This report summarizes all the ways that foreign-trained health care workers (especially physicians and nurses) could qualify for admission to the U.S. as legal immigrants. At present, with but one minor exception (the J-1 program), there are no special programs prioritizing the admission of such workers. Given the severe shortages of health care workers in the U.S., efforts have been made in recent years to introduce legislation in Congress to address this problem. The authors of this report provide summaries of all these bills, only one of which has become law. The authors also review executive actions that could be taken to address the problem, such as adding nursing to the list of STEM fields, thereby allowing international nursing students to work temporarily in the U.S. after graduation. The report also discusses efforts to harness the unutilized or under-utilized skills of foreign-trained healthcare workers already residing in the U.S. — a problem often referred to as “brain waste.” Since states are responsible for licensing health care professionals, federal policy levers are limited, although the federal government allocates funds to the states for English language training, often a requirement for licensure. Finally, the report discusses efforts to bolster the ranks of home health care and nursing home workers. These are lesser-skilled workers in high demand to meet the needs of America’s aging population, yet few legal pathways exist for their immigration to the U.S.
Immigration Options and Professional Requirements for Foreign Health Care Workers,
Congressional Research Service, April 28, 2023, 31 pp.
Authors: William A. Kandel et al