* 2006 Criteria for J-1 Visa announced * Canadian Ministry of Health screws Canadian IMG's.
New Statement of Need criteria includes:

"Canadians who are graduates of foreign medical schools will not be
considered for a Statement of Need unless they have already attempted to obtain a residency position through CaRMS, or another provincial program, and have been unsuccessful. Evidence of such effort must be demonstrated and the application would then be considered on an individual basis."

So basically this means that you have to first apply for a residency position in Canada, and if you fail to get one, then the following year you apply for a residency position in the U.S., and only then can you get the Statement of Need letter to get the J-1 Visa to go to the U.S. for a residency. This pretty much gaurantees losing a year, since the Canadian match happens after the U.S. match.

- saw this on the [blocked by request].com site. i didn't know that j1 visa was so hard to get for canadians. if this is the case, then damn, what a waste of a year.

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doesn't sound good at all

Hard to say without actually examining the site that purports this statement. If you're convinced this is legitimite information, I would post it on the CanIMG forum and let the government officials who answer questions there address the issue. As far as I know, documentation of carms attempts has not been an issue with J1 visas so far.

The statement from that site is not true.

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Not an M.D.
PMs accepted.