Congress Urged to Postpone Looming VisaScreen Requirement
Posted Apr 09, 2004

The Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary, Tom Ridge, on March 25, 2004, urging a delay of the effective date of the regulation that will require health care workers to obtain a VisaScreen certificate as a requirement for admission to the U.S. on nonimmigrant status. News of publication of the final regulation was reported to our readers in our August 1, 2003 MurthyBulletin article, New Certification Requirements for Health Care Professionals, and in our October 10, 2003 article entitled, USCIS Memo on Certification of Health Care Workers, both available on MurthyDotCom. If Congress takes no action, health care workers will have to present the certificate as a requirement for admission, even on nonimmigrant status into the U.S., beginning July 26, 2004. The letter from the Judiciary Committee requests that the date be postponed to October 1, 2005, to give health care workers sufficient time to obtain the VisaScreen certificate. The VisaScreen is a health care worker certificate issued by the Commission for Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS).

Members of the Judiciary Committee cited concern that the regulation would aggravate the nation’s current nursing shortage and disrupt the delivery of health care services in many hospitals. The Committee noted that the requirement was redundant for nurses who already hold a state license, and also for nurses educated in the U.S. The Committee expressed further concern that health services would be disrupted in northern border states that employ Canadian nurses who cross the border each day to work in U.S. hospitals.

The Judiciary Committee noted that the CGFNS was the only entity authorized to issue the certificates to nurses, and that the regulation would add an increased burden to the already heavy workload of the CGFNS, which would result in significant delays. The Committee urged Congress to work with CGFNS to provide foreign health care workers with an efficient and streamlined certification process.

This is welcome news for Canadian nurses working on TN status in the U.S. and other nurses in any other nonimmigrant status, like H1B or F-1 Optional Practical Training. Hospitals already suffering from an acute shortage of nurses would also be served by the delay. Without Congressional intervention, all nonimmigrant nurses will be required to obtain the VisaScreen Certificate by July 26, 2004 in order to keep working in the U.S. We at MurthyDotCom and the MurthyBulletin will continue to monitor this development and will update our readers.