A Doctor's Visa is Cancelled, Oklahoma City VA Medical Center Mystified

"Doctor from Pakistan stuck behind red tape on his way to working at the Oklahoma City VA.  Dr. Khaleeq Siddiqui was just weeks from completing his residency training and accepting a position at the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center when his visa was mysteriously canceled.  Dr. Khaleeq Siddiqui has a license to practice medicine in Oklahoma, and a job offer at the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center, with a $205,000 salary.  What he doesn’t have is the final few weeks of a three-year medical residency because an issue with his visa left him stuck in Pakistan — potentially for two years.  His dream of becoming an American doctor is facing a major, years-long setback.  Siddiqui, 32, who is from Pakistan, was recruited as part of an effort by the Department of Veterans Affairs to increase treatment capacities at VA hospitals, said Vance Winningham, an Oklahoma City immigration attorney. ... The doctor’s red-tape headache began when Siddiqui was returning to the U.S. after a visit home in April.  “When Dr. Siddiqui attempted to return to the U.S. from his brief holiday abroad, he was not permitted to board the plane,” Winningham said.  “Instead, he was informed for the first time by the U.S. consulate his J visa had been canceled.”  The Department of State, which handles visas, has not given Siddiqui or his attorney the reason his visa was canceled.  When contacted by The Oklahoman, a department spokeswoman would not talk about individual cases, citing privacy concerns.  Winningham said the situation placed the doctor in a classic Catch-22." - Jennifer Palmer, The Oklahoman, Jan. 12, 2015.