Mr. Robert J. Cox

Chinese M.D. (3 < yr.), 40, well published in China, ABD in United States Ph.D. program. Research focus: Cancer research, developed line of Transgenic Mice used in C-myc Oncogene to regulate gene expression.

Case 3 Postdoctoral Fellow

Chinese M.S., 35, US Ph.D. in Physiology, 20 journal articles, 1 patent. Research focus: Free Radical effect on Epithelial Ion Transport.

Case 4 Visiting Scientist

Russian, 37, MD, Ph.D., D.Sc., 75 journal articles, 22 invited lectures, 1 patent. Research focus: Immunologist with substantial exposure to Radiation damage to Thymus Stroma cells and T-cell Immunodeficiency formation.

Case 5 Assistant Professor

Nigerian/United Kingdom, 38, MD Hungary, Pathologist with limited publications but well educated and trained. Research focus: Solid Tumor cells.

Case 6 Tenure Track Assistant Professor

Argentinian, 35, MD, extensive clinical training, widely recognized as exceptional. journal articles, invited lectures (US. and international).

Case 7 Postdoctoral Fellow

Indian, 33, Medicinal Chemist, years post graduate training, international, 20 research publications.

Case 8 Software Developer

Bulgarian, 36, Ph.D. in Physics, limited publications, working on 3-D Modeling for government contracts.

Physicians & Biomedical Researchers

Employment opportunities in the United states for International Medical Graduates (IMG's) focuses on two areas, the Primary Care Health Services Provider and the Medical Research/Physician. There are some opportunities available for certain sub-specialists in certain areas such as Geriatric Psychiatry. The bulk of this page is devoted to Primary Care Physicians which is defined as Internal Medicine, Family Practice, General Pediatrics and General Ob/Gyn.

If you have not contracted with the ECFMG for sponsorship under its J-1 Waiver program, and you are ECFMG certified, you should consult an experienced Immigration Attorney before undertaking any action related to a visa for the purpose of undertaking post graduate medical training in the United States. Careful initial planning early on may prevent many problems from arising in the future.

If you have already accepted sponsorship from the ECFMG, you are subject to the two year home residence requirements before becoming eligible for an Immigrant Visa or another type of nonimmigrant visa (except for an O-visa). One means of avoiding a potential career ending two year absence from United States medical practice is to obtain a waiver of the Âß212(e) requirement. Generally speaking this is accomplished by finding an interested government agency (IGA) to sponsor your request for waiver to the United States Information Agency (USIA) which in turn requests Immigration and Naturalization Service to grant the sought after waiver.

By far the most utilized method is to contract with a Health Care Provider in what has been determined to be a medically under served area. This can be either rural or urban in nature, and also determinative of the selection of IGA. Currently IGA's which may sponsor a waiver request may include Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of Commerce (DOC), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Health and Human Services (mostly researchers) (HHS), Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and individual State departments of Health (limited to 20 per year per state). The selection of an IGA may depend upon the location of your practice. All of these IGA's require service for three years with a H-1B visa prior to being eligible for an immigrant visa, with rather severe penalties for early departure in the nature of automatic revocation of the waiver previously granted. Please note that ARC and some states under their Conrad 20 programs will not accept Physicians who have either completed sub-specialty training and are board eligible, or are board certified in a sub-specialty. Some IGA's will not sponsor applicants if it falls within a geographic area served by ARC.

Some agencies are concerned with the early departure of waiver recipients from their agreed practice location. If you choose to proceed with this avenue of approach, you should be prepared to honor your commitment. Doing less could affect not only you, but those who follow.

The Process
1. Find a job in a predetermined medically under served area.
2. Determine which IGA is actively participating in waiver programs in that area.
3. Comply with all IGA requirements in providing documentation necessary to that specific IGA in its application package.
4. Submit your application and wait - usually months.

Some individuals attempt this process without qualified assistance, and some of those succeed. Errors of ignorance can sometimes be very difficult to overcome, so it is suggested that competent legal assistance be obtained prior to undertaking any Immigration action.

Once the J-1 waiver is granted, it will be necessary to change the nonimmigrant H-1B status for a period of three years. There are two options available for those who wish to stay in the United States. Either go through the Labor Certification process or seek a National Waiver. ILC has successfully obtained such national interest waivers for primary care Physicians and Geriatric Psychiatrists working in HPSA designated medically under served areas. The labor certification process takes about eighteen to twenty four months (Alabama), while the national interest waiver can take two to four months.

Computer Professionals

In the United States, the explosion of Computer users, the Internet, the World Wide Web and PC Networking, has created a very heavy demand for Computer Professionals of all kinds - Managers, Programmers, System Analysts, support people, etc. This demand for Computer Professionals has not been met from the pool of United States programmers, and many thousands of businesses all over the United States are looking toward the pool of non-citizen Computer Professionals from many foreign countries.

Efforts to ease the path of these alien Computer Professionals into United States jobs by amending the Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS) rules has recently been enacted. The new laws not only increase the numerical allocations for H visas, but also exempt those with post graduate degrees from the cap.

The result of the more recent statutes, rules and INS policies is that the honest would-be employer and the honest alien would-be employee, can get themselves into a whole lot of trouble unless they are aware of often irrational snares and pitfalls. The result can be heavy fines and penalties for the employer and possible long term expulsion from the United States for the employee.

To solve this problem requires all the legal skill, creativity and persistence of an experienced Immigration Attorney. Robert Cox is such an Attorney, available to United States businesses in need of Computer Professionals, and to alien Computer Professionals who want a job in the United States. Immigrant computer professionals are needed everywhere in the United States in businesses, Universities, Hospitals, government units, etc.

Robert, can help you obtain the employment authorization, permanent residency or nonimmigrant visa you need to get a job. He is experienced in every type of Immigration problem. The Immigration & Naturalization Service, and the Department of State, have begun to closely scrutinize applicants educational qualifications to ensure the equivalency with United States educational standards.

Chairman, Alabama State Task Force on International/Immigration Law. Member: Alabama State Bar ; Illinois State Bar Association; American Immigration Lawyers Association; National Health Lawyers Association; American Trial Lawyers Association.