A growing backlog of visa applications could force hundreds of internationally trained physicians to leave the U.S. this summer, KFF Health News reported May 1.
Many of the delays are for H-1B and J-1 visas, which are tailored to individuals with special skills or occupations, including jobs in healthcare and technology sectors. In the last seven months, thousands of internationally trained healthcare workers have been stuck in visa limbo.
In late April, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services updated its website to indicate physicians were no longer subject to a processing hold related to travel bans. This partially freed foreign trained physicians from a monthslong visa limbo, but the now-removed processing hold is up against an existing backlog of hundreds of applications.
Here are five things to know about the visa delays for healthcare professionals:
1. In September, President Donald Trump raised the H-1B visa application fee to $100,000. Previously, the average application cost was approximately $3,500. In an executive order, President Trump said the H-1B visa program “has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor.”
2. The federal J-1 visa program is for “exchange visitors,” or nonimmigrant individuals who plan to participate in a program for teaching, studying, researching or training in the fields of education, arts and science.
In recent years, the HHS Exchange Visitor Program reviewed waiver applications for J-1 visas within one to three weeks, according to two immigration attorneys who spoke with KFF Health News. Now, hundreds of applications are in a backlog.
3. National healthcare organizations, such as the American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association, for months have advocated for healthcare-specific exemptions to the $100,000 fee.
In November, the AHA surveyed its members about the new application fee. The survey represented more than 1,000 health systems and hospitals. Of those, 64% of hospitals that utilized — or planned to utilize — the H-1B visa program said they will pause, defer or limit recruitment due to the $100,000 petition fee.
4. Internationally trained individuals account for a significant portion of the U.S. healthcare workforce. Immigrants account for 27% of physicians and surgeons, 22% of nursing assistants and 16% of registered nurses in the U.S., according to KFF.
5. In March, four federal lawmakers introduced a bill aimed at exempting physicians and other healthcare workers from the $100,000 H-1B visa application fee. It has been in the House Committee on the Judiciary since March 17.
Editor’s note: This article was updated May 6 to reflect the reversed visa renewal freeze.
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