Companion pieces of legislation have been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate that aim to alleviate some of the long delays for medical professionals seeking to live and work in the United States on a permanent basis.
Specifically, this legislation proposes to recapture 40,000 unused immigrant visas from past years and make them available for doctors and nurses. Fifteen thousand of these visas would be made available to doctors and 25,000 would be made available to nurses. These visas would be allocated based on priority date without regard to country of birth. Unlimited visas for spouses and children of these visa applicants would also be available.
The legislation also includes a directive to the Departments of Homeland Security and State to expedite these application processes as much as possible.
A final component of the proposed legislation would require employers seeking these visas for prospective medical professional employees to attest that U.S. workers have not and will not be displaced.
If passed, this legislation would help foreign national medical professionals come to and remain in the United States. The passage of this legislation is ongoing, so we will continue to monitor its status.
Please contact the Foster Garvey Labor, Employment & Immigration team if you have any questions regarding this and other visa applications.