Tag: Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act

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Bipartisan Effort to Enhance Healthcare Workforce

Bipartisan Effort to Enhance Healthcare Workforce
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In a significant move to address the shortage of registered nurses in U.S. hospitals, Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois introduced in the 118th Congress the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act, garnering widespread bipartisan support. Eight Republicans, six Democrats, and one Independent joined forces to cosponsor this promising proposal.

The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act targets the shortage by reclaiming unused employment-based visas and earmarking them exclusively for healthcare professionals. Notably, this includes 25,000 visas allocated for professional nurses and 15,000 for physicians. A crucial aspect of this initiative is that the visas granted will not be bound by country caps, offering U.S. employers the flexibility to recruit skilled international nurses from any part of the world.

To streamline the process, the proposed act mandates the Department of State (DOS) to expedite visa processing and shipping without additional charges for speedier service. This presents a significant advantage for both healthcare facilities and aspiring foreign nurses looking to contribute to the U.S. healthcare system.

Despite the promising bipartisan support, the future of the bill remains uncertain. While the bill’s strong backing is noteworthy, past legislative sessions saw earlier versions of the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act faltering. Introduced in May 2020 and again in March 2021, both bills unfortunately met their demise in the Senate without a vote.

Stay tuned for updates on this pivotal legislation as we collectively work towards addressing the pressing healthcare workforce challenges in the United States.

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The H-1B visa: A pathway to work for healthcare workers

The H-1B visa: A pathway to work for healthcare workers
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Application for the H-1B visa is around the corner as the new year of 2023 is fast approaching. This year, the H-1B registration ran from March 1 to March 18. Let’s talk about how it works and if you or someone you know can qualify for it and can even benefit from its cap exemption.

This may benefit those especially in the healthcare industry.

Understanding the H-1B

The H-1B visa is known to be for professionals in general, but what is commonly understated is how healthcare workers can apply for this visa. 

The H-1B visa is a temporary visa for professionals in specialty jobs that typically require a bachelor’s degree or an equivalent. The US employer (not the worker) must file a petition, and if granted, the H-1B will be valid for 3 years and can be renewed for 3 more years.

The cap you need to know

Since there are so many professionals who seek the H-1B visa yearly, the United States government has placed a cap on the number of people who can get them. To decide who to give the H-1B to, they hold a visa lottery – choosing who gets the visa randomly.

The H-1B visa lottery is limited to 65,000 H-1B visas for each fiscal year, with an additional 20,000 saved for people holding a master’s degree or higher from a US institution. 

Before you even start stressing about the H-1B lottery, it’s important to understand which jobs qualify for this visa. Only specialty occupations qualify for an H-1B, which means that the job requires a bachelor’s degree or higher (or its equivalent in work experience) in a specialized field like IT, engineering, or medicine. But, not every medical job is eligible for an H-1B.

Which healthcare workers are eligible for H-1B visas?

While a majority of health care works are educated and specialized, only some types of health care jobs qualify for an H-1B visa. The three main categories of healthcare jobs that qualify for H-1Bs are nurses, physical therapists, and physicians. Here’s what you need to know about each category.

Nurses

As far as nurses go, generally only nurse practitioners, nurse administrators, and nurse managers are generally qualified for an H-1B. Why not RNs? Well, registered nurse (RN) positions normally require only a two-year degree, so RNs don’t meet the standard educational requirement for an H-1B. However, there have been instances where RNs with really specialized knowledge and perhaps an accompanying certificate, e.g. an emergency room cert, may qualify.

Physical therapists 

Because a bachelor’s degree is generally a minimum standard requirement for this kind of work, physical therapists are generally eligible for an H-1B visa. Foreign physical therapists must, of course, have a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, have their educational credentials verified through FCCPT, and obtain a US state PT license. 

Physicians

Doctors may apply for an H-1B visa to participate in a residency program, teach or conduct research, and work at a healthcare facility. Each doctor must pass the three-step examination for medical licensing through the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). This test examines clinical knowledge, clinical skills, and includes a spoken English assessment. 

