"Hundreds of foreign doctors about to complete training in the U.S. will have to leave the country if the federal government doesn't rapidly process their visa waiver applications, which have been languishing since the fall and winter."
"The waiver program, run by the Department of Health and Human Services, allows physicians who aren't U.S. citizens to stay in the country while transitioning from the visa they used during their training to temporary worker status."
"It will be the patients that suffer the most because in about three months, there's going to be hundreds of places that are not going to have a physician that should have."
"In recent years, the HHS program reviewed waiver applications in one to three weeks, but it currently has a backlog of hundreds of applications, which still need to be reviewed by the State Department and approved by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services."
The US health care system is heavily dependent on foreign-born professionals, especially in underserved areas. Hundreds of foreign doctors nearing the end of their training face potential deportation due to delays in processing their visa waiver applications. The waiver allows non-citizen physicians to remain in the US while transitioning to temporary worker status in exchange for a commitment to serve in underserved communities. A significant backlog in application processing threatens to leave many facilities without necessary medical staff, impacting patient care.
Read at Truthout
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