US Immigrant Visas for Nurses
Many American employers are forced to hire foreign registered nurses because of the shortage of nurses in the United States. However, the process of sponsoring nurses for immigrant visas can be challenging.
Typically, employment-based sponsorship primarily involves three major steps. First, the employer must first file a labor certification (Form 9089) with the Department of Labor. This means the employer must recruit and test the labor market to determine the availability of qualified citizens or residents in the U.S. labor force. If no qualified workers are available, the position will be certified by the Department of Labor. This process may take anywhere between six months to three years before obtaining certification.
Second, upon certification from the Department of Labor, the employer must then file an immigrant visa petition (Form I-140) with United States Citizenship & Immigration Services. At this stage, the employer must prove the ability to pay the prevailing wage to the intended immigrant as set forth by the Department of Labor. Normally, an employer may be required to submit income tax returns to demonstrate ability to pay the prevailing wage. This process may take up to one year for U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services to adjudicate and approve the petition.
Third, upon approval of the immigrant visa petition, the alien is then eligible to file for an immigrant visa at the U.S. Embassy if the alien is abroad or if the alien is physically present in the United States and eligible, the alien may file an application for adjustment of status to that of a lawful permanent resident. This process may take up to an additional two years.
As explained below, the filing time for nurses from beginning to end is considerably shorter. The Department of Labor has made a blanket determination that there are not enough American workers who are qualified and available to fill all the job openings for registered nurses and has pre-certified the occupation of a registered nurse as an occupation for which there is a labor shortage on “Schedule A” of the Department of Labor regulations. Schedule A is a list of occupations that do not require labor market test and thus allows for the case to be filed directly with U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services along with the immigrant visa petition (Form I-140).
Department of Labor regulations which went into effect on March 28, 2005 now require certain evidentiary documents for filing (Form I-140) Schedule A immigrant visa petitions with U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services. The Petitioner must now complete and submit the following documents:
- Form I-140 petition with the appropriate filing fees
- An uncertified Form ETA 9089, in duplicate, signed in the original by an authorized official of the petitioning organization, the alien and the representative if any;
- A Wage Determination issued by the State Workforce Agency (SWA) having jurisdiction over the proposed area where the job opportunity exists
- A copy of the posted notice of the job opening, which must include a job description, work hours, and rate of pay and must be posted in the worksite for a minimum of thirty days;
- A full unrestricted permanent license to practice nursing in the state of intended employment
- CGFNS certificate issued by the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools or evidence that the alien has passed the National Council of State Boards of Nursing
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- Nursing diploma or degree with education evaluation
A registered nurse in the United States can concurrently file an application for adjustment of status (Form I-485) based on a Form I-140 visa petition so long as the nurse has obtained a Visa Screen certificate issued pursuant to section 212(a)(5)(C) or section 212(r) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and so long as there are immigrant visas available.
A registered nurse outside of the United States must wait until the immigrant visa petition (Form I-140) has been adjudicated and approved before an application can be made for immigrant visa at the U.S. Embassy abroad. The registered nurse abroad must also obtain a visa screen certificate and must wait until an immigrant visa is available.
In an effort to eliminate the retrogression and recapture unused visas in the third preference category of the employment based immigrant visas, in June 2005, Congress created a special classification for Schedule A occupations and allotted 50,000 unused immigrant visas in third preference category to this classification. Currently, immigrant visas for Schedule A occupations are available.