March 2008

The April 2008 Visa Bulletin indicates processing is now available for All Other Countries and the Philippines for applications filed prior to July 1, 2005. There was little improvement for India (Oct. 2001) and China (Feb. 2003) applicants.

Green Card visas are now available to those applicants with Priority Dates on or before the dates listed. 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. All others must wait until the dates move past their Priority Date. The Visa Bulletin should be checked regularly for updates and can be seen at is 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. 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.

Thus, the extraordinary interruption to visa availability and processing times continues. 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. 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.

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.