By Mariah Taylor

Visa processing delays are sidelining foreign physicians at hospitals and clinics across the nation, adding to staffing shortages and recruitment headaches for hospitals.

Here’s what to know.

1. In October, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services froze automatic extensions of employment authorizations for visas.

2. In December, the Trump Administration released Proclamation 10998, which implemented a full suspension of entry to the U.S. for nationals from 19 countries, and a partial suspension of entry from 20 countries. Although the travel ban does not apply to visa holders in the U.S., USCIS paused visa renewals and updates for people from those countries. This subjected more than 10,000 physician H-1B visa holders and 17,000 with J-1s, along with thousands of nurses, lab techs and other healthcare workers to the visa pause.

3. The proclamation, combined with additional enforcement actions detailed in a March 30 release from USCIS, has left thousands of foreign clinicians unable to work. Many of these clinicians work in rural and underserved areas, while nearly 21 million Americans live in areas where foreign-trained physicians account for at least half of all physicians.

4. Some foreign physicians have waited months for an update on their application, even after their hospital paid a $2,965 fee to fast-track their applications so they would receive it in two weeks. Some physicians said that USCIS has requested years’ worth of pay stubs or additional proof of medical licenses.

5. Because most medical residencies begin or end in the summer, a wave of physician visas are expected to expire within weeks, forcing foreign physicians to miss fellowship deadlines, forgo jobs or be sidelined from their current position while waiting for renewal. Physicians on H-1Bs, a visa for highly skilled workers, can keep treating patients for 240 days after their visa expires, but that date is passing for many.

6. A letter was sent in February to the Department of Homeland Security asking that foreign medical degrees be exempt from the visa pause. The letter details the patient impact of the delayed renewals, citing one physician who worked in an underserved area that had to stop seeing patients due to the slow visa process, leaving over 900 patients without proper access to care.

7. Foreign-trained physicians are rallying against the delays and dozens of lawsuits have been filed in federal court.

8. USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser said that the Biden administration failed to adequately screen foreigners, requiring more scrutiny on “countries with poor records on their citizens. USCIS has paused all adjudications for aliens from President Trump’s designated high-risk countries while we work to ensure they are vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”

9. USCIS is funded by processing fees, so agency remains open despite DHS being shut down due to the funding impasse in Congress.