On December 26, 2006, the USCIS published a new interoffice memorandum which reauthorized the H-1C Program under the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act of 2005. Following is the specific information:

1. Purpose
The purpose of this memorandum is to notify U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officers that the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act of 1999 (NRDAA) has been reauthorized for an additional three years and to inform the officers of the effect of this extension on the adjudication of Form I-129 for H-1C nurses.

2. Background
The Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act of 1999 (NRDAA) established the H-1C Program to reduce the shortage of qualified nurses in health professional shortage areas. NRDAA allowed qualified hospitals to employ temporary foreign workers as registered nurses for up to three years under the H-1C visas. NRDAA expired on June 13, 2005.

3. Public Law 109-423
On December 20, 2006, with the enactment of Pub.L. 109-423, Congress reauthorized the H-1C program for an additional three years. The elements of the program are unaffected. The provisions take effect immediately and the revisions to the regulations will follow. The reauthorization expires on December 20, 2009.

4. Procedural Impact
In accordance with previous practice, all I-129 petitions for the H-1C classification will be adjudicated exclusively by the Vermont Service Center.

To qualify for H1C status, the beneficiary must:

* Have an unrestricted nurse’s license in his/her home country, or have received nursing education in the United States;

* Have passed the CGFNS or have a full and unrestricted license to practice as a registered nurse in the state of intended employment; and

* Be fully qualified and eligible under all state laws and regulations to practice as a registered nurse in the state of intended employment immediately upon admission to the United States.

To qualify as a sponsoring employer of H1C nurses, a hospital must make the following attestation to the Department of Labor:

* The facility was a hospital located in a designated health professional shortage area as of March 31, 1997, and (for the cost-reporting period beginning during fiscal year 1994) had at least 190 licensed acute care beds with at least 35 percent of its acute care patients entitled to Medicare, and at least 28 percent entitled to Medicaid, thereby meeting the definition of “subsection (d) hospital” found in the Social Security Act;

* Employment of the H1C nurse will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed nurses;

* The H1C nurse will be paid the same wages as other similarly employed nurses;

* The facility has taken and is taking timely and “significant steps” to recruit and retain U.S. citizen or eligible immigrant nurses;

* There is no strike or lockout in the course of a labor dispute, the facility did not and will not lay off a registered nurse employed by the employer within the 90-day period before or after the filing of the H1C petition, and the employment of the H1C nurse is not intended or designed to influence an election for a bargaining representative for registered nurses at the facility;

* Notice of the H1C petition has been provided to the designated union bargaining representative or, if there is no bargaining representative, has been posted in conspicuous places within the facility;

* H1C nurses at the facility will never number more than one-third of the total registered nursing staff; and

* The H1C nurse will not work at a worksite other than a worksite controlled by the petitioning facility, or transfer from one worksite to another.

Under the NRDAA, “significant steps,” as used in item 4 above, may include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Establishing a training program for nurses at the facility or participating in a program elsewhere;

2. Providing career development programs to encourage other health care workers to become registered nurses;

3. Paying registered nurses at a rate higher than the prevailing wage; and

4. Providing registered nurses with reasonable opportunities for meaningful salary advancement.