HWRA CO-SPONSOR LIST GROWS AND GROWS
June 3, 2020
Supportfor the HealthcareWorkforce Resilience Act continues to grow. In the Senate, co-sponsorship of S. 3599 hasgrown to 26 Senators. Several otherswill be announced shortly. Overone-quarter of all Senators in just a month. Sen. Perdue (R-GA), Sen. Durbin (D-IL) and their teams deserve enormouscredit for moving so quickly to garner support.
Inthe House, HR 6788 now has 29 co-sponsors. In both chambers, the measure is entirely bipartisan. Likewise, Rep. Schneider (D-IL) and Rep. Cole(R-OK) and their staffs merit great praise from the community.
USCIS REINSTATES PREMIUM PROCESSING
June 1, 2020
Beginning Monday, June 1, 2020, the USCIS will reinstatepremium processing on certain applications. Below is a list of case types and the date onwhich premium processing will be reinstated.
June 1 – All I-140s, except those on behalf ofMultinational Managers / Executives and National Interest Waivers can be filed foror upgraded to premium processing. (NOTE– I-140s on behalf of Multinational Managers / Executives and National InterestWaivers have never been allowed to file under premium processing.)
June 8 – Cap-exempt H-1B petitions that were filedbefore June 8 can be upgraded to premium processing. Typical cap-exempt H-1B petitions include:
· H-1B extensions
· H-1B amendments
· H-1B transfers
· H-1B petitions filed on behalf of cap-exemptentities such as research facilities and universities.
June 15 – Cap-exempt H-1Bs filed on or after June15 can be filed for premium processing
June 22 – All other H-1Bs petitions, includingH-1B cap cases selected in April 2020 can be filed for or upgraded to premiumprocessing.
US NURSING SUPPLY IS AT A CRISIS
May 29, 2020
Nursing supply was already at atipping point before the COVID-19 crisis. The US was struggling to satisfy rising demand in the face of adecade-long and acute nursing shortage, which was projected to balloon to 200,000unfilled positions this year. TheCOVID-19 crisis has exasperated an already overwhelming shortage.
The HWRAis legislation that will increase the supply of nurses and doctors into theUS. These two occupations are among theshortest supplied occupations by US workers.
The US nursing crisiswill only get worse:
- Whilethe crisis is abating in some areas of the country, a COVID-19 vaccine is notexpected for 18 months. Spikesin infection rates will continue until the vaccine is developed.
- CDC Director Robert Redfield fears that the virus’s continued assaulton our nation next winter could “actually be even more difficult than the one we justwent through.” Hecontinued, "and when I've said this to others, they kind of put their headback, they don't understand what I mean."
- Likewise, during the 1918Spanish Flu pandemic some areas in the country did not reach their peaks untilthe following November. The secondwave was much more deadly than the first wave.
- Infection peaks have notyet happened in most of the country. Seven of the eight counties with the most infections are all in New York. While New York appears to have finallyhit its peak, that state is an outlier.
- Other countries have notyet reached an infection peak. Asinternational travel comes back on line, it is expected that US infection rateswill re-emerge.
- Maldistribution ofhealthcare workers means that grave nursing shortages exist in some localitiesand specialties. For instance, employersof dialysis nurses have seen their national shortage triple in the just eightweeks. New York area hospitals areoffering pay rates at 2 to 4 times a nurse’s usual salary, inan effort to attract nurses from other areas of the country.
- Nursing schools areforcing rushedgraduations in an effort to put nurses immediately onto hospital rosters. States are even waiving licensingrequirements in an effort to get as many healthcare workers to work asquickly as possible.
- We know based on theexperience of other countries that the coronavirus is a caregivers' illness. InItaly's Lombardy region, one of the country's hardest-hit, as much as 10percent of all nurses and doctors have been infected and placed inquarantine. Italyis now desperately calling on retried healthcare workers to join theirfight.
