DHS Secretary says Obama “Fully Committed” to CIR
November 15, 2009
Regular readers of this blog know that the best chance for liberalization of Schedule A visas – registered nurses and physical therapists -- is for the language of HR 2536 to be folded into next year’s Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Sen. Schumer has taken the lead on this issue and is rumored to be working on a CIR bill.
Nevertheless there has been some skepticism about whether CIR will ever be introduced. Some, like Rep. Gutierrez are getting anxious.
This week we saw the best indication that CIR is still on schedule. In prepared remarks to the Center for American Progress, DHS Secretary Napolitano said,
“the President continues to be fully committed to reforming our immigration laws, and why he asked me to take a lead role in this effort.”
Sec. Napolitano’s plan calls for a “three-legged stool”. She continued,
“Let me be clear: when I talk about “immigration reform,” I’m referring to what I call the “three-legged stool” that includes a commitment to serious and effective enforcement, improved legal flows for families and workers, and a firm but fair way to deal with those who are already here.”
Legal changes to employment-based immigration, including improved legal flows for workers, is the only way that Schedule A visa reform can happen. We’ve seen a few indications that CIR is still set to move early next year. The Secretary’s remarks are the clearest indicated yet.
December 2009 Visa Bulletin
November 11, 2009
At some point MU expects that the Visa Bulletin numbers will progress in a meaningful way, but this month is not the month.
The December 2009 Visa Bulletin has no change in any Employment Based Visa Category, except for a slight uptick in India EB3. In the November 2009 Visa Bulletin showed 22APR01. It moved a week.
EB1: All Current
EB2: All Current, except China (01APR05) and India (22JAN05)
EB3: All 01JUN02, except India (01May01).
The one silver lining may be that, unlike in November 2009, the December 2009 did not include an explanation in the bulletin for the lack of progression in the dates. Here is November’s explanation:
E. EMPLOYMENT PREFERENCE VISA AVAILABILITY
The receipt of demand from Citizenship and Immigration Services Offices has far exceeded their earlier indications of cases eligible for immediate processing. As a result, it has been necessary to hold most of the Employment cut-off dates for November. At this time, it is not possible to provide any estimates regarding future cut-off date movements.
The December 2009 Visa Bulletin has no change in any Employment Based Visa Category, except for a slight uptick in India EB3. In the November 2009 Visa Bulletin showed 22APR01. It moved a week.
EB1: All Current
EB2: All Current, except China (01APR05) and India (22JAN05)
EB3: All 01JUN02, except India (01May01).
The one silver lining may be that, unlike in November 2009, the December 2009 did not include an explanation in the bulletin for the lack of progression in the dates. Here is November’s explanation:
E. EMPLOYMENT PREFERENCE VISA AVAILABILITY
The receipt of demand from Citizenship and Immigration Services Offices has far exceeded their earlier indications of cases eligible for immediate processing. As a result, it has been necessary to hold most of the Employment cut-off dates for November. At this time, it is not possible to provide any estimates regarding future cut-off date movements.
Increasing demand for Advance Practice Nurses
November 6, 2009
The NY Times Prescriptions blog is an excellent source for information on the Healthcare debate that is raging in the US. Congress and the President presently are debating who will qualify for health issuance, how the insurance will be funded, and how health services will be delivered.
Today’s Prescriptions’ post highlights that Nurse Practitioners will surely be a growing field in the US. As noted in the NYT blog, “the American Academy of Family Practitioners projects a shortfall of 40,000 physician generalists — family practitioners, pediatricians, general internists and geriatricians — by 2020, even without significant changes to the current health care system.” Other graduate level nursing education is also likely to be in greater demand in the next decade.
Because of this demand, and because of the relatively easy H-1B nonimmigrant visa option for Advance Practice Nurses, the safest path to US immigration is to obtain Advance Practice Certification. For staffing companies and recruiters, Advance Practice Nursing is the next need.
