Foreign doctors may lose U.S. jobs after visa program suspension
Foreign medical students face rough road
Medical students applying for residencies and fellowships may also be detoured by the premium processing ban. Students who planned to train under an H-1B visa had to wait until Match Day on March 17 to file their H-1B petitions, Ms. Minear said. There is little chance they can complete all paperwork and state approvals needed in order to submit an H-1B application before April 3.
“What this really means is that physicians effectively cannot do their residencies or fellowships in H-1B status this year because they cannot file the petitions in time for a July 1 start date,” Ms. Minear said. “Effectively, what it does is force all foreign doctors who want to do residency or fellowship in the U.S. to do their training in J-1 status.”
A large number of foreign medical students already complete their training in J-1 status; however, many residency and fellowship programs agree to sponsor students in H-1B status as an attractive recruiting incentive for top talent, Ms. Minear said. Foreign doctors often prefer the latter status because they are exempt from the 2-year requirement to return home.
Foreign medical students matching to residency programs generally have the option to apply for a J-1 visa and can still train in the United States, said Matthew Shick, JD, government relations director for the Association of American Medical Colleges. He noted that the premium processing suspension will have a greater impact on faculty, scientists, and hospital staff.
However, medical students applying for J-1 visas also may experience processing delays because of President Trump’s March 6 Executive Order on immigration. A provision in that order increases uniform screening procedures for all visa classes and nationalities, while another provision suspends the Visa Interview Waiver Program. The suspension means that certain visa applicants seeking to renew a visa must be interviewed in person by a consular officer. The Hawaii federal court that blocked much of the that Executive Order did not halt the additional screening requirements or stay the Visa Interview Waiver Program rollback. Both provisions remain in effect.
“It is reasonably foreseeable, based on the portions of the Executive Order that remain in place and based on the on-the-ground reality of State Department officials and consular officer resignations and departures, that this year it will be more challenging than in prior years for an incoming Match applicant to arrive on time at their GME program on July 1, even with the J-1 path,” Ms. Harris said.
Taskforce requests carve-out
The IMG Taskforce is urging USCIS to exempt physicians from the premium processing ban. In a March 8 letter to the agency, the task force outlined examples of how IMGs benefit the country and described how application delays could harm patient care and impair U.S. medical institutions.
“The hope is that this would encourage a review and a rethink of that shift and that upon that review, H-1B cap exempt petitions would across the board be considered for continued premium processing,” Ms. Harris said in an interview. “And/or, perhaps a greater lead time than merely 4 weeks’ notice [would be granted] so that people may be able complete their obligations.”
A group of U.S. senators also has requested that USCIS reconsider the premium processing suspension as it relates to physicians. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said that the suspension will exacerbate physician shortages, particularly in rural areas.
“The [waiver] program has helped address chronic physician shortages in rural America and other underserved areas for over two decades,” Sen. Klobuchar wrote in a March 10 letter. “We understand USCIS is facing a backlog, but USCIS has addressed this problem in the past without suspending premium processing for Conrad 30 doctors. We have every faith that USCIS can address its administrative needs without sacrificing support to this successful, time-tested program.”
Ms. Gwathmey would not comment on whether USCIS would consider an exception to the suspension for physicians. As with all affected workloads, USCIS is cognizant of processing time sensitivities for IMGs who are applying to change their status to H-1B, Ms. Gwathmey said in an interview.
“USCIS will be monitoring this workload during the coming months and will evaluate any time sensitive impacts prior to the resumption of premium processing services,” she said.
Dr. Marawan meanwhile is exhausting all efforts to keep his job offer. He is considering the option of filing an H-1B application now, before his state approval comes through, in the hopes of securing premium processing, he said. However, the option comes with a catch. Foreign doctors can file an H-1B petition without a J-1 waiver, but they can’t request a change of status from J-1 to H-1B without leaving the United States unless they have the waiver. This means if Dr. Marawan’s petition is approved by USCIS, he must go back to Egypt to apply for an H-1B visa at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.
But with increased security delays for visa applicants and reports of foreign travelers being denied entry at U.S. airports, Dr. Marawan said he is fearful.
“Once you step out [of the United States], you never know what’s going to happen,” he said. “Sometimes visas get struck. Sometimes there’s a lot of security checks. Egypt is not included in the travel ban, but it’s always hard. There’s a lot of stories of people who are rejected getting their visas for different reasons. It’s worrisome.”