JUNE 2020 VISA BULLETIN: PROGRESS FOR PHILS AND WW EB-3; EB-1
May 21, 2020
The Department of State hasjust issued the June 2020 Visa Bulletin. This is the ninth VisaBulletin of Fiscal Year 2020. This blog post analyzes this month's VisaBulletin.
June 2020 Visa Bulletin
Table A: Final Action Dates-- Applications with these dates may be approved for their Green Card(Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment.
| Employment- based | All Other | CHINA | INDIA | PHILIPPINES |
| 1st | C | 15AUG17 | 08JUN16 | C |
| 2nd | C | 01NOV15 | 12JUN09 | C |
| 3rd | 08NOV17 | 15JUN16 | 01APR09 | 08NOV17 |
MU Law Analysis
This was anothereagerly anticipated Visa Bulletin. TheDOS moved the Philippines and Worldwide EB-3 ahead by 10 months,which is encouraging. The Indian andChinese EB-3 dates moved ahead one month, which is also a promising sign.It would not surprise us to see another big progression in the July VisaBulletin, especially for the Philippines and Worldwide EB-3s.
The EB-1 movements were also reassuring. India EB-1 progressed 10 months. China EB-1 advanced by a month. The Indian and Chinese EB-2 dates alsomoved ahead, with India progressing by 10 days and China by one month. These progressions could mean that more visanumbers flow down to other categories.
MU continues to believe that the StateDepartment should be accelerating these dates at a faster rate and will need toaggressively accelerate the dates in the next few months in order to ensurethat all visas are used in fiscal year 2020. We have said this for several months. Very few immigrant visas have been issued inthe last 60 days because of the COVID-19 crisis.
Conspiracy rumors are out there. Some are speculating that the White House is interfering andillegally holding back progressions. The State Department did not include anycomments at the end of the Visa Bulletin. This lack of transparency from the State Department is feeding thespeculation. At the very least the StateDepartment should explain how it expect to use this year’s full allotment ofimmigrant visas.
TWENTY HOUSE CO-SPONSORS ON HR 6788 (HWRA)
May 20, 2020
Everyone has been working hard to drumup support for the HWRA in the Senate. We have not however forgotten about the Houseand bill HR 6788. We are pleased toannounce that the bill now has 20 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives.We continue to have a bipartisan mix of House members from both the Democratsand Republicans, which is the best way to advance this important legislation.
Rep. Cole, Tom [R-OK-4]*
Rep. Finkenauer, Abby [D-IA-1]*
Rep. Bacon, Don [R-NE-2]*
Rep. Rose, Max [D-NY-11]
Rep. Woodall, Rob [R-GA-7]
Rep. Cox, TJ [D-CA-21]
Rep. O'Halleran, Tom [D-AZ-1]
Rep. Swalwell, Eric [D-CA-15]
Rep. Yoho, Ted S. [R-FL-3]
Rep. Khanna, Ro [D-CA-17]
Rep. Meng, Grace [D-NY-6]
Rep. Peters, Scott H. [D-CA-52]
Rep. Moolenaar, John R. [R-MI-4]
Rep. Stewart, Chris [R-UT-2]
Rep. Brooks, Susan W. [R-IN-5]
Rep. Blunt Rochester, Lisa [D-DE-At Large]
Rep. Johnson, Eddie Bernice [D-TX-30]
Rep. Hayes, Jahana [D-CT-5]
Rep. Hartzler, Vicky [R-MO-4]
Rep. Bishop, Sanford D., Jr. [D-GA]
FOURTEEN SENATE CO-SPONSORS ON HWRA S.3599
May 15, 2020
Everyone has been working hard behindthe scenes to drum up support for the HWRA. We are pleased to announce that the bill now has 14 co-sponsors in the Senate. We continue to have a bipartisan mix of Senators from both the Democratsand Republicans, which is the best way to advance this important legislation. In addition to Sen. Perdue (R-GA), we have:
Cosponsor |
HWRA HOUSE BILL FORMALLY INTRODUCED
May 11, 2020
Members Brad Schneider (D-IL), Tom Cole (R-OK), Abby Finkenauer(D-IA), and Don Bacon (R-NE) introduced the HWRA into the US House ofRepresentatives on May 8, 2020. This isthe House version of Senate bill S. 3599. As with the Senate co-sponsors, this isanother strong, bipartisan group of Representatives who are doing right by USpatients and valuing the contributions of hard-working immigrants.
