Which visa for veterinary internship?

[Horst Bockmann 0]

Dear members,

 

I'm a German college student in the field of veterinary medicine. As I've never been to the US but would love to visit, I planned to do a 6 week unpaid internship at an animal hospital in Kansas. Even though, I got the position, I'm stuck as I could not find an appropriate visa for my case:

• As I understood, a J1 intern visa is not issued to veterinary internships due to animal contact.
• There exist J physician exchange visas which require me to take specific exams which I'd prefer not to, considering my short stay of 6 weeks only.
• An ESTA visa does not allow me to participate in any internships (even unpaid)
• An H1 visa does not apply because I only plan to stay for 6 weeks.

 

Does any of you have experience or ideas on which visa is best fit? If any of my above assumptions is incorrect, please lmk!

I'm truly grateful for any help of yours!

Stay amazing,

Horst B.

[canadian_wife 1,823]

The hospital that you got the 6 week unpaid internship for, what did they say regarding visas?

 

Good luck

[Horst Bockmann 0]

6 minutes ago, canadian_wife said:

The hospital that you got the 6 week unpaid internship for, what did they say regarding visas?

 

Good luck

Dear Canadian_Wife,

 

they didn't know which to get. They only referred me to the USCIS website which I've gone through many times already

[Boiler 45,657]

A ob or internship without a visa is pointless, they should have referred you to their immigration lawyer.

[milimelo 4,498]

Based on what you wrote, you won’t be doing an internship as there’s no visa to allow what you’re trying to do. 
 

DV lottery is open, apply and if you’re selected next year immigrate and do your internship/start working as a vet. 

[carmel34 3,639]

I suggest that you find an internship at an animal hospital in Germany, or an EU country.  There is no US visa for what you have described.  Good luck!

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

UCDavis is one of the premier vet schools and if anyone knows about what is possible, they should. They have information for foreign students on their internships and residencies page that does indicate a J1 visa is suitable though they do not give great detail https://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/education/internships-residencies/foreign-applicants

But also see this doc from Purdue (another large respected college) where they both mention a “clerkship” can be done on B1 status but  also see page 3 about J visas and the statements about “patient contact” and how to work around this issue (this is what your animal contact issue falls under) https://vet.purdue.edu/global/files/documents/Visa-Requirements-for-International-Visitors-Updated-5-31-19.pdf

In any case…it should be the college/employer not you doing most of the legwork on this so if their international student office or lawyer is unable to assist you on what you need for a successful visa application, perhaps you should be looking at another college that does this more regularly?

 

 

 

 

Edited October 14, 2021 by SusieQQQ

[Horst Bockmann 0]

8 hours ago, carmel34 said:

I suggest that you find an internship at an animal hospital in Germany, or an EU country.  There is no US visa for what you have described.  Good luck!

That's unfortunate that there's no visa for my case. I appreciate your help though, thanks!

[Horst Bockmann 0]

6 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

UCDavis is one of the premier vet schools and if anyone knows about what is possible, they should. They have information for foreign students on their internships and residencies page that does indicate a J1 visa is suitable though they do not give great detail https://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/education/internships-residencies/foreign-applicants

But also see this doc from Purdue (another large respected college) where they both mention a “clerkship” can be done on B1 status but  also see page 3 about J visas and the statements about “patient contact” and how to work around this issue (this is what your animal contact issue falls under) https://vet.purdue.edu/global/files/documents/Visa-Requirements-for-International-Visitors-Updated-5-31-19.pdf

In any case…it should be the college/employer not you doing most of the legwork on this so if their international student office or lawyer is unable to assist you on what you need for a successful visa application, perhaps you should be looking at another college that does this more regularly?

 

 

 

 

Thank you very much for your collection of sources! My internship is not tied to a US vet school but only to a private clinic. Nonetheless, I'll try get as much information out of the docs you sent me. I appreciate it very much!

Edited October 15, 2021 by Horst Bockmann

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

7 hours ago, Horst Bockmann said:

Thank you very much for your collection of sources! My internship is not tied to a US vet school but only to a private clinic. Nonetheless, I'll try get as much information out of the docs you sent me. I appreciate it very much!

If the clinic does not know how to support you documentarily in the application imo you have a high chance of the visa being denied. I’d suggest you look for a backup option elsewhere (whether a US organization that does this regularly or in Europe).