I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4477 
To facilitate the expedited review of applications of aliens applying for admis-
sion to the United States under section 101(a)(15)(J) of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act who are coming to the United States to participate 
in a program under which they will receive graduate medical education 
or training, require the Secretary of State to provide relevant Foreign 
Service officers with training regarding such aliens, and for other pur-
poses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 16, 2021 
Ms. MENG (for herself, Mr. EMMER, and Mrs. HAYES) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and 
in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To facilitate the expedited review of applications of aliens 
applying for admission to the United States under sec-
tion 101(a)(15)(J) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act who are coming to the United States to participate 
in a program under which they will receive graduate 
medical education or training, require the Secretary of 
State to provide relevant Foreign Service officers with 
training regarding such aliens, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Grant Residency for 
Additional Doctors Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘GRAD Act of 
2021’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Physicians who are foreign-trained or inter-
national medical graduates, most of whom are not 
United States citizens, comprise almost one-quarter 
of active physicians. 
(2) Foreign-trained physicians who are not 
United States citizens and are not lawful permanent 
residents provide critical health care services and 
supply labor for the physician shortages, particularly 
in rural communities. 
(3) The COVID–19 pandemic has increased the 
demands on physicians and exacerbated the physi-
cian workforce shortage facing the United States, 
with projections estimating a shortage of over 
120,000 physicians by 2032. 
(4) The pandemic has contributed to delays in 
processing visa applicants, resulting in missed edu-
cational and economic opportunities. 
(5) Delays in visa processing can impact med-
ical training and impose hardships on both prospec-
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tive doctors and the American medical institutions 
at which they seek to learn. 
SEC. 3. EXPEDITED REVIEW OF CERTAIN J–1 VISAS AND 
TRAINING FOR FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS. 
(a) EXPEDITED REVIEW.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of State shall designate an officer or employee of the De-
partment of State whose sole responsibility during the 
months of March, April, May, June, and any other period 
of time as determined appropriate by the Secretary, shall 
be to facilitate the expedited review of applications of 
aliens applying for admission to the United States under 
section 101(a)(15)(J) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(J)) who are coming to the 
United States to participate in a program under which 
such aliens will receive graduate medical education or 
training. 
(b) TRAINING.—Beginning not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
State shall provide to relevant Foreign Service officers 
training related to medical graduates and medical grad-
uate programs in the countries in which such officers are 
serving. Such training shall be part of the training pro-
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vided to such officers under section 701 of the Foreign 
Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4021). 
Æ 
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