50,000 Visas for RNs and PTs

Section 502 of the Iraq Appropriations Bill (H.R.1268) provides that AC-21 is amended to recapture 50,000 lost immigrant visas for Registered Nurses, Physical Therapists and their spouses and children..

SEC. 502. VISAS FOR NURSES. Section 106(d) of the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-313; 8 U.S.C. 1153 note) is amended–

(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting before the period at the end of the second sentence “and any such visa that is made available due to the difference between the number of employment-based visas that were made available in fiscal year 2001, 2002, 2003, or 2004 and the number of such visas that were actually used in such fiscal year shall be available only to employment-based immigrants (and their family members accompanying or following to join under section 203(d) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(d))) whose immigrant worker petitions were approved based on schedule A, as defined in section 656.5 of title 20, Code of Federal Regulations, as promulgated by the Secretary of Labor”;

(2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking “and 2000” and inserting “through 2004”; and

(3) in paragraph (2), by amending subparagraph (B) to read as follows:

“(B)(i) REDUCTION.–The number described in subparagraph (A) shall be reduced, for each fiscal year after fiscal year 2001, by the cumulative number of immigrant visas actually used under paragraph (1) for previous fiscal years.

“(ii) MAXIMUM.–The total number of visas made available under paragraph (1) from unused visas from the fiscal years 2001 through 2004 may not exceed 50,000.”.