| H-1C Registered Nurses in Disadvantaged
Areas
This category replaces and repeals the H-1A
category established by the Immigration Nursing Relief Act
of 1989 (INRA). The new nonimmigrant classification for nurses,
H-1C, was established by section 2 of the Nursing Relief for
Disadvantaged Areas Act of 1999 (NRDAA). The purpose of this
provision is to make foreign nurses available for work in
medical facilities located in areas currently underserved
by registered nurses. It limits H-1C nurses to a three-year
stay with no extension and sets a cap of five-hundred (500)
new H-1C nurses per year with a limit of 25-50 visas per state
depending on population. This category will sunset four (4)
years from the promulgation of regulations. Although this
category is modeled after the old H-1A category, its extreme
limitations (500 cap, 25-50 per state cap, a limited list
of hospitals that can petition and a four-year sunset) make
its application very impractical.
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