By E. Audrey Glover-Dichter
Attorney at Law
Copyright protected 2011

A couple of weeks ago I had the misfortune of going to the ER not once, but twice in one week.  As the pain subsided thankfully due to the pain medication, I looked around the ER to find a wonderful staff composed of foreigners.  I noticed foreign doctors and nurses working hard at crazy hours.  No matter how tired they may have been, the staff took great care of me.  I must say that I was impressed with the nurses’ ability as well.

According to the US Department of Labor (DOL), the US has been suffering a shortage of nurses since at least 1980.  In order to remedy the situation, DOL put the nursing profession among other professions suffering a shortage on the Schedule A list. Schedule A is a list compiled by DOL that shows the occupations in the US for which there is a shortage of US workers.  Thus, Schedule A shows that the US is not producing enough of its own workers to fill the need and demand in such occupations.  Given the need in such occupations like nurses, DOL streamlines petitions in such occupations in order to facilitate a quicker processing of foreign workers in such shortage areas like nursing.

Unfortunately, although DOL streamlines the processing of Schedule A occupations, immigration and the State Department do not.  Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) only streamlines certain cases and only if an additional $1,000 fee is paid for premium processing.  Not all types of applications are eligible for premium processing, and, when available, not all applicants can afford an extra $1,000 fee. Many nurse applicants come from very modest means and cannot afford premium processing.  So, unless the petitioners pay the extra fee, cases for nurses are processed by CIS as any other petition in that category, which could be a year and sometimes longer.

Once the petition is approved by CIS, the third step in the process is to apply for the immigrant visa itself though the US State Department (DOS) Consulates around the world.  Congress established different categories for employment based applications based on applicants’ skills and education.  Each category is allocated a certain amount of visas available to be distributed worldwide.  Unfortunately, most nursing programs in other countries are not four year college degree programs as are some in the US.  So, because the education level may not equate to a university degree in the US, the nurses that are so desperately needed in the US are placed in categories for lesser skilled workers.  The waits in that category to process the visa could be 5-10 years or longer, depending the country from which the nurses may be coming.

At one point, Congress authorized a short-term temporary visa program known as H-1C to bring foreign nurses into the US.  However, that program has sunset/expired.  There are other temporary working visas available, but since foreign nurses do not usually have the equivalent of a university degree and/or experience to qualify for such programs, such temporary visas are not available to the needed foreign nurses.  Among the many immigration bills being considered, Congress is considering bringing back the H-1C program, but with many more restrictions attached.

In conclusion, although DOL fastracks nurses due to the continuous shortage of US workers in that occupation, CIS and DOS do not.  If the US cannot produce enough nurses to meet the demand, then Congress needs to address the issue by allowing CIS and DOS to fastrack foreign qualified nurses to meet the demand in the US along with provide incentives for US workers to enter the occupation. As for me, I know I am not alone given how crowded the ER was when I had to go, I am grateful that there was such a capable medical and nursing staff to take care of me in my time of need, whether foreign or US produced. Hopefully Congress will bring back the H-1C program soon to alleviate the nurse shortage in the US. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at (954) 450-1563 or audrey@gloverdichter.com.