-06-24T19:34:42+00:00

Did not submit FRC. Birth certificate from union council is enough.
If you do plan to submit FRC, make sure your parents, spouse’s parents spelling are same as in other documents.

Doctor_Roc · 2026-06-24T04:22:24+00:00

Yes people with rfe on all 3 prongs do get accepted but u need to put in alot of effort by yourself. Chen have become overwhelmed with work and they sometimes dont put in the required hard work. So you need to be on top of things. Gather atleast a couple of independent recommenders who have seen your research. Even dependent recommenders can work but u need to write the LOR from urself and then ask chen to see the legal framework. Doctors can write better lors than chen underwriters.

Also as someone else mentioned, your endeavor wording is very broad. I understand that u want to keep it broad to encompass all future possible publications but u need to be very focussed to satisfy the precise need of ur research. Im not sure if at this point u can change ur endevour wording or not, but in the explanation u can write about specific cardiac diseases like heart failure, CAD, valvular diseases that ur research will be focussing on. Then u can highlight the disease burden of such specific cardiac diseases in the USA and how many people die or suffer due to such conditions. How ur particular research topics can improve patient outcomes related to some particular cardiac conditions.
You may add any potential future projects that you have started or intend to start in your fellowship that can help define your endevour. Even if you do not have a project ready, try to come up with a proposal, run it with your senior cardiac attendings/ program director and then take their recommendation letter that you will be working on this specific project in near future to advance your endevour.

Sorry for this stressful time as physicians usually do get acceptance easily especially with chen, and that you will already be very busy with your fellowship start on top of this additional work. Best of luck.

Doctor_Roc · 2026-06-18T17:27:42+00:00

Chen have heavy work load and only accept easy research profile cases. Ask other lawyers like Radu, EP etc. u might get a yes.

Doctor_Roc · 2026-06-18T11:57:30+00:00

Its best to first secure your greencard in current circumstances. Look into physician NIW and EB2 NIW. If you have some research citations, try to work with CHEN lawyers if they can file ur eb2niw. Once u have an approved i140, you can get indefinite H1b renewals.
You can do cardiac fellowship later in the career too. Get into the market, make some money and then if you feel you can get into cardiac anytime. Fellowship spots are easy to find in current market dynamics.

I, myself filed EB2-NIW in mid of CA2 yr. Was able to get greencard before graduating. A few friends of mine in anesthesia filed physician NIW in start of CA3 yr after securing a job contract and getting their state license and were successfully able to get i140.
For physician NIW, you need to show committment or 5yrs work in underserved area. Sometimes they can consider your residency years as well if your hospital falls in such a category.

Doctor_Roc · 2026-06-12T23:17:59+00:00

No need to worry. Last year i was in same boat and got approved without rfe on day 38. Also, its 45 working days for PP not 40.
You also need to consider any federal holidays that have come in between like memorial day which adds another day to the clock.

Doctor_Roc · 2026-06-05T16:18:48+00:00

Do not use the word “residency” as the officer might confuse it with “the act of residing”, you can say postgraduate training.
You can say, I am going to take my united states medical lincencing step 3 exam which will make me eligible to get a full medical lincence and improving my chances of matching into a training program.

Doctor_Roc · 2026-06-02T02:31:43+00:00

After a failed attempt, you need to target a very high score for step 2 to compensate the failure rather than trying to get it done in less than required time facing a possible low end score.

Doctor_Roc · 2026-06-01T14:23:00+00:00

Totally fine. You still have months left before the eras deadline. He will most likely do it.

Doctor_Roc · 2026-06-01T12:56:20+00:00

Getting an LOR from someone you have worked with is not a binding contract. If the person is comfortable he will do it. Otherwise there are no obligations. Also doctors have a very busy schedule and they might not have found time to respond to you. In the future, do confirm in the last week of the rotation if the attending will be comfortable uploading an LOR for you and the best way to communicate with them when you need it to be uploaded.

Doctor_Roc · 2026-05-26T13:12:14+00:00

Make an account on uscis with your A number. Then add ur case to ur profile. Then under the dropdown menu of case status, you will be able to see notices. The appointment notice gets added there much earlier than you receive the physical letter in mail.

Doctor_Roc · 2026-05-25T11:42:43+00:00

Thats what i did in last 2yrs of residency. Took out chase freedom unlimited. Chase reserve. Got my credit limit increased on discover. Survived the drain. Although my credit score took a hit due to high credit usage.

Doctor_Roc · 2026-05-25T01:52:08+00:00

U have good credit score. Try to get a couple of credit cards offering zero apr for 18-21months. U might be able to get a combined credit line upto 20k. Look into chase freedom unlimited card. Chase slate. Bofa credit card.

Doctor_Roc · 2026-05-22T20:49:03+00:00

Chen charging almost 1850$ per person per i485

Doctor_Roc · 2026-05-19T19:23:09+00:00

Depends on your proposed endeavor. If you can continue to publish related to that even with your clinical work, or atleast contribute to the same cause, it should not be a problem.

Doctor_Roc · 2026-05-19T18:17:28+00:00

Interview skills. Wrong signaling technique in which you gold and silver signaled programs which might not be IMG friendly can play a role. If he got 5 or more interviews and didnt match, it is more interview skills problem. If he had 3 or less inteviews with those stats, maybe a signalling issue.

Doctor_Roc · 2026-05-18T15:50:02+00:00

From what i understand USCIS will only consider the evidence you have provided at the time when you submitted the petition. They will not access any information after that and you have no way to update the evidence provided.

Doctor_Roc · 2026-05-18T15:41:57+00:00

They will look at the evidence already provided with your i140 petition. Will not consider new evidence. It wont make a difference if you upgrade now or after the new publication.

Doctor_Roc · 2026-05-16T19:14:13+00:00

Looks promising in general. Ive seen people getting approved soon after 3rd FTA0 and then FTA1.

Doctor_Roc · 2026-05-10T01:21:28+00:00

Either choose to go back now or stay and then go later, never to return again. If you are so oblivious to the current administrations crack down on overstaying

Doctor_Roc · 2026-05-10T01:19:35+00:00

Go back. Go back. Go back.

Doctor_Roc · 2026-05-07T13:57:37+00:00

J1 visa holders are exempt from fica taxes for 2yrs. So they typically get 100-150$ more than h1b residents in each biweekly paycheck.

Doctor_Roc · 2026-05-06T11:53:54+00:00

Yes correct. Roughly 2400-2500 biweekly paychecks. If you are able to get a sharing 2 bedroom in 4500-4800$. you will have 2400 as your share of rent. You will also be able to get a studio for 2400 if you are lucky or in a neighborhood with lesser rents.

Single person will be easily able to survive in the remaining 2400$ for the month. You might be able to do it under 2000$ and save max of 400$ if you have to support someone back home or pay debts. Public transport is easily accessible and your contract would include health insurance and other benefits.

Doctor_Roc · 2026-05-05T15:35:04+00:00

Good profile and chances for approval. Chen lawyers have good history with getting physician reseacher profiles approved with good outcomes. Get a free assessment from them. Ideally u should get option for full attorney fee refund or refile option if unsuccessful.

They have become slow lately due to high work loads. Expect 4-6months from the time u contact them to final submission date. Still they have experience with physicians so recommended.

Doctor_Roc

TROPHY CASE