USA

The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act – Getting USA Green Cards For Doctors And Nurses Will Be Easier

While the Trump administration has put the issuance of new Green Cards on hold until the end of June, a new bill – the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act- is being introduced to allow immigrant doctors and nurses to get a Green Card faster.

The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act Green Cards For Doctors And Nurses

The bill proposes to use 40,000 unused Green Cards for doctors and nurses
These are green Card numbers that have been unused from 1992 to 2020.
Of these 15,000 are to be reserved for doctors and the remaining 25,000 are kept for nurses.

These Green Cards will be issued without following the usual 7% quota system which caps the number of immigrants permitted from each country.

According to the proposed bill, green cards for health care workers should be issued according to priority dates. Premium processing will also be available to facilitate timely action. Dependent family members will not be granted any of these visas.

The bill has not yet been introduced to the senate and has 4 sponsors.

Healthcare Professionals In USA – Interesting Facts

More than 25% of doctors in the country are foreign-born
The country is predicted to face a shortage of 120,000 doctors by 2030
It is estimated that the country needs 203,700 nurses each year to fill new positions and replace retiring workers
Only 170,000 new nurses were licensed in 2018
In 2018, around 2.6 million immigrants, including 314,000 refugees were employed as health-care workers
Around 1.5 million immigrants are working as registered nurses, doctors, and pharmacist
There are over 100,000 practicing Indian-American doctors in the country

Green Cards For Doctors And Nurses – Effect of Current Immigration Regulations on COVID-19

The USA is heavily dependent on immigrant medical professionals. Approximately one-sixth of the country’s health care workers are foreign-born.

However, their immigration regulations have made it difficult for medical workers to fight the disease in hotspots.

One of the reasons for this is because H1B visas are tied to particular positions, employers, and geographical locations. Thus, doctors and nurses on this visa cannot be moved to other locations where they may be needed more than the place they are in currently.

There is also a fear amongst immigrant doctors and nurses for job stability. They fear that if they succumb to the virus, their spouses and children who hold H-4 dependent visas may be deported to India.