There are approximately 127,000 immigrant physicians in the US who account for nearly a quarter of all the country’s licensed physicians. A majority of these doctors come from India, the Caribbean, Pakistan, Philippines, and Mexico. As you can see, the US relies heavily on foreign-born physicians. 

Can healthcare workers be exempted from the cap? 

Yes.

Some hospitals and health care systems qualify for an H-1B cap-exemption. This allows USCIS to approve H-1B visa petitions for some professions beyond its 85,000 annual cap, and applications for such positions can be filed during any time of the year.

A qualifying nonprofit institution of higher learning or a qualifying nonprofit affiliated with an institution of higher learning can be cap-exempt. H-1B cap-exempt health care categories include:

  • Institutions of higher education (colleges and universities)
  • Non-profit entities related to or affiliated with institutions of higher education
  • Nonprofit research organizations
  • Federal government research organizations
  • State and local government research entities

A healthcare organization, such as a hospital, can be cap-exempt if it can prove it’s related to or affiliated with an institution of higher education. This nonprofit relationship or affiliation can take the form of ownership or board control, or even formal research cooperation.

Unsure about how you can get an H-1B visa? Consult your trusted immigration lawyer.

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Foreign Nurses Can Help Solve US Hospital Staff Shortages During COVID And Beyond

Foreign Nurses Can Help Solve US Hospital Staff Shortages During COVID And Beyond
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Since last September, the number of hospitalized patients across the US has increased nearly every day. Since November 1, 2020, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has doubled and since October 1, it has tripled. More than 1,000 hospitals in the US are “critically” short on staff. 

Nurses and other medical staff are the driving force behind the American healthcare system. To focus on nurses, America’s 3 million nurses are the largest category of workers in our healthcare workforce. And while nursing is one of our country’s fastest-growing professions, the nursing profession is not growing fast enough – according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the next two years, the US will see 1.2 million vacancies for registered nurses. By 2025, the nursing shortage will be twice as bad.

So, let’s look a bit more at the shortage, how it’s affecting our fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and how immigration can help.

The US healthcare worker shortage isn’t a new problem

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic slammed global healthcare systems, the US has been desperate for more nurses. 

There is a shortage of nurses across the US and according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the shortage is expected to intensify. The American workforce is rapidly aging and more and more baby boomers are retiring. One million of the 3.8 million registered nurses in the United States will leave the workforce between now and 2030. 

But why is a profession that is well-respected and pays decently struggling to keep up with demand?

Blame it on the Baby Boomers! Today, there are more Americans over the age of 65 than at any other time in US history. In the next 20 years, one in five Americans will be a senior citizen, and by 2050, there will be 88.5 million Americans over the age of 65-years-old. Among these aging Americans are nurses! Right now, approximately one million registered nurses are older than 50, meaning that we can say goodbye to these healthcare workers as they enter retirement in the next 10 to 15 years. 

The nursing education system has been struggling to keep up with the demand for new nurses. According to an American Association of Colleges of Nursing report, American nursing schools turned away 79,659 qualified applicants in 2012 simply due to lack of resources and instructors. So, as you can see, the American healthcare system was already under strain from a lack of qualified nurses.

Then the coronavirus pandemic reached our shores.

The healthcare worker shortage is impacting the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out

About a year ago, Covid-19 seemed like an issue far from America’s borders. Today, the virus has spread across the globe and more than 100 million infections have now been reported worldwide. The US has more Covid-19 cases than any other country, and our infections make up more than 25% of the total worldwide.

Since this time last year, doctors have gotten better at saving the lives of critically ill Covid-19 patients, but healthcare workers are overwhelmed and hospitals are crowded. Simply put, more than 40% of Americans live in areas where intensive care units are running out of space. These overburdened hospitals are dealing with exhausted nurses and doctors, and a shortage of experienced healthcare workers.

Right now, healthcare workers are not only responsible for sick Covid-19 patients, but also distributing vaccinations. The US vaccination campaign has gotten off to a slow start, with less than 20 million people getting their first dose by mid-January 2021. President Biden recently announced that the US will deliver enough doses to vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of the summer or early fall, but we need trained personnel to drive what will be the largest vaccination effort in US history.

