The H-1A visa was a visa that was previously available to foreign nationals seeking temporary employment in the United States. These visas were made available to foreign nurses coming into the United States to perform services as a registered nurse in areas with a shortage of health professionals as determined by the Department of Labor.[1] The creation of this visa was prompted by a nursing shortage.[2]
The H-1A nurse program, enacted by the Nursing Relief Act of 1989, expired on September 1, 1995.[3] [4] The last H-1A visas were issued in Fiscal Year 2000. The visa was succeeded by the H-1C visa, created in 1999.[5] [6] The H-1C program expired in 2009.[7]
This non-immigrant/temporary worker classification was introduced by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in 1989 to specifically address the lack of nurses in the United States.[2]
All H visas require an offer of employment from a U.S. employer, and proof that the wage to be paid is comparable to other positions in that occupation.
To qualify for an H-1A visa, one must submit:[1]
The Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, must be filed by a U.S. employer hospital that has received a notice of acceptance of the attestation for H-1A Nonimmigrant Nurses from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The Form I-129 must include the following documents:[8]
Temporary visas in the H classification are subject to numerical limitations imposed by Congress. These annual limits are applied at the time of Form I-129 approval, not when somebody seeks admission to the United States.
There were several restrictions placed on this visa during its implementation and valid period:
Prior to 1989, there was a single H-1 category used for skilled workers, with no separate category for nurses.
On March 20, 1989, Chuck Schumer sponsored the Immigration Nursing Relief Act in the United States House of Representatives as H.R. 1507.[2] It was introduced again to the House and Senate on September 13, 1989. The Act was passed on December 18, 1989, by the 101st United States Congress as P.L. 101-238.[4] [9] The Act had two main parts:
The H-1A category was permitted to sunset on September 1, 1995, with some nurses granted extensions in the category through September 30, 1997.[3] On November 12, 1999, the category was replaced by the newer, more restrictive, H-1C visa.[5] [6] The last H-1A visas were issued in Fiscal Year 2000.
The H-1C category expired in December 2009,[7] with the last H-1C visas issued in Fiscal Year 2012.
Below are H-1A visas issued each year as released by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs. Years here are fiscal years, so for instance the year 1993 refers to the time period from October 1, 1992, to September 30, 1993. A "N/A" indicates that data is not available; this is because country-level data became available only starting from Fiscal Year 1997.[10]
| Year | Total number of visas issued | Number of visas issued to each country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 2 | N/A | |
| 1991 | 7443 | N/A | |
| 1992 | 7377 | N/A | |
| 1993 | 6388 | N/A | |
| 1994 | 6441 | N/A | |
| 1995 | 7261 | N/A | |
| 1996 | 1745 | N/A | |
| 1997 | 61 | 32 in Philippines, 4 in South Africa, 3 in Nigeria, 2 in Australia, 2 in mainland China, 2 in India, 1 in Marshall Islands, 1 in Niger, 1 in Norway, 1 in Panama, 1 in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 1 in the United Kingdom, 1 in Zimbabwe, 2 unknown | |
| 1998 | 18 | 3 in mainland China, 3 in Spain, 2 in South Africa, 1 in Australia, 1 in Chile, 1 in Greece, 1 in India, 1 in Pakistan, 1 in Philippines, 1 in Slovakia, 1 in the United Kingdom, 1 in Venezuela | |
| 1999 | 5 | 1 in mainland China, 1 in Croatia, 1 in France, 1 in Mexico, 1 in Senegal | |
| 2000 | 2 | 1 in Colombia, 1 in Germany |