July 2008

The July 2008 Department of State Visa Bulletin (released in June) indicated that the entire Employment Third Preference category (including Green Card sponsorship for Registered Nurses) reached the annual numerical limit by the end of June 2008. As a result, visas for this category became "Unavailable" from July and will remain so for the rest of Fiscal Year 2008, through the end of September. In October 2008, new visa numbers will be available for Fiscal Year 2009 and Employment Third Preference visa availability will recommence starting with the cut-off dates established for June. (The June 2008 Visa Bulletin indicated the following cut-off dates for Employment Third Preference: Philippines and all Other Countries March 1, 2006; India November 1, 2001 and China March 22, 2003.)

The August bulletin (released in July) said there was no change or improvement to the above.

The Priority Date is the date a petition filing is accepted by the Department of State, which essentially establishes the applicant's place in line. This date doesn't change. The cut-off date can move forwards, backwards or remain static depending on applicant volume, processing time and visa number availability. The cut-off date must match or pass the Priority Date for a visa number to be available so that a petition may proceed to completion. The Department of State Visa Bulletin updates and publishes cut-off dates every month and the bulletin can be viewed at http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_1360.html - look for the Employment Based 3rd category on the grid.

Nursing immigration to the U.S. through Green Card sponsorship came to a halt in early 2007 because of Retrogression (backlog) in the EB-3 Green Card category. Retrogression occurs when there are more applicants than the number of visas available and then petitions either cannot be filed or cannot progress until more visas are available. The U.S. Department of State allocates 140,000 new Employment Based visas every year but availability for applicants depends on applicant volume and processing times. A coalition of healthcare employers (including Procare USA/Nursing USA), immigration attorneys and other interested parties continues to lobby representatives in Washington on visa availability for healthcare workers.

International nurses have supplemented the U.S. nursing work force for decades and between our ever-present U.S. nursing shortage and massive nursing retirements of U.S. nurses in coming years - there is no question that visas will always be available. The current problems relate to processing times and availability of visa numbers.

We recognize that it takes an extraordinary commitment to emigrate to the U.S. and this is made all the more difficult with the unpredictability of visa availability in recent times. Notwithstanding these challenges, we remain committed to sponsoring international nurses and we hope you will not be deterred from the Green Card process whether already in the U.S. or coming from outside the country to live and work here. Clearly, applicants outside the U.S. should make no relocation plans until a visa has been stamped in the passport when they will have six months to enter the U.S. to "activate" their status.

Please check back for periodic updates. We also recommend you check the healthcare advocacy blog at the website www.hammondlawfirm.com for news and comments on retrogression and please check the Visa Bulletin every once in a while as it is not unusual for processing dates to move ahead for months or years at a time.