US Immigration

Nursing Relief Act of 2009

Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent every year by the major hospital systems in recruiting foreign nurses under the current immigration system and this cost is passed on to the consumers.

With the current retrogression in the employment-based third preference (EB-3) category, it takes several years to bring in a registered nurse on an immigrant visa. The April 2009 Visa Bulletin shows that the EB3 category has retrogressed to March 1, 2003.

The Act seeks to address these concerns by creating a separate non-immigrant visa category for registered nurses to engage in temporary work as a professional nurse.

Employers sponsoring non-immigrant visas will be required to make attestations that they will offer the foreign nurse the actual wage paid to similarly situated employees or the prevailing wage for the position; that working conditions and pay of U.S. nurses will not be adversely affected by the hiring of a foreign worker; that there is no strike or lockout at the worksite and that the notice of filing of labor certification was given to the bargaining representative, if any, and posted in a conspicuous place in the worksite.

Several bills have already been introduced in the past several years to address the nursing shortage, all to no avail. For instance, last April 20, H.R. 5924, also known as the Emergency Nursing Supply Relief Act was sponsored by Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Florida) and Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin) but it never became a law.

Despite an uphill battle to garner legislative support, we remain hopeful that the Nursing Relief Act of 2009 and other bills seeking to address the severe nursing shortage in the U.S. would get passed considering that health care is one of the priorities that need to be addressed by the current administration.