If enacted, the HWRA would:
-Grantvisas to doctors (15,000), nurses (25,000), and their families (unreserved);
-ExemptHWRA visas from the per-country cap;
-InstructDHS and DOS to prioritize these visa appointments so that these fully-qualifiednurses can enter the US as fast as their visa appointments can be scheduled;and
-Mandatethat employers attest that these immigrants will not displace an Americanworker.
HWRA FORMALLY INTRODUCED AND ASSIGNED S.3599
May 6, 2020
MusilloUnkenholt is pleased to report that the Healthcare WorkforceResilience Act hasbeen introduced into the Senate and assigned S. 3599.
Thebill is up to six co-sponsors!
ThreeRepublicans: David Perdue (GA), Todd Young (IN), and John Cornyn (TX).
ThreeDemocrats: Dick Durbin (IL), Chris Coons (DE), and Patrick Leahy (VT).
Weexpect to continue to grow this strong base of original co-sponsors. We shortly will be announcing a companionbill in the House, with another impressive group of House members.
Youmay want to follow us on Facebook or Twitter for breaking news on thisimportant bill.
MUon Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MusilloUnkenholtLLC/
HEALTHCARE WORKFORCE RESILIENCE ACT FAQ
May 4, 2020
MusilloUnkenholt is pleased to report that the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act hasbeen introduced into Congress. The HWRAis smart, positive legislation that will increasing the supply of nurses anddoctors into the US. These twooccupations are among the shortest supplied occupations by US workers. Musillo Unkenholt and the AAIHR have been working closely with theseoffices for the last two months, assisting congressional staffers in draftingthis legislation.
Thisis our FAQ about the legislation.
Howdoes this help nurses and doctors currently in retrogression?
Ifthe HWRA becomes law, all nurses and doctors whose visa applications arecurrently retrogressed immediately become current. Likewise, any nurse or doctor whose I-140 isfiled any time before 90 days after PresidentTrump’s Emergency Declaration on COVID-19 also receives aretrogression-free visa, although there is an overall quota of 25,000 for RNsand 15,000 for MDs.
Whatis retrogression?
Thereare thousands of fully qualified nurses and doctors who have been approved for US greencards but who are not in the US because of “visa retrogression.” “Visa retrogression” is when a fullyqualified visa applicant has to wait for a visa to become available because theEB-3 visa category is oversubscribed. Right now, fully qualified Philippine and worldwide nurses must wait fouryears for a visa appointment because of the visa retrogression. Indian nurses and doctors have a twelve year wait.
Thislegislation prioritizes fully qualified nurses and doctors by utilizing a portion of thehundreds of thousands of visas that have been authorized by Congress but havegone unused.
Doesthis legislation add any visas into the quota?
No. Thislegislation does not add visas to the overall visa quotas. Likewise, it does not take visas from anyother occupation.
TheHWRA uses visas that Congress had previously authorized, but had gone unusedfrom 1992-2020.
Canspouse and children also receive immigrant visas?
Yes. Spouse and under-21 children obtain visas atthe same time as the nurse. They mayalso follow to join. These familymembers do not count against the overall 25,000 RN and 15,000 MD visa quota.
Arethese nurses qualified to work in the US?
Absolutely. Before any nurse can enter the US, the nursemust have:
(i) Passed the US nursing licensing exam;
(ii) Graduated from a university that isequivalent to a US nursing school;
(iii) Passed an English fluency examination; and
(iv) A spotless overseas nursing license.
Whatprotections are there for US labor?
Before the visais issued, the employer must attest that the foreign trained nurse “has notdisplaced and will not displace a United States worker.’’