Today’s Prescriptions’ post highlights that Nurse Practitioners will surely be a growing field in the US. As noted in the NYT blog, “the American Academy of Family Practitioners projects a shortfall of 40,000 physician generalists — family practitioners, pediatricians, general internists and geriatricians — by 2020, even without significant changes to the current health care system.” Other graduate level nursing education is also likely to be in greater demand in the next decade.
Because of this demand, and because of the relatively easy H-1B nonimmigrant visa option for Advance Practice Nurses, the safest path to US immigration is to obtain Advance Practice Certification. For staffing companies and recruiters, Advance Practice Nursing is the next need.
H-1B Cap at 53,800
November 3, 2009
The H-1B Petition is still a valid option for many healthcare workers including PTs, OTs, SLPs, Pharmacists and some nurses. Seven months into this term’s fiscal year quota, the H-1B cap has not been reached. But that may not be the case for long.
The USCIS has reported a jump in cap-subject approvals in October. As of October 30, 2009, approximately 53,800 H-1B cap-subject petitions and approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption have been filed. The Masters quota cap effectively has been reached, although a few “extra” numbers may be released if the USCIS denies some pending Masters cap-subject cases.
Going forward, any H1-B petitions filed on behalf of an alien with an advanced degree will now count toward the general H1-B cap of 65,000. USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn.
Also, the USCIS just has announced that it will continue to accept the old Form G-28.
U.S. Jobs Outlook (Finally) Improving
October 29, 2009
Post written by Cindy Unkenholt
According to an article earlier this week that was featured on CNNMoney.com, the National Association for Business Economics is reporting that for the first time in nearly two years more employers are planning to hire, rather than cut, staff. Similarly, it was noted that more companies increased their capital spending than the number that cut spending. Unemployment is still at historically high levels, but this report is one of many signals that the worst may be over.
While this is clearly good news -- demand for Physical Therapy, Registered Nursing, Occupation Therapist, Speech Langauge Pathologists and other healthcare occupations still expect to be in great demand -- a word of caution may also be in order. An improving job market in the U.S. will likely eventually be reflected in an increase in H-1B petitions filed with the USCIS. Among the top twenty occupations predicted for significant growth were several in IT and healthcare, including: Systems Engineers, Physical Therapists, Computer/Network Security Consultants, Software Developers, and Occupational Therapists. These occupations have been common users of the H-1B program in the United States. Physical Therapists, for example, have long been designated by the U.S. Department of Labor as a national shortage occupation and recruited from abroad.
The USCIS last updated the 2010 H-1B "Cap Count" on September 25, 2009. At that time, there had been approximately 46,700 H-1B petitions filed towards the annual quota of 65,000. Most casual observers see that this is only a few thousand more than were filed as of April 1, 2009, the first day employers were able to file H-1B petitions for the current fiscal year. However, insiders believe that while the economy has significantly reduced the number of H-1B petitions being filed. There has also been a large increase in denials which has impacted the overall number of petitions counted against the quota.
As the U.S. economy and job market continue to improve, the number of H-1B filings may begin to steadily increase. In the short term, there appears to be no cause for alarm. However, if you anticipate any key hires or significant staffing increases, it may be prudent to keep your eye on the cap count in the first quarter of 2010.
FCCPT News
October 26, 2009
The Foreign Credentialing Commission on Physical Therapy (FCCPT) is one of the two US government-approved organizations that are authorized to evaluate the educational credentials of internationally-trained Physical Therapists. FCCPT has just launched a new website which is easier to use than their prior website. The new site allows for electronic tracking and reporting.
In other FCCPT news, FCCPT recently discontinued use of the Type II Certification. Now all applicants to FCCPT must obtain the Type I Certificate. FCCPT has also announced the implementation of the most current Coursework Evaluation Tool-5, for use as of July 1, 2009. Any evaluations for current standards begun after July 1, 2009 will reflect the requirements on the new tool CWT-5.
In other FCCPT news, FCCPT recently discontinued use of the Type II Certification. Now all applicants to FCCPT must obtain the Type I Certificate. FCCPT has also announced the implementation of the most current Coursework Evaluation Tool-5, for use as of July 1, 2009. Any evaluations for current standards begun after July 1, 2009 will reflect the requirements on the new tool CWT-5.