In places like Arizona — where the coronavirus is spreading faster than in almost any other state — 4 out of 5 doses haven’t been used because finding someone qualified to give the shots is difficult. Can you believe that?

As hospitals strain under the stress of the pandemic, many are wondering: how did we get here? How is it possible that US hospitals don’t have enough experienced nurses and doctors to treat Covid-19 patients and vaccinate the American public?

The good news is that the solution is simple: hire more foreign-trained nurses and other healthcare staff.

Foreign nurses are the solution to America’s healthcare woes

In the past, hospitals might have closed beds to address a shortage of nurses. During a pandemic, that option is not possible. But there’s a win-win solution – to hire nurses and other healthcare professionals from abroad.

Immigrants make up 18% of total US healthcare workers, but more specifically they are 22% of nursing assistants and 29% of physicians. Current US immigration policies have left hospitals across the country understaffed and ill-prepared to face the coronavirus pandemic. Even before Covid-19 hit our shores, we had a projected shortage of roughly 15,000 to 22,500 primary care doctors and over one million nurses.

Foreign-born doctors and nurses arrive in the US on H-1B, J-1, and EB-3 visas, but right now, denial rates for H-1B petitions have increased significantly, from 6% of applicants denied in 2015 to nearly 25% in 2020. EB-3 visas have also been down as much as 33% since 2015. These numbers are staggering when you consider that one-in-four direct-care workers are foreign-born.

These highly skilled healthcare workers are often able to immigrate to the US easily and hit the ground running at their new jobs. Legislation like the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act (HWRA) — a bill aimed at increasing the number of available immigration spots for nurses and doctors that was introduced in May 2020 — would make it even easier for foreign nurses to immigrate to the US.

This bill was inspired by and created to face the COVID-19 pandemic, and if passed, would allow up to 25,000 immigrant visas to qualifying nurses and 15,000 immigrant visas to physicians, as well as their spouses and kids. This would be a game-changer for the current US healthcare system. For now, though, it’s been stalled.

Plus, many foreign health workers have invaluable experience dealing with infectious disease epidemics such as SARS, Ebola, or HIV in other countries and are ready and able to take jobs at American hospitals. Recently, the State Department issued guidance calling for foreign medical professionals with approved visas or certificates of eligibility for exchange visitor programs to get expedited processing to come to the US. They are especially prioritizing health care pros who have experience “working to treat or mitigate the effects of Covid-19.”

While a new regulatory landscape around immigration law might change forms, processes, and applications, one thing stays the same: the demand for skilled, experienced international nurses and others as well as an easy and streamlined way of getting them into the US.

Foreign nurses will help to alleviate our strained healthcare system, but they might need a little help getting here.

Tancinco Law helps hospitals, healthcare facilities and healthcare staffing companies bring skilled nurses and healthcare professionals into the US

As hospitals struggle to handle the most recent COVID-19 surge, hospital and other healthcare facility administrators are not only worrying about beds or ventilators in short supply but also finding enough healthcare workers to care for the sick. Fortunately, there is a highly-skilled workforce of foreign-educated doctors, nurses, and other health practitioners ready to step in and help.

It’s vital that we welcome more internationally-trained nurses to the US. In the midst of the continuing COVID-19 global pandemic, our country needs more experienced nurses than ever, and we’re working day in and day out to help build a stronger, healthier community, one nurse at a time.

Tancinco Law helps hospitals, healthcare facilities, and healthcare staffing companies manage every step of the immigration process when hiring foreign-trained nurses and other healthcare professionals. Tancinco Law was founded by Filipino immigrants, and we’ve been helping Filipinos nurses and many others immigrate to the US for decades. We are closely connected to the immigrant community, we’re experts in the healthcare visa process, and can be a true partner – not just an outside immigration law firm.
If you’re a hospital or healthcare system and you’re interested in learning more about how Tancinco Law can help you strengthen your staff, check out our website. And if you’re a healthcare professional interested in working in the US, reach out to us today!

