Rosen, Cortez Masto Join Colleagues in Bicameral Letter Calling on USCIS to Reverse Actions that Could Exacerbate Medical Professional Shortage

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) announced they have joined colleagues in both the United States Senate and U.S. House of Representatives in a letter to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli, requesting a reversal of the decision to suspend premium processing for employment-based visa applications for physicians.
 
“On March 20, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the immediate and temporary suspension of premium processing for all Form I-129 and I-140 petitions due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic,” wrote the Congressmembers. “This processing freeze will undoubtedly prevent these physicians from practicing in underserved areas, and at providers of high-complexity care, leaving hospitals in these areas more shortly staffed than before the onset of this national health crisis. We ask that you follow your past practice and continue to offer premium processing for physicians seeking employment-based visas—including for resident physicians serving in teaching hospitals—in order to help ensure that rural and underserved areas can continue to receive quality and continuity of care in this time of extraordinary need.”
  
Read the Congressmembers’ full letter here.

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