MU at ASHHRA
October 22, 2009
MU’s Chris Musillo has been selected as a Speaker at the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration’s (ASHHRA) 45th Annual Conference in Chicago. ASHHRA is the US’ premier organization exclusively dedicated to meeting the professional needs of human resources leaders in health care. More than 3,350 human resources professionals across the US are members.
The Annual Conference takes place in Chicago and runs from November 1-3, 2009. Chris’ session is Monday at 4:45 and is one of the Learning Sessions.
Chris’ talk will be on Strategic Healthcare Immigration. He will demonstrate the best practices in recruiting foreign trained RNs, PTs and other allied professionals. The session will highlight pitfalls in the process, and advise human resource professionals on how to avoid such pitfalls.
If you are attending the conference, please contact Chris if there are any specific items that you would like him to address.
The Annual Conference takes place in Chicago and runs from November 1-3, 2009. Chris’ session is Monday at 4:45 and is one of the Learning Sessions.
Chris’ talk will be on Strategic Healthcare Immigration. He will demonstrate the best practices in recruiting foreign trained RNs, PTs and other allied professionals. The session will highlight pitfalls in the process, and advise human resource professionals on how to avoid such pitfalls.
If you are attending the conference, please contact Chris if there are any specific items that you would like him to address.
The pieces are being put on the chessboard
October 18, 2009
Sometime in the next few months, the US is going to revisit its ongoing discussion on immigration reform. The leading plan seems to be for Congress to address the issue via a Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) package. CIR is expected to address many issues, including hot-button issues such as undocumented workers.
The big question is how Congress will remedy its immigration policy for healthcare workers. For some occupations, the current program is unworkable. For instance, it presently takes about 7 years for a fully qualified nurse to enter the US.
These RNs are fully qualified. They have graduated from international schools and had their education validated by US states' Boards of Nursing. They have taken and passed the US NCLEX licensure exam, and met all other individual state requirements for licensure, including passing English fluency exams. Every single RN in the queue has been offered a job by a US employer.
There is no debate that these RNs are needed in the US, in spite of the current employment condition in the US. The predictions for US nursing supply over the next decade are disastrous.
The IT community recognizes a similar set of fundamentals in their industry. Recently, the Semiconductor Industry of America (SIA) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) co-authored a letter to the ranking members of the Congressional Subcommittee on Immigration. The letter calls for sensible immigration reform, including reforming quotas to match the needs of all interested parties. One of the aims is to reduce the enormous visa wait times for green cards for qualified workers. These reforms will also help healthcare workers, such as RNs. The healthcare industry continues to work the issue as well.
Wexler to resign
October 15, 2009
Rep. Wexler (D-FL) is expected to resign his Congressional seat. He expected to leave Congress in order to work for a nonprofit whose aim is to promote peace in the Middle East.
Rep. Wexler is the primary sponsor of HR 2536, the Emergency Nursing Supply Relief Act. HR 2536 has failed to gain traction in Congress this term, garnering only 4 co-sponsors. Last term a similar bill had over 20 co-sponsors.
The news isn’t as dire as it might seem. The most likely positive scenario is that the ENSRA is folded into Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Charles Schumer (D-NY) had planned to introduce CIR legislation in September. He has since changed tact and wants to first get GOP support for a possible bipartisan bill. He is working behind the scenes to do so.
Rep. Wexler is the primary sponsor of HR 2536, the Emergency Nursing Supply Relief Act. HR 2536 has failed to gain traction in Congress this term, garnering only 4 co-sponsors. Last term a similar bill had over 20 co-sponsors.
The news isn’t as dire as it might seem. The most likely positive scenario is that the ENSRA is folded into Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Charles Schumer (D-NY) had planned to introduce CIR legislation in September. He has since changed tact and wants to first get GOP support for a possible bipartisan bill. He is working behind the scenes to do so.