(a) Purpose. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended
by the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act of 1999, establishes
the H-1C nonimmigrant visa program to provide qualified nursing
professionals for narrowly defined health professional shortage areas.
Subpart L of this part sets forth the procedure by which facilities
seeking to use nonimmigrant registered nurses must submit attestations
to the Department of Labor demonstrating their eligibility to
participate as facilities, their wages and working conditions for
nurses, their efforts to recruit and retain United States workers as
registered nurses, the absence of a strike/lockout or layoff,
notification of nurses, and the numbers of and worksites where H-1C
nurses will be employed. Subpart M of this part sets forth complaint,
investigation, and penalty provisions with respect to such
attestations.
(b) Procedure. The INA establishes a procedure for facilities to
follow in seeking admission to the United States for, or use of,
nonimmigrant nurses under H-1C visas. The procedure is designed to
reduce reliance on nonimmigrant nurses in the future, and calls for the
facility to attest, and be able to demonstrate in the course of an
investigation, that it is taking timely and significant steps to
develop, recruit, and retain U.S. nurses. Subparts L and M of this part
set forth the specific requirements of those procedures.
(c) Applicability. (1) Subparts L and M of this part apply to all
facilities that seek the temporary admission or use of H-1C
nonimmigrants as registered nurses.
(2) During the period that the provisions of Appendix 1603.D.4 of
Annex 1603 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) apply,
subparts L and M of this part shall apply to the entry of a
nonimmigrant who is a citizen of Mexico under the provisions of section
D of Annex 1603 of NAFTA. Therefore, the references in this part to
``H-1C nurse'' apply to such nonimmigrants who are classified by INS as
``TN.''
