Washington: Citing a shortage of physicians in the US, two lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan legislation to speed-up visa approval for Indian and Pakistani doctors slated to work at US hospitals.
Called the Grant Residency for Additional Doctors (GRAD) Act of 2015, the legislation introduced by Democrat Grace Meng and Republican Tom Emmer, both members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, would direct the State Department to speed up the visa approval process for international physicians.
The lawmakers say “currently, foreign physicians scheduled to serve their residencies at American hospitals are encountering extremely long delays in obtaining J-1 visas from US Embassies in their countries, particularly in India and Pakistan”.
The J-1 is a temporary non-immigrant visa that foreign physicians use to work in US medical residency programmes.
The holdups have resulted in major dilemmas for those doctors and the US hospitals — many in rural and underserved communities — at which the physicians are set to work, they said.
In many instances, the delays have forced hospitals to withdraw offers from foreign physicians who had already accepted.
“The excessive delays in approving visas for international physicians is causing unnecessary havoc for those doctors and the American hospitals that are depending on them,” said Meng.
“This ineffective approval process must be improved so that these doctors can enter the US as planned, and provide the critical medical care needed in many communities throughout the country,” she said.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
