Practice Areas
Health Care Immigration Practice
Permanent Residency for Schedule A Nurses & Physical Therapists
Schedule A
Schedule A is a list of occupations for which the U.S. Department of Labor has determined that there is an insufficient number of U.S. workers who are able, willing, qualified and available. Inclusion on Schedule A also establishes that the employment of foreign workers in such occupations will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers similarly employed. The advantage of being on Schedule A is that the foreign worker can obtain a green card without first having to go through the entire labor certification process. Currently, only two occupations are explicitly listed on Schedule A:
Professional Nurses - To qualify for Schedule A processing, a professional nurse must meet at least one of these two alternative requirements:
- The nurse must have passed the Commission on Graduates in Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) Examination; or
- The nurse must hold a full and unrestricted license to practice professional nursing in the state of intended employment.
The CGFNS certificate provides evidence that the nurse has complied with a three step review of their nursing skills: (1) a credentials evaluation; (2) passage of an English language proficiency exam; and (3) passage of the CGFNS qualifying exam. Once these requisites have been met, the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools will issue the nurse a CGFNS certificate. The purpose of this certification program is to serve as a predictive evaluation process to accurately judge which nurses will be able to meet the requirements for U.S. licensure once admitted to the country. If the nurse has already passed the NCLEX-RN exam, they are exempted from the requirement of obtaining a CGFNS certificate.
Visit the Commission on Graduates in Foreign Nursing Schools at http://www.cgfns.org/
Physical Therapists - To qualify for Schedule A processing, a Physical Therapist must meet the following requirements:
- A Physical Therapist with a 4 Year Bachelor Degree in Physical Therapy, or equivalent, and,
- A Physical Therapist with a State License, or,
- A Physical Therapist with a letter from the State Licensing Authority for the state of intended employment stating that the Foreign National Physical Therapist is qualified to take that state's written licensing examination for Physical Therapists.
Visit The National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc. (NBCOT®) at http://www.nbcot.org/ or the Foreign Credentialing Commission on Physical Therapy http://www.fccpt.org/
J1 Visas and Waivers
Under the terms of a J1 visa, an International Medical Graduate who completes a residency or fellowship in the United States must return to his or her home country to practice for at least two years. However, there are two common J1 waivers for foreign physicians and avoid the two year foreign residency requirement:
J1 Conrad Waivers
An Interest Government Agency (IGA) shows that the IMG is needed in the US to work in a medically underserved area, as designated by the Department of Health and Human Services. The Conrad Program authorizes each state to recommend waivers for a specific number of foreign national physicals per fiscal year (October 1 through September 30). Each state has the flexibility to designate its own yearly waiver quota depending on how many foreign physicians they need to staff physical shortage areas. The program also affords J1 visa holders the opportunity to waive their two year foreign residency requirement in exchange for providing primary healthcare and some specialty care in a federally designated physician shortage area for a period of three years.
J1 National Interest Waivers
The National Interest Waiver may be requested by an interested US government agency in the "national or public interest." You must demonstrate how you will provide a direct or indirect benefit through regional or local action, and case law suggests the following factors that might satisfy the "national interest" requirement:
- Improving the US economy;
- Improving wages or working conditions for US workers;
- Improving education and training programs for US children and under qualified workers;
- Improving health care;
- Providing more affordable housing for young and; or older, poorer, US citizens;
- Improving the environment of the US and make more productive use of natural resources;
- A request from a US government agency.
Contact an Experienced Health Care Immigration Attorney at 412-471-4128
Whether you are a health care worker, a health care facility, health care employer, contact Pittsburgh Immigration Attorney Rami Lee to speak with an experienced and proficient Health Care Immigration Attorney about your immigration issue today. Our US Immigration Attorney has sucessfully represented foreign physicians, international scholars and researchers, health care recruting agencies, and national hospital facilities obtain temproary visas and permanent residency. Our Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Immigration Lawyer offers free initial consultations, in-home consultations, and on-site business consultations.