The US Department of Agriculture (the “USDA”)has released regulations allowing that agency to act as an interested government agency for J-1 visa holders subject to the two year home residency requirement because they came to the US to receive graduate medical training and performed patient care. THE USDA has established a program where it will support waiver applications for foreign medical graduates who sign employment contracts to serve in “medically-underserved” rural areas of the US, provided they fulfill certain other basic criteria. To qualify for a waiver based on support from the USDA, the applicant must have a written employment contract for a period of not less than three years with a hospital, clinic, in which he/she agrees to work not less than 40 hours per week as a primary care physician in a medically-underserved rural area of the United States.
Disclaimer: This newsletter is provided as a public service and not intended to establish an attorney client relationship. Any reliance on information contained herein is taken at your own risk. The information provided in this article has not been updated since its original posting and you should not rely on it until you consult counsel to determine if the content is still valid. We keep older articles online because it helps in the understanding of the development of immigration law.