Overview

In 1996, Congress passed a law creating a new ground of inadmissibility for foreign health care workers by requiring that they obtain a certificate verifying that their education, training, licensing and experience are comparable to that required of American health care workers and that their level of competence in oral and written English is appropriate for the kind of health care work in which they will be engaged. Since it's enactment, this law only applied to immigrant workers while nonimmigrants were given a waiver from the certification requirement.

On July 25, 2003, the Department of Homeland Security published a final rule announcing that foreign health care workers seeking temporary admission to the U.S. will need to comply with the certification requirements. The new law becomes effective September 23, 2003, however, the provision that removes the waiver of the certification requirement for nonimmigrants is effective July 26, 2004.

Professions subject to the Health Care Certification Requirements

The occupations affected by the certification requirement are nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, medical technologists, medical technicians and physician assistants. All nonimmigrant work visa categories are subject to the certification requirement, including the H-1B visa and the TN visa. Foreign nationals coming to the U.S. for training purposes are not subject to the new requirements.

Health Care Workers Trained in the United States

Although health care workers trained in the U.S. are not exempt from the certification requirement, a "streamline process" has been implemented for those individuals. The educational comparability and English proficiency components of the certification requirement are met if the nonimmigrant graduated from certain accredited programs. In particular:

(1) For occupational therapists, graduation from a program
accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy
Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association
(AOTA);

(2) For physical therapists, graduation from a program accredited
by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education
(CAPTE) of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA); and

(3) For speech language pathologists and audiologists, graduation
from a program accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in
Audiology and Speech Language Pathology (CAA) of the American Speech-
Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).

Teressa Accurso Dickman
Law Offices of Teressa Accurso Dickman, P.A.
www.ImmigratingToAmerica.com

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