Well, this post is probably a bit late, but...
My wife converted from a student visa (visiting scholar) to permanent residency in the States. There was no requirement to leave, but you do need advance parole to travel outside of the country while you wait for the change in status.
And, her Chinese degrees are very much recognized here, both to qualify as a physician and by universities. No problem at all. Residencies are not recognized and she decided she did not want to do all of that again, so she went back to school. All her prior coursework was recognized and credited, so she was able to skip the undergraduate coursework required other than taking sociiology, psychology and Freshman english (as they were not taught in China).
Immigration told me that finacee visas were fastest and best route for us, but for that she would have had to leave the country to apply for the visa.
We did all the paperwork ourselves and had no trouble getting approved. We did need to show pictures and have a couple of letters from people who knew us, but it was no big deal. I assume the fact that my wife was well educated and brought over by a prestigious university may have helped, but the process was quite straightforward, if time consuming.
