Requirements for Waiver for Clinical Care

Topics on this page:

• General Requirements
• Physician Eligibility
• Facility Eligibility
• Note to Employers
• Application Package
• Important Reminder

General Requirements

See "Waiver of the Two-Year Foreign Residency Requirement of the Exchange Visitor Program," published in the Federal Register on December 19, 2002, for HHS rules that govern requests for waivers for service in underserved areas.

Physician Eligibility

HHS will process an application for waiver for a physician to practice in a primary care specialty (family medicine, general internal medicine, general pediatrics, obstetrics & gynecology) or general psychiatry.

Facility Eligibility

In order to target communities and populations with the greatest need for primary care and mental health services, HHS will only process an application for waiver from a facility in or with a health professional shortage area (HPSA) score of 07 or higher. Furthermore, a facility in a HPSA that scores 07 or higher must be one of the following:

• A health center as defined under Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act, and which is receiving a grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration under this section;
• A rural health clinic as defined under Sections 1102 and 1871 of the Social Security Act; or
• A Native American/Alaskan Native tribal medical facility as defined by the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (P.L. 93-638).

These are the only facilities from which HHS will accept an application; it is not known how many of these facilities are recruiting or are interested in recruiting a J-1 physician.

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Note to Employers

If you have a position posted on the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Opportunities List, you may only offer that position to a J-1 visa physician in the event that it remains unfilled by an NHSC scholar or loan repayer eligible for placement at the end of the NHSC Placement Cycle.

Application Package

A complete application package consists of an application form (filled out and signed) and the supporting documentation requested in Supplement B – Clinical Care (DOC - 41KB) (PDF - 28KB).

NOTE: Documents in DOC format require Microsoft Word® or Microsoft Word Viewer®. If you experience problems with DOC documents, please download Word Viewer 2003®. 

Important Reminder

Submit only one copy. Do not staple it.

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Last revised: March 20, 2008