Dear Readers:
After a long hiatus, the Visalaw.com Healthcare Newsletter is back. We look forward to resuming our coverage of the range of immigration issues that affect the health care industry. 2015 should be an interesting year in the field. The Conrad 30 J-1 program expires in September and Congress will need to pass legislation to extend it. Will they do a short extension with no changes to the program or a permanent reauthorization with the program improvements called for in several bills introduced in the last few years? The President promised “Visa Modernization” in the executive actions announced on November 20th of last year. In January, the Department of Homeland Security asked the public for suggestions on ways to improve immigration processing and specifically called for ideas for improving health care immigration. I’m happy to have been involved with drafting suggestions for the IMG Taskforce and hope some of these make their way in to practice.
2015 also marks another year where we are working under the ridiculously inadequate H-1B quota of 65,000. That number was set in 1990 and has remained the same for the last quarter century. As the economy continues to grow, the lack of numbers will really show this year as the numbers are used up instantly at the opening of the H-1B filing season in April and will be released in a lottery with possibly longer odds than ever. Congress will considered skilled worker legislation this year, but whether they can get past the usual politics that have prevented any skilled worker reforms for the past decade is certainly an open question. This month, we cover the H-1B cap and what alternatives are available to professionals unable to get one of the precious visa numbers during the April filing frenzy.
I also would like to introduce readers to MDVisajobs.com. This is a job site for physicians and employers that Siskind Susser has developed to more efficiently match up doctors needing visas with employers interested in sponsoring them. We’ve made sure to ask doctors and employers questions that are relevant to determining immigration eligibility and Siskind Susser lawyers are reviewing each physician and job opportunity to offer an immigration opinion. Employers will be able to understand the particular immigration needs of the doctor and a doctor will be able to determine exactly what types of visa sponsorship an employer is able to offer. We’re offering this service completely for free and hope it is a game changer in physician recruitment.
Regards,
Greg Siskind
Disclaimer: This newsletter is provided as a public service and not intended to establish an attorney client relationship. Any reliance on information contained herein is taken at your own risk.