I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2255 

To enhance our Nation’s nurse and physician workforce during the COVID– 

19 crisis by recapturing unused immigrant visas. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 26, 2021 

Mr. SCHNEIDER (for himself, Mr. COLE, Mr. O’HALLERAN, and Mr. BACON) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To enhance our Nation’s nurse and physician workforce during the COVID–19 crisis by recapturing unused immigrant visas. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Healthcare Workforce 

5 Resilience Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RECAPTURING UNUSED IMMIGRANT VISAS FOR 

2 PROFESSIONAL NURSES AND PHYSICIANS. 

3 Section 106(d) of the American Competitiveness in 

4 the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000 (Public Law 106– 

5 313; 8 U.S.C. 1153 note) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(d) RECAPTURE OF UNUSED EMPLOYMENT-BASED

7 IMMIGRANT VISAS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

9 and notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 

10 number of employment-based visas made available 

11 under section 203(b) of the Immigration and Na12 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)) shall be increased 

13 by the number calculated in paragraph (3). 

14 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Visas may only be 

16 made available under this subsection for up to 

17 40,000 employment-based immigrants (and 

18 their family members accompanying or fol19 lowing to join under section 203(d) of such Act 

20 (8 U.S.C. 1153(d))) whose immigrant worker 

21 petitions were filed before the date that is 90 

22 days after the termination of the President’s 

23 declaration of a national emergency under sec24 tions 201 and 301 of the National Emergencies 

25 Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) pertaining to the 

26 COVID–19 outbreak in the United States (reVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:28 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2255.IH H2255

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1 ferred to in this subsection as the ‘COVID–19 

2 emergency declaration’). 

3 ‘‘(B) RESERVATIONS.—Of the visas au4 thorized under subparagraph (A)— 

5 ‘‘(i) 25,000 shall be reserved for pro6 fessional nurses; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) 15,000 shall be reserved for phy8 sicians. 

9 ‘‘(C) EXEMPTION FROM COUNTRY CAPS.— 

10 Visas made available under this subsection— 

11 ‘‘(i) shall not be subject to the per 

12 country numerical limitation set forth in 

13 section 202(a)(2) of the Immigration and 

14 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1152(a)(2)); and 

15 ‘‘(ii) shall be issued in order of the 

16 priority date assigned at the time the visa 

17 petition was filed. 

18 ‘‘(3) NUMBER AVAILABLE.— 

19 ‘‘(A) UNUSED VISAS.—Subject to subpara20 graph (B), the number calculated in this para21 graph is the difference between— 

22 ‘‘(i) the total number of employment23 based visas that were made available in fis24 cal years 1992 through 2020; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the total number of such visas 

2 that were used in such fiscal years. 

3 ‘‘(B) REDUCTION AND LIMITATION.—The 

4 number described in subparagraph (A) shall be 

5 reduced, for each fiscal year following the first 

6 fiscal year in which the COVID–19 emergency 

7 declaration is in effect, by the cumulative num8 ber of immigrant visas used pursuant to para9 graph (1). 

10 ‘‘(C) FAMILY MEMBERS.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Family members 

12 described in section 203(d) of the Immi13 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

14 1153(d)) who are accompanying or fol15 lowing to join a principal beneficiary seek16 ing admission under this subsection shall 

17 be entitled to an unreserved visa in the 

18 same status and in the same order of con19 sideration as such principal beneficiary. 

20 ‘‘(ii) EXEMPT FROM SKILL-BASED NU21 MERICAL LIMITATION.—Visas described in 

22 clause (i)— 

23 ‘‘(I) shall be made available from 

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1 grant visas calculated under subpara2 graph (A); and 

3 ‘‘(II) shall not be counted against 

4 the total number of immigrant visas 

5 reserved for professional nurses and 

6 physicians under paragraph (2). 

7 ‘‘(D) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

8 in this paragraph may be construed as affecting 

9 the application of section 201(c)(3)(C) of the 

10 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

11 1151(c)(3)(C)). 

12 ‘‘(4) PREMIUM PROCESSING; EXPEDITED PROC13 ESSING.— 

14 ‘‘(A) PREMIUM PROCESSING.—The Sec15 retary of Homeland Security, in conjunction 

16 with the Secretary of State, shall provide pre17 mium processing procedures, as provided for 

18 under section 286(u) of the Immigration and 

19 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(u)), for review20 ing and acting upon petitions and applications 

21 for immigrants described in paragraph (2). 

22 Notwithstanding such section, U.S. Citizenship 

23 and Immigration Services may not charge a 

24 premium fee for such services. 


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1 ‘‘(B) SHIPPING PETITIONS.—The Director 

2 of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 

3 shall expedite the shipping of each petition de4 scribed in subparagraph (A) requiring consular 

5 processing to the Department of State imme6 diately after— 

7 ‘‘(i) the completed petition has been 

8 resolved; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) the petitioner has replied to any 

10 request from U.S. Citizenship and Immi11 gration Services for additional evidence. 

12 ‘‘(C) EXPEDITED PROCESSING.—The Sec13 retary of State shall expedite the processing of 

14 applications for immigrants described in para15 graph (2) after receiving a petition on behalf of 

16 such immigrants from U.S. Citizenship and Im17 migration Services. 

18 ‘‘(5) LABOR ATTESTATION.—Before an immi19 grant visa reserved under paragraph (2)(B)(i) is 

20 issued to an alien, the petitioner shall attest, in the 

21 job offer letter presented by the alien to a consular 

22 officer during the consular interview, that the hiring 

23 of the alien has not displaced and will not displace 

24 a United States worker.’’. 

Æ 


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