The Conrad State 20 waiver program which permits foreign physicians subject to the J-1 visa two year home residency requirement to obtain a waiver of the requirement with the sponsorship of a state’s health agency, expired on June 1, 1996. However, the United States Information Agency has confirmed through Assistant General Counsel Bill Olthausen that the agency will continue to honor waiver requests under the program for all physicians who entered the US in J-1 status prior to June 1, 1996. Since J-1 physicians may enter the US for up to seven years, this effectively means the Conrad 20 program will continue well into the next millennium regardless of whether Congress renews the program.
Congress is expected, however, to extend the Conrad 20 program until at least the year 2002. Such a provision is in the immigration bill currently being considered in the House/Senate Conference committee (see this month’s Legislative Update article) as well as the major health care reform bill being considered by Congress. The same bills also would take the three year employment provisions in the Conrad 20 Program and apply them to all Interested Government Agencies writing support letters for J-1 visa holders who seek positions in Health Care Provider Shortage Areas. These agencies include, but are not limited to, the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
On a related note, at the American Immigration Lawyers Association conference in Phoenix in late June, the General Counsel for the USIA reported that the major Interested Government Agencies listed above have been meeting regularly concerning physician waivers and the USIA will soon be issuing new regulations in this area. The regulations will have two major effects – the standardization of the format for waiver requests for foreign medical graduates (except for Veterans Administration cases) and a bar on physicians seeking multiple agency sponsorship for waivers.
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