ECFMG News | U.S. Department of State Indicates Additional Flexibility Regarding Statement of Need Letter for J-1 Visa Sponsorship

Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates

U.S. Department of State Indicates Additional Flexibility Regarding Statement of Need Letter for J-1 Visa Sponsorship

April 23, 2020

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has indicated additional temporary flexibilities around the issuance of the home country Statement of Need (SON) for physicians seeking J-1 visa sponsorship during the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. ECFMG sought and received temporary authorization to accept SONs issued by foreign embassies in the United States, if authorized by the respective … Read More

New Trump Administration Executive Order on Immigration Does Not Impact Non-immigrant Visa Processing, Including J-1s

April 23, 2020

President Trump issued a new Executive Order (EO) on April 22, 2020 temporarily suspending the issuance of immigrant visas. Non-immigrant visa classifications, such as the J-1, are not included in the EO and are, therefore, exempt from the provisions of the order. As previously reported, the U.S. Department of State has advised that physicians and … Read More

USMLE’s Weekly Update on COVID-19

April 20, 2020

The United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE®) program recognizes that the testing shutdown has created great stress, uncertainty, and disruption for examinees and medical schools, affecting academic progression, curricular schedules, and application for residency. The USMLE program is doing everything it can to make decisions that prioritize the safety and health of examinees and test … Read More

ECFMG|FAIMER Assisting New Jersey in Bolstering COVID-19 Physician Workforce

April 17, 2020

ECFMG|FAIMER will assist the State of New Jersey by confirming the authenticity of certain credential information of internationally licensed physicians seeking temporary medical licensure to help in New Jersey’s fight against the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. New Jersey announced its program to reinforce the state’s health workforce in a press release today. ECFMG|FAIMER is the leading … Read More

COVID-19 (Coronavirus) 4/10/2020 Update: Prometric Closures and Step 1, Step 2 CK, and Step 3

April 13, 2020

Prometric announced on April 10 that test centers in the United States and Canada will remain closed until May 1, 2020. In response to the previously announced closures, the United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE®) program extended eligibility periods to December 2020 for all examinees who had a USMLE Step 1, Step 2 CK, Step 3, or … Read More

ECFMG|FAIMER Joins Physician Coalition in Support of Protections for Health Care Workers Battling COVID-19

April 9, 2020

The Coalition for Physician Accountability on Thursday issued a statement in support of strengthened efforts to safeguard the public and protect our nation’s health care workforce during the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. ECFMG|FAIMER offers its strongest endorsement of the Coalition’s call for adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) and adequate testing. Both are essential to protecting our … Read More

As U.S. Licensing Authorities Seek to Expand Workforces, ECFMG|FAIMER Can Verify IMGs

April 8, 2020

In the United States, the individual states are responsible for setting medical licensure requirements for physicians in their jurisdictions. Individual state medical licensing authorities set licensure requirements both for graduates of U.S. medical schools and for international medical graduates (IMGs). State medical licensing authorities set requirements both for physicians in their states’ training programs and … Read More

Advocating for Matched IMGs with U.S. Department of State

April 8, 2020

Over the past three weeks, ECFMG|FAIMER staff have been in daily communication with officials at the U.S. Department of State (DOS) to communicate specific concerns related to COVID-19 and foreign national physicians participating in, or seeking to participate in, U.S. residency and fellowship training programs. These communications directly resulted in the following developments: Working in partnership … Read More

Modifications to ECFMG|FAIMER Credential Verification Processes and Institutional Outreach

April 8, 2020

Like ECFMG|FAIMER, many institutions around the world have transitioned to working remotely to comply with calls for social distancing. The need to transition from physical offices to conducting business virtually presents new challenges for primary-source credential verification services. In response, we have made several modifications to our primary-source credential verification procedures to leverage electronic communications … Read More

Issuance of Interim ECFMG Certificates

April 8, 2020

One of the requirements for ECFMG Certification is verification of the authenticity of an applicant’s medical education credentials, including the final medical school diploma, with the issuing medical school. ECFMG is prepared to issue Interim Certificates to IMGs who have matched to U.S. residency positions that start in July if their medical schools are unable … Read More

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