It does it in the form of a 5year pilot program so that we can see whether the techniques both for increasing the requirements to bring in temporary nurses and increasing the incentives to bring more American nurses into the field will in fact be effective. I commend the gentleman from New York for his initiative in giving us this legislation. and I hope that the House will adopt this bill. The legislation brought before the House today addresses the nationwide nursing crisis temporarily through Immigration. For a decade now there has been a severe shortage of nurses affecting not only metropolitan areas. but rural as wellnot only hospitals but nursing homes and other health care facilities. Some facilities have closed down. others are stretching already finite resources to tho limit. The bill addresses this problem In two ways: First. it recognizes that those foreign nurses in the United States who have served during these years of crisis should be granted relief. To gain permanent residence. the nurse must meet the standard requirements for licensure and must have been employed in that occupation for 3 years. Many of these nurses would be on the track toward permanent residence today if it werent for the lengthy visa backlogs from the Philippines and other oversubscribed countries. This provision allows all nurses regardless of country of origin to adjust status because of the urgent nature of the problem. Second. the bill balances the grant of permanent status for those in the United States with stricter requirements for future admissions.
Keywords matched
Immigration visa