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At the urging of the AHA, the State Department this week said that because of the emergence of the COVID-19 delta variant and continued demand for health care professionals, U.S. embassies and consulates were instructed that they may prioritize “as emergencies on a case-by-case basis the immigrant visa cases of certain health care professionals who will work at a facility engaged in pandemic response.”  

Health care professionals who will work at a facility engaged in COVID-19 response and have an approved U.S. immigrant visa petition with a current priority date for an Immediate Relative, Family Preference, or Employment-Based Preference case may review the website of their nearest U.S. embassy or consulate for procedures to request an emergency visa appointment. More details are included on the State Department’s .

The AHA in June urged the State Department to give foreign-trained nurses seeking immigrant visas priority for processing to solve the backlog of immigrant visas for eligible foreign-trained nurses.

“There has never been a more urgent need for the care that foreign-trained nurses provide than during the current COVID-19 pandemic and its looming aftermath,” AHA wrote. “These professionals play critical roles in ensuring the health of the communities we serve. … Foreign-trained nurses do not displace American workers. At the same time, the demand for nurses continues to grow. Many foreign-trained nurses are recruited to rural and inner-city hospitals, locations that find it more difficult to recruit domestically.”