International Medical Graduates (ECFMG)

The Educational Commission on Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) is authorized by the U.S. Department of State to sponsor visas in the J-1 Alien Physician category. International Medical Graduates (IMGs) who wish to participate in U.S. graduate medical training are required to hold this J-1 category. The ISSO serves as the Training Program Liaison (TPL) between UCSF departments and ECFMG.

If your department has selected a prospective physician to participate in a graduate medical training program, please follow the steps below. It's essential that you know the fundamental requirements of your training program (i.e., Program ID, primary sites of instruction, duration) under the program's accreditation before applying. If you don't know this information, you should contact UCSF Graduate Medical Education or review your program accreditation information on the ACGME website. If you have questions about the process, please contact Brian Groves at [email protected]. 

Timeline

Visa applications must be submitted to the ISSO at least 6 months prior to the prospective ECFMG start date. Once ISSO submits a completed request to ECFMG, ECFMG generally requires 3 months to mail the DS-2019 to ISSO.

Application Instructions for Host Departments

1. Review information on UCSF GME website (See below for Canadian physicians).
2. Host department creates a packet with the required documents for the specific type of request you are submitting (initial or continuation).
3. Host department completes  J-1 Visa Request Form for International Medical Graduates and uploads all of the required documents 6-months in advance of the start date.
4. ISSO reviews the request and submits the J-1 visa application to ECFMG. ECFMG will then request that the physician complete their portion of the application through the ECFMG physician portal (OASIS).
5. Physician completes their portion of the visa application in OASIS.
6. ECFMG reviews, approves and issues the J-1 DS-2019 form for the physician to apply for their visa (if outside of the US) or prepare to transfer to UCSF (if currently within the US).
7. ECFMG will send the physician's DS-2019 to ISSO. ISSO staff will work with the department to arrange a way to get the DS-2019 to the physician. DS-2019s can be mailed to the physician or department via FedEx, or they can be picked up at the ISSO in person. It is not possible to electronically transmit the DS-2019.

Canadian Physicians

Canadian graduates of Canadian or U.S. medical schools are exempt from the ECFMG certification requirement. However, Canadian participants will still need to acquire an ECFMG account number by emailing [email protected] with the following information in order for the ISSO to submit an application for the J-1 DS-2019 needed to enter the US:

• physician's full name
• physician's date of birth (mm/dd/yyyy)
• physician's e-mail address
• name and country of physician's medical school
• physician's gender

Required Documents for ECFMG Visa Applications

The documents required for an ECFMG visa application depend on whether the physician is currently participating in a clinical training program in the US (a continuation request) or not currently participating in a clinical training program (an initial request).

UCSF Department Document Checklist

Compile the following documents before initiating the visa request with ISSO. ISSO cannot begin the visa application process with ECFMG until departments upload all required documents. 

For more details on any of the items in the table above, including templates and additional instructions, please visit the ECFMG Application Checklist webpage to download a more descriptive checklist.