Ahmed Alabbady, MD, an internal medicine physician training at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pa., may have to leave the country after the government denied without explanation his request for a waiver of his visa expiration, according to a report from The Daily Item.
Dr. Alabbady is an Egyptian citizen who came to the United States in 2012 under a J-1 visa sponsored by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. He traveled to the U.S. as a nonimmigrant exchange visitor to attend the residency program, but has since married a U.S. citizen and become a father.
Dr. Alabbady requested a waiver for his visa, which expires in June, citing the exceptional hardship it would place his family under if he were not allowed to stay in the United States. However, the State Department issued a "Not Favorable" recommendation.
An attorney filed a complaint in March on behalf of Dr. Alabbady and his family seeking judicial review of the government's action. The complaint also cites a shortage of internal medicine physicians in the U.S. as a reason why Dr. Alabbady's departure would be "harmful to the U.S. public interest."