Coalition, including AHA, urges DHS to exempt foreign medical graduates from ‘duration of status’ designation changes

The AHA and a coalition of 42 national organizations yesterday urged the Department of Homeland Security to exempt international medical graduates with J-1 visas from changes to the agency's "duration of status" designation. Current policy allows those individuals to stay in the U.S. for the duration of their training program. Under the new proposal, stays would be limited to fixed periods lasting no longer than four years, followed by recurring extensions. The organizations made a series of recommendations to DHS, including maintaining the current designation or aligning initial J-1 admission with the full training plan to avoid mid-program stay extensions; permitting J-1 physicians to continue working without interruption the entire period a stay extension is under review; retaining the 60-day F-visa grace period; and offering predictable premium processing for physician-related stay extensions.

The AHA also weighed in separately on this issue in a letter to DHS.