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7 Immigration Policy Changes Important to Filipinos

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On his first day in office, President Joe Biden will introduce hundreds of pages of immigration executive orders that will cover most of the policies he pledged to change. With several provisions that are proposed, the more than 4 million Filipinos residing in the United States and their relatives still waiting to migrate are looking forward to major change in policies. Below are 7 immigration related agenda that may have the most impact for Filipinos.

1. The DACA Program

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients are immigrants who arrived in the United States at a very young age. After several attempts to pass legislation to confer legal status to this category of immigrants and the failure of Congress to pass law, former President Obama issued an Executive Order giving these young immigrants protection from deportation and issuing them employment authorization. When President Trump came into office in 2017, one of his first executive actions was to rescind the DACA program. More than 800,000 DACA recipients were affected by Trump’s rescission of the program. Court litigation ensued and the Supreme Court affirmed the legality of the DACA program. While the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services started implementing the DACA protections to initial applicants, it did so only a few months ago leaving thousands of DACA recipients still in limbo about their status.

During this pandemic crisis, more than 200,000 DACA recipients are considered essential workers. Thus, in the Biden proposal, green cards or permanent immigrant visas will be granted to DACA recipients with a pathway to U.S. citizenship in three (3) years.

2. FWVP Program

More than 200,000 Filipinos were conscripted to join the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II (WWII)when the Philippines was still a territory of the United States. Under the War Powers Act, those who fought under the American flag may be entitled to apply for U.S. citizenship. All 66 allied countries nationals who fought side by side with the Americans during WWII were able to obtain U.S. citizenship but not the Filipino Veterans. A 1946 Rescission Act was enacted declassifying their services during WWII as not considered services for purposes of the veteran benefits. Hundreds of thousands of veterans lost their opportunities to apply for U.S. citizenship until 1990, when the Immigration and Nationality Act was enacted allowing belatedly the then 70 and 80 year old veterans to apply for U.S. citizenship.

As soon as they became U.S. citizens, they started filing petitions for their children. As the system in place takes more than 20 years to be current due to the severe backlog, most of the veterans who came in 1990s have already passed away. In the last 5 years, approximately 8,000 veterans are still alive but they have been slowly reducing in numbers. The Obama Administration proposed a Parole program specifically for the families of the veterans to enter the United States and be reunited with their veteran parents who are now of advanced age and sickly. This parole program is the Filipino World War II Veterans Parole Program. This Program only has a 5 year validity until 2021. Last December 2020, the Trump administration issued a notice to rescind the FWVP after 60 days of comment period. President Biden should consider supporting legislation that will give immediate green card status to families of the veterans; or, if not, extend the FWVP program.

3. Family Reunification

Family unity is very important to immigrants, and this applies most specially to Filipino immigrants. Petitioning immediate relatives by U.S. citizens is faster than petitioning adult children and siblings. For those being Petitioned from the Philippines the waiting period for visas to become available for adult married children and siblings of U.S. citizens takes approximately 20 years. And for those who are unmarried adult children, the waiting period is approximately 10 years.

With the pandemic crisis, even those whose visas are available who waited more than 20 years are not being processed at the U.S. Embassy because of the Trump Presidential Orders banning certain immigrants from entering the United States. Visa applications of parents and fiances of U.S. citizens are also put on hold at the U.S. Embassy. President Biden should reform the immigration system by adding more visas to the Family based category to reduce the backlog and make it faster for U.S. citizens or green card holders to petition their family members. Trump’s Presidential Proclamations 10014 and 10052 banning the entry of immigrants and processing of their visas at the U.S. Embassy must be revisited and rescinded.

4. Pathway to Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants

About 2% of the 11 million undocumented immigrants are unauthorized Filipino immigrants. These are mostly those who fell into the cracks because of the broken immigration system leaving them no option to legalize their status. These unauthorized immigrants are with their family members in the U.S., are hardworking and regularly pay taxes. It is just an opportune time to provide them a pathway to U.S. citizenship.

The Biden administration is introducing the immigration reform bill that will allow unauthorized immigrants an 8 years pathway to citizenship by granting them green cards after 5 five years and allowing them to obtain U.S. citizenship in 3 years. This proposal is the centerfold of the immigration bill introduced by Biden and needs to be passed by Congress to become effective.

5. Public Charge Rule

One of the salient feature of the Trump legacy on immigration is not just curbing illegal immigration but also legal immigration. Deeply disguised as promoting national interest, the public charge rule also known as the wealth test prohibits the grant of immigrant visa if the petitioner or the beneficiary does not have enough financial resources to show that the beneficiary will not rely on public assistance for their subsistence. Restrictive rules were issued making it difficult for US citizens with meager income to be reunited with their families. There is also the 2019 Trump “uninsured ban” rule where those coming to the United States must be able to show proof within 30 days of arrival that they have health care insurance coverage. All these restrictive rules have become barriers to lawful immigration and it is cloaked in a way that benefits the U.S. when in fact it is based on the Trump administration’s assumption that immigrants are a drain to the nation’s resources. This has to change. Most of Filipino immigrant families are educated and bring their skills and knowledge to flourish and succeed in this country. President Biden should rescind the restrictive changes made by the Trump administration related to the public charge rule.

6. Healthcare Workers

During this global pandemic, the Filipino immigrants who are admired most as heroes are our health care workers. We have many Filipino caregivers, physical therapists, medical practitioners and nurses. These essential workers have proven their worth especially during this time of crisis. Current immigration law makes it difficult for most healthcare workers to obtain their immigrant visas. Even when the priority dates for employment-based third preference became current for Philippine nationals, it is usually still subject to long delays of months or years for the healthcare professionals to migrate to the United States. The increasing need for the essential healthcare workers had never been critical and President Biden should consider re-establishing a temporary visa category for nurses like before such as the H1C and H1A visas. This category will make it faster for healthcare workers to enter the United States.

7. Other Employment Based Visas

Philippines was included again in the list of those countries eligible to participate in a temporary working visa program or the H2B. Realizing how it will be in the best interest of the U.S. to make sure that the Filipinos are added to the workforce in the construction of military bases in Guam. This is a positive development. But also, there are Filipinos who are holders of H1B, J and L visas that have been affected by the Presidential Proclamation banning them from entering except those covered by litigation. President Biden should rescind this proclamation and reverse the H1B regulatory changes that Trump released prior to his departure from the White House.

All 7 immigration issues are just a few of the immigration priorities of the Biden Administration. As we maintain our faith in the new administration, we also hope that the Democratic led Congress will find it a priority to pass the Biden’s immigration reform bill for all these provisions to have a meaningful impact on our Filipino immigrants and their families.

(Atty. Lourdes Santos Tancinco, Esq. is a San Francisco based immigration attorney and an immigrant rights advocate. She may be reached at 1 888 930 0808, law@tancinco.com, or facebook.com/tancincolaw, or through her firm’s website at www.tancinco.com)

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Congress Introduces Bills Adding More Visas for Foreign Nurses and Doctors

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The “Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act” was introduced in the House on May 8, 2020 and in the Senate (S.3599) on May 5, 2020 to help address the healthcare shortage in the United States which has become critical during the COVID-19 pandemic. If passed into law, it would cut waiting time for nurses and doctors with approved visa petitions. In summary, it will:

  1. Authorize the recapturing of 25,000 immigrant visas for provisional nurses and 15,000 immigrant visas for physicians.
  2. Visas will be issued according to priority dates regardless of the per country limitations
  3. The Department of States (through the U.S. Embassies) and the Department of Homeland Security (through the USCIS) to expedite the processing of their visas

This proposed legislation will allow nurses with approved immigrant visas and physicians with approved immigrant petitions to come to the United States and work in hospitals and medical facilities where there is a shortage of nurses or unfilled positions. This is the reason also why one of the provisions requires the petitioners of the approved petition must attest that in hiring the professional nurse a U.S. worker has not or will not be displaced.