Foreign health care professionals must apply for VisaScreen
Deadline nears to comply with new regulation
By DEBORAH A. MILES
Because of a new immigration regulation, nurses and most other health care professionals who are foreign nationals will need additional certification, a VisaScreen certificate, to qualify for certain occupational visas. This includes workers with “TN” visas from Canada and Mexico.
Workers who do not obtain the necessary certification will be denied re-entry into the U.S. if they leave the country. The requirement does not affect
physicians.
It applies to physical therapists, occupational therapists, medical laboratory technicians, medical technologists (scientists), speech language pathologists/audiologists, and physician assistants who work in a clinical health care occupation.
The regulation became effective September 23, 2003, but a final rule allowed for a transition period to obtain a VisaScreen certificate up to July 25, 2004.
“This will effect many PEF nurses,” said PEF Region 1 Coordinator Joyce Degenhardt. “At Roswell Park Cancer Institute, there are 32 nurses and nurse practitioners who have to apply for the VisaScreen certificate. We are advising them this is a new requirement and it’s their responsibility to comply if they work in the U.S. under certain occupational visas.”
The new regulation may affect up to 3,000 PEF nurses and other health care professionals who work downstate, according to PEF Region 11 Coordinator Jemma Marie-Hanson.
“The nurses are concerned,” Marie-Hanson said. “We are trying to provide them with information to make the process easier.”
Contact CGFNS/ICHP
The VisaScreen certificate can be obtained from the federal Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) through a new division called the International Commission on Healthcare Professionals (ICHP), which administers VisaScreen.
Applicants are usually required to pay $325 for the VisaScreen program. There is conflicting information concerning how long it takes to obtain the VisaScreen certificate. Degenhardt said some of the Roswell nurses who have already applied have experienced a very long processing time.
PEF strongly encourages all members affected by this new regulation to apply for their VisaScreen certificate immediately.
The VisaScreen program is comprised of an educational analysis, licensure validation, and English language proficiency assessment. Once the applicant has successfully completed all elements of the program, there is a complete evaluation of their professional credentials to verify that all minimum federal requirements are met.
The applicant is then awarded a VisaScreen certificate, which can be presented to a consular office, or in the case of adjustment of status, the U.S. attorney general as part of a visa application.
Applications online
For more information or to obtain an application, call 215 349-8767. To obtain an online application, go to
www.cgfns.org, click on programs and then click on VisaScreen. That Web site also provides answers to frequently asked questions about VisaScreen. Applications must be mailed to CGFNS.
PEF will also provide the details of this regulation on the nurse’s section of its Web site, when it completes an in-depth review of the regulation.
The
Communicator July/August 04
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