Sen. Menendez, Rep. Sires seek flexibility for physician employment visas

Citing an increased need for medical staff to handle the surge in confirmed COVID-19 cases, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Rep. Albio Sires (D-N.J.) are encouraging the waiving of restrictions on doctors with employment-based visas.

The legislators said the restrictions prevent the doctors from providing medical care at locations or in specialties other than those specifically approved for their immigration status. Without a waiver of the restrictions, doctors on H-1B and J-1 visas providing care in crisis locations, even remotely, would be putting their immigration status in jeopardy.

“The current public health crisis requires a robust and timely medical response that begins with getting physicians to the front lines,” Menendez, Sires, and other lawmakers wrote in correspondence to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli. “Health care workers on H-1B and J-1 visas, including physicians in the Conrad State 30 program, which helps retain U.S.-trained physicians who work in underserved areas, are a key resource in this process. State and local governments, as well as health care providers, have found that the site-specificity for work authorization has prevented physicians holding an H-1B or J-1 status from transferring to hospitals and facilities that are overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients or are experiencing staff shortages due to quarantine requirements.”

The lawmakers indicated the Conrad 30 program allows doctors to stay in the United States without having to return home if they agree to practice in an underserved area for three years.

“We, therefore, urge you to grant health care providers relief as soon as possible so that our nation’s critical resources can be effectively deployed,” the legislators concluded. “Such a decision would give our nation’s health care providers the flexibility that is needed to mount an adequate response during this emergency.”