Steps to H1B for new medical residents

1. Apply for the medical license to your respective state board- From Receipt to Acknowledgement around a week; from there to the actual license around 2 weeks. So, a total of 3 weeks.
2. Get yourself an attorney from the list that your program sends you/ ask your colleagues where they are doing theirs from
3. Talk to the attorney regarding fees and stuff (generally program pays for all except the premium processing fees) Fees find below
4. Depending on your attorney’s liking, apply for a visa based on an acknowledgment letter/Training license certificate
5. He then sends the application to the USCIS who then will issue you a petition number
6. Based on that you CAN complete the next 2 forms i.e. [you need the petitioner’s name and dates approved for, and your point of contact in the States which generally is your PC]
1. DS 160 - Tips for filling the forms can be found HERE (thanks to Dr. Vikas)        
2. US travel docs form 
7. OR  
8. You can wait for the approval and use the exact dates the petition got approved for and the Petitioner
9. Get an appointment- Pay the visa fees according to the exchange rate.
10. Go for the interview with the documents the Attorney sends and ta-da you have your visa.

OFC DAY

Take the following for the appointment

1. DS 160 confirmation page
2. Appointment confirmation
3. Passport

Stand in line, get your fingerprints and photo clicked and you are done for day 1. If you have already done for visitor visa(B1/B2), this should be a cake-walk since you know what to doJ

P.S. Please take a photo according to the instructions on the consulate website since there have been problems with the IT aspect for quite a number of my colleagues and me. {2*2 inches and stuff}

INTERVIEW DAY

Take the above and supporting documents which HAS to include (I-797B i.e. H-1B petition approval notice)

Please note- Some people also say that you have to take the other forms like i129 (Petition application for H-1B), I-797C (Receipt for the premium processing). But frankly speaking, they are not needed, if you have it, then well and good but, the I-797 B is a MUST.

Questions asked

• Where will you be working? – In a Hospital
• Oh, so you are a doctor? – Yes
• *He was delighted by that* May I know your salary? $ XXX
• Good, your visa is approved.

And I walked out a happy man J

For Chennai, passport collection is from the OFC. Please refer to the consulate site for documents to be taken while collecting the Passport.

Fee  Type	Fee	Who Pays for it ? Why ?
Base filing fee	$325	Program It is employer’s business expense
Fraud prevent & detection fee	$500	Program It is employer’s business expense. Just like above, it is mandated by law.
Fee based on attorney charges	$1000-$2000	Program. It is employer’s business expense.
Premium processing fee (Optional)	$1,225	Generally we pay for it ourselves, but you never know if the program will be good enough to pay for you J Please read the note at the end of the post
Visa fee (fee involved in getting H1B visa at US consulate)	varies by country	Your expense. All the costs involved in obtaining visa, including cost involved in translation of your credentials, etc. It will NOT be an employer’s expense. The employer will only send you the documents required for visa stamping.

NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

• Even if you are approved well in advance of your start date at your program, you cannot enter the US in H-1B until 10 days before the start date of your Residency i.e. June 20 considering your start date is July 1^st
• The Attorney generally requests for the full 3 years of H-1B, however, there is no guarantee that the immigration Service will give all 3 years. According to their regulations, they should give 1 year (even if we request 3 years) since the Training license is for 1 year (license issued by the State of OH). Some examiners will give 3 years (depends on your luck as to which examiner gets your case). So if you get 3 years, count yourself lucky. If you are approved for 1 year, there is no problem renewing the H-1B status again next year in the US.
• You will need someone, who has a bank account with a US bank to send a cheque for the $1225 premium processing fee. At least that is what my attorney insisted on, but guess this part varies from attorney to attorney.