In 1999, Congress passed the “Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act” to help hospitals in inner-city neighborhoods and some hospitals in rural areas. It created a new H-1C temporary registered nurse visa program with 500 visas available each year, allowing nurses to stay for three years. The visa program expired in Dec. 2009.
H.R. 1933 reauthorizes the H-1C temporary visa program that allows foreign nurses to come to the U.S. to work in health professional shortage areas for an additional three years. The bill is sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas).
Read the government news release about H.R. 1933 reauthorization of the H-1C temporary visa program.
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