J-1 Visa and Waiver
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Minnesota J–1 Visa and Waiver
Update as of 11/1/2024: ORHPC has received 30 complete applications as of Thursday, October 31, 2024. No additional applications will be accepted.
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) is committed to improving access to health care in underserved areas of the state. The Minnesota J-1 Visa Waiver Program, administered by the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care (ORHPC), is one strategy to address the shortage of physicians in rural and underserved urban areas. Due to the difficulties some areas experience recruiting and retaining physicians, many communities turn to International Medical Graduates (IMGs) and J-1 visa waivers to fill their physician vacancies.
The program, sometimes called the Conrad 30 Waiver Program, was created by federal legislation in 1994. The program is intended to help communities recognized as federal shortage areas hire J-1 IMGs where recruitment of U.S.-trained physicians has been unsuccessful. J-1 IMGs may apply to the U.S. Department of State (DOS) requesting a waiver of the J-1 visa requirement to return to the IMG’s home country for two years upon completion of the J-1 exchange visitor program. The waiver allows an IMG to remain in the U.S. to practice medicine in designated service areas.
Any application to the DOS for a J-1 visa waiver must be accompanied by a recommendation from the government of the state where the IMG will practice, confirming that the applicant fills a community need for services. The Minnesota J-1 Visa Waiver Program allows IMGs and their sponsoring employer to seek a recommendation from MDH. As defined by the J-1 Visa Waiver Program guidelines, the employer of the IMG submits their application materials to MDH for review. These applications are reviewed and evaluated by a committee of reviewers. Based on the evaluation results, MDH provides a list of recommendations to the DOS.
Eligibility Requirements
The request to MDH for a waiver recommendation must come from the sponsoring U.S. health care facility registered to do business in Minnesota, on behalf of a J-1 physician. Please note that the application cannot come directly from a J-1 physician or physician’s representative.
For the facility to seek a waiver recommendation from MDH on behalf of the physician, the following eligibility requirements must be met:
- The physician must have an active case number assigned by the U.S. Department of State (DOS) for their J-1 visa waiver request.
- The physician must have been admitted to the United States under section 101(a)(15)(J) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to receive graduate medical training and must hold a visa that is current.
- The physician must have a full-time employment contract to practice medicine in H-1B nonimmigrant status at a health care facility located in an area designated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA), Medically Underserved Area (MUA), or Medically Underserved Population (MUP), or primarily serving patients who reside in a HPSA, MUA, or MUP. The employment contract must include the provisions that the physician agrees to work at the health care facility for at least three years and at least 40 hours per week.
- The physician must have obtained a “no objection” statement in writing from their home country if they are contractually obligated to return to their home country upon completion of the exchange program, or the physician must provide a notarized statement attesting that they have no contractual obligation to return to their home country.
- The physician must agree to begin employment at the health care facility specified in the waiver application within 90 days of receipt of the waiver, not the date their J-1 visa expires.
Application guidance and process
Through the J-1 Visa Waiver Program, MDH can recommend up to 30 waivers per federal fiscal year for physicians living and working in Minnesota. Generally, MDH receives more applications than it can recommend, and recommendations are allocated through a competitive process.
MDH recommends between 20 and 30 waivers for physicians who will practice at sites located in areas designated by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration as Health Professional Shortage Areas, Medically Underserved Areas, or Medically Underserved Populations.
Up to 10 of the 30 waiver recommendations may be for physicians whose practice site is not located in a shortage area but serves a significant proportion of patients who reside in a shortage area.
Please view or download the:
- 2024 J-1 Visa Waiver Application Guidance (PDF)
- J-1 Affidavit (PDF)
- J-1 Frequently Asked Questions (PDF) updated October 12, 2023
Applications are due Friday, October 18, 2024 at 4:30 pm Central Time.
Applicants must submit all materials in the online portal. Note that MDH no longer requires a paper copy of the application. MDH will print documents from the online portal when submitting recommendations to the U.S. Department of State.
The online application can be submitted on the MDH ORHPC online grant portal.
Other resources for internationally trained physicians
Please see below for other programs permitting internationally trained physicians to work in the U.S.
Questions
Please submit questions to: MN_health.J1NHW@state.mn.us or call 651–201–3634.