President-Elect Joe Biden will inherit an immigration landscape that has changed dramatically in the four years of the Trump Administration. Under its “Buy American, Hire American” directive, the Trump Administration changed the way federal immigration laws are interpreted and enforced, leading to increased scrutiny of every conceivable aspect of legal immigration, from obtaining U.S. citizenship… [Read More]
COVID-19 Takes Life of Immigrant Pulmonologist
Born in El Salvador, Carlos Araujo-Preza came to the US in 1994 study at Staten Island University Hospital in New York and Tulane University in New Orleans. Dr. Araujo-Preza moved to Houston, Texas to work as a pulmonologist and owned the Woodlands Lung Center. As a respiratory specialist, Dr. Araujo-Preza was critical to his community’s… [Read More]
Conrad Waiver Alternatives – How to Hire a Foreign Physician
While United States Medical Residency Programs educate hundreds of foreign medical doctors a year, employment opportunities for foreign doctors can be limited upon graduation by the Home Residency Requirement (HHR) of J-1 Visas. The Conrad Visa Waiver – issued by state departments of public health – is one common way for foreign medical graduates to… [Read More]
HHS Waivers Provide Cost Saving Alternative to Locum Tenens Physicians
Can Your Healthcare Institution Afford a J-1 Waiver Program? The Short Answer? You Could Save Money and Build Stability. If your hospital or healthcare clinic relies on Locum Tenens staffing, you can realize significant savings in a short amount of time through hiring foreign physicians on a J-1 waiver, with the added benefit of the… [Read More]
HHS Waiver Guidelines Expand to Include More Healthcare Facilities
In June, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) changed federal guidelines so that any facility, from hospital to private practice, can apply for an HHS Waiver for foreign physicians, as long as the facility has an Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) score of at least 7, and the physician will provide primary care… [Read More]
Profiles in Immigration – A Physician from Peru Makes his Home in Bangor, Maine
Carlos Requena is a hospitalist at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine. After three years of serving patients at EMMC through the Conrad 30 Program, Carlos, along with his wife Lupe, received Green Cards (lawful permanent residency) in the United States through hospital sponsorship in June 2020. He took time to reflect on his… [Read More]
USCIS Releases Guidance on Covid-19 Impacts for Conrad and HHS Waiver Foreign Physicians
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has released guidance for foreign physicians who are subject to Conrad and HHS J-1 waiver provisions and their employers. This guidance provides protections for physicians who are not able to sustain full-time work schedules due to Covid-19 related interruptions and also confirms the ability of foreign physicians to undertake telemedicine… [Read More]
Employment Resources for Physicians, Nurses and Other Healthcare Professionals
As business immigration attorneys for healthcare institutions, we help human resource leaders and in-house counsel hire foreign physicians, nurses, and critical professional staff. While we do not provide job placement services, we have compiled a list of online resources that can help foreign medical graduates, nurses, and other healthcare professionals in their search for employment…. [Read More]
Three Strategies for Hiring Foreign Nurses
Challenges facing healthcare systems in 2019 have created shortages of critical healthcare providers throughout the United States – a shortage that could exceed 100,000 physicians and 500,000 nurses by 2030. While programs exist specifically to hire foreign doctors in medically underserved areas, there are no such solutions to address profound shortages in nursing. Luckily, there… [Read More]
State By State Deadlines for Conrad 30 J-1 Visa Waiver
Important Notice: HHS changed guidelines in June 2020 to open up the federal J-1 waiver program to healthcare providers of all sizes. This is a big change that will positively impact many healthcare providers. Unlike the Conrad Waiver program, HHS waivers do not carry a restrictive quota and timeline. HHS waivers present a more flexible… [Read More]
