H-1C Nonimmigrant Nurse Classification Expires

The H-1C nonimmigrant nurse category expired on December 21, 2009. The classification authorized the admission of up to 500 nurses annually to work in eligible health care facilities. After the original 1999 statutory authorization of the program expired in 2005, Congress reauthorized it for three years beginning December 20, 2006, in the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Reauthorization Act of 2005. The statutory authority for the program has not been extended.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services noted that this expiration does not affect the ability of H-1C nurses currently in status to continue employment during their authorized period of stay, the authority of USCIS to adjudicate a petition properly filed on or before December 21, 2009, or the eligibility of the beneficiary of an approved H-1C petition to be admitted to the U.S. as an H-1C nonimmigrant.