Does H1B Visa Cap / Quota Apply to Residencies ?

You might have heard that starting 2005, the H1b Visa 'cap' - or the upper limit to the yearly allowed H1B visa sponsorship grants - has been raised to 65,000 per year and an additional 20,000 H1B visas are reserved for people who have completed a Master's or a PhD from an American graduate school.

However IMGs aiming for H1B Residencies can breath easy at least on that front.

1. These 'caps' are only meant for 'For-profit' organizations like Microsoft, GE, Oracle, Google, etc. - they DO NOT apply to most medical residencies, since they are usually a part of 'not-for-profit' hospitals and Universities labeled as academic institutions with the purpose of serving the community. In short, the H1b visa can does not apply for doctors working in non-profit sectors , including residencies and fellowships. But, if a foreign doctor were to be hired by a for-profit company, the H1b visa caps do apply.

2. Now what if you were transferring from a previous for-profit H1b to a not-for-profit residency H1B Visa ? Again good news - The H1B Transfer is a separate process and has nothing to do with the H1B Cap / Quota. The H1B visa cap applies ONLY TO the first timers. I have heard that an H1b visa transfer from a non-profit organization to a medical residency may be much easier than a transfer from a for-profit H1b to a non-profit residency for IMGs

3. Do note that there are a few residencies who do fall under the annual cap system. For example the St. Vincent's Internal Medicine program.

4. Also, do note that while the US govt. does not impose quotas on non-profit H1b visas, the residency programs often do have internal quotas on the number of H1b visas to give out, often depending on state laws that which were made to address issues of physician excess in the United States.


So IMGs....the next time you hear the the H1B quotas were already used up on the first day itself, don't break into a sweat !



Search keywords to this blog article:

- "h1b visa cap for doctors"
- "does the h1b H1 visa limit apply to physicians"