AAPI President Announces Three-year Extension of Conrad 30/J-1 Visa Waiver Program
Nov 17, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dino Teppara, Esq.
AAPI Director of Legislative Affairs
Cell: (803) 467-2130
legislativeaffairs@aapiusa.net
AAPI President Announces Three-year Extension of Conrad 30/J-1 Visa Waiver Program
Washington, D.C. - Today, AAPI President Dr. Vinod K. Shah announced that the Conrad 30/J-1 Visa Waiver Program had been extended by Congress for three additional years.
"I am pleased to see that Congress recognizes the value that physicians of Indian origin bring to the delivery of quality health care in the United States by extending this vital program for three more years," said Dr. Shah. "Indian American physicians are providing care to patients in rural and medically underserved areas who would not ordinarily receive such attention.
"For nearly thirty years, it has been AAPI's mission to ensure the rights of physicians of Indian origin practicing medicine in the United States. This will continue to be our mission, and we will work tirelessly to educate lawmakers, the public, and health care officials of the positive impact Indian American physicians continue to make in their communities."
AAPI signed onto a coalition letter sent to Capitol Hill asking for Section 571 of the Senate-passed version of the FY 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations bill to be retained in the final Conference Committee report. That section included a three-year extension of the Conrad 30/J-1 Visa Waiver Program and extended the religious worker visa for three years. Without an extension, these programs would have expired on September 30, 2009. The bill also included a new law, which would eliminate the "widow penalty," allowing immigrant spouses and children sponsored by a deceased U.S. citizen to continue with their permanent residency applications.
The J-1 visa requires physicians to return to their home country for two years before attempting to reenter the U.S. on another visa. The Conrad 30 program was established in 1994, allowing state health agencies to provide up to 30 waivers per fiscal year to qualified J-1 visa holders willing to work in underserved or rural areas where there is a shortage of medical professionals. In exchange for working in these areas for at least three years, the requirement to return to the home country is waived.
Additionally, AAPI sent 33 letters to Capitol Hill asