help! from canadians?..will marrying an american get you out of needing J1/H1b?

[Cotterpin_Doozer]

Hi Everyone,


My finance and I want to stay together for residency. He is American and I am Canadian and we are trying to plan for when is a good time to get married (debateable because of medschool of course). We are living together, have just started 3rd year of clinical rotations and are worried about our future together,...We dont want to deal with the annoyance of being split up when I have to return to Canada after residency is done for 2 years (J1) and the H1b cuts down alot of choices for hospitals...in general we are also concerned that the residency match will split us up. We don't want to use the couples match because we were told because I am Canadian, I may ruin his chances for a spot.

Do you need a green card/full citizenship to apply for a residency without needing the J1/H1b?
Can you apply for a residency with just a spouse/fiance visa (K-3)?
How long does it take to get permanent citizenship after marriage? (how soon should we plan to get married?)
Can you get a residency with just a work permit (awaiting a green card)?

Thanks in advance for any help you can shed on this issue.

[CanIMG]

Don't have the answer to all your questions, but I can tell you that yes, you can apply for residency with just a work permit. You don't need the full green card and especially not citizensahip. Get married now and apply for the green card/work permit. It will save you lots of troubles down the road by avoiding J1/H1B.