Diversity Visa Lottery

Obtaining Green Card as a Registered Nurse is no Longer Automatic

The visa bulletin released by the U.S. Department of State on April 12, 2007 which becomes effective on May 1, 2007 will for sure upset the dreams of many registered nurses, physical therapists and other schedule "A" filers. In an unexpected trend that could discourage many aspiring nurses looking to fill the drought in the field of nursing, the ever current schedule "A" now carries a priority date of October 1, 2002.

The latest development is no good news for nurses and other schedule "A" filers with pending applications with the U.S. Citizenship & immigration Services. If this trend holds, it will take a nurse about two years to obtain a permanent resident status. This will further delay the entry of such nurses into the labor market. The simple interpretation of this is that the shortage of nurses in our hospitals will worsen.

Prior to the recent setbacks, nurses and other Schedule "A" filers obtained permanent resident status within 6months. The simplicity of the process and the pace at which permanent resident status could be obtained has attracted so many immigrants into the field of nursing in the United States. The pool of immigrant nurses has considerably alleviated the problem of scarcity of professional nurses. This news is a setback to the progress made by the healthcare industry in recruiting nurses. Something needs to be done about this matter by Congress.

It is certain that leaders in Congress are monitoring this regression. Unless congress intervenes, Schedule "A" will continue to weaken as predicted by statisticians monitoring the number of applications currently being received in this category.

Schedule "A" is an employment based visa category for "privileged" workers in the United States. Unlike other employment based categories, any occupation under schedule "A" does not need labor certification before the I-140 petition and the application for adjustment of status is filed. Such filers are exempted from the need to apply for labor certification, a process which takes an average of two to three years to complete.