Connecticut Conrad 30 J-1 Visa Waiver Program
The Connecticut Conrad State 30 J-1 Visa Waiver Program received more than thirty (30) J-1 Visa waiver applications from physician applicants for FY 2020. Pursuant to §19a-2a-26(f) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, the Department of Public Health (DPH) conducted a lottery to establish an order for all complete applications to determine which applications will be forwarded to the U.S. Department of State Waiver Review Division.
The live lottery drawing took place on Monday, November 4, 2019 from 12:00 PM EST to 1:00PM EST in DPH's 3rd Floor Hearing Room at 410 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, CT 06134. The public was able to observe the proceedings in person or via GoToWebinar, a recording of which can be viewed here. The Excel spreadsheet used to record the order in which all applicants were selected during the lottery is available here.
For more information, please see Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies §19a-2a-24 to §19a-2a-26 and Lottery Procedure.
Overview
The Connecticut Primary Care Office (PCO) administers the Conrad 30 J-1 Visa Waiver Program which allows each state’s department of health to recommend up to thirty (30) international medical graduates (IMGs) each year for a waiver of the J-1 visa requirement to return to the IMG’s home country for two (2) years. In order to receive the waiver, IMGs must agree to serve in designated health professional shortage areas (HPSAs), medically underserved areas (MUAs), or medically underserved populations (MUPs) for three (3) years. The Connecticut program makes no distinction between physician applicants’ specialties.
The PCO measures access to primary medical, dental, and mental health care by evaluating provider and population data for the designation of Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) and Medically Underserved Areas/Populations (MUA/Ps) across the state. Through this process and the Conrad 30 program, the PCO seeks to improve the allocation of resources to the areas of greatest need.
Timeline and Application Process
The Department will accept delivery of paper and e-mailed PDF applications beginning at 8:00 A.M. EDT on October 1st 2019 through October 15th, 2019 at 5:00 P.M. EDT. An application is considered complete when two copies of the application, with at least one copy being the original paper application, is received by the deadline via hand delivery, email, or other delivery method. All original applications and copies must be delivered to the following physical and email addresses:
Connecticut Department of Public Health
Public Health Systems Improvement
If the Department receives fewer than thirty (30) complete applications permitted under federal law, the department shall post a notice on its Internet website that it will continue to receive applications until April 1st of the same federal fiscal year, or until the number of applications deemed complete reaches the maximum permitted under federal law, whichever occurs first. Any applications received after October 15th under this section shall be evaluated by the department in the order of their receipt. If the Department receives thirty (30) or fewer complete applications deemed complete in accordance with §19a-2a-26 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, all of the applications may be recommended to the Director of the United States Department of State Waiver Review Division (“Director”).
If the Department receives greater than thirty (30) complete applications in accordance with §19a-2a-26 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, all qualifying applications will be entered into a lottery system to randomly select thirty (30) applications for recommendation to the Director. The Department will conduct the lottery at a later date which will be posted on the Department website.The public is welcome to attend the lottery drawing.
The Department will recommend applications to the Director as described in §19a-2a-26 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.
Links
- Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies §19a-2a-24 to §19a-2a-26
- Application Packet
- Shortage Designation Verification
- HPSA Find by location
- HPSA Find by address
- MUA/P Find
- U.S. Department of State