A new bill (S. 3599) introduced May 5, 2020, in the U.S. Senate would reallocate previously authorized, unused immigrant visas for 25,000 nurses and 15,000 doctors, and family members, to alleviate shortages. The filing period under the bipartisan Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act would be limited to 90 days after termination of the President’s COVID-19 emergency declaration.
Such visas, to be processed on an expedited basis, would not be subject to per-country numerical limitations and would be issued in order of the priority date assigned at the time the visa petition was filed.
The bill’s final provisions and passage in the short term remain uncertain, as the House of Representatives is not in session.
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