by anatolyk » Wed Aug 17, 2011 11:14 am
I can only provide anecdotal support for this information, but I doubt you will be able to get a green card while doing your residency. There is just not enough time to complete all the processing. If you do residency on H1B, you don't have to return to home country and can obtain another H1B after graduation, and then a green card through your employer.
It makes perfect sense to do a residency in the US even though you have completed one in your country. All state medical licensing boards require at least two years of ACGME-accredited residency training.
If you get residency on J1, don't sweat it out. As long as this is a primary care specialty, you will be OK. After graduation, you should be able to obtain J1 waiver. I know many people who got it based on commitment to work for 2 years in medically underserved area. Nowadays, everything outside of outer city loop even is underserved, even for for big cities. With the waiver, you should be able to start your green card processing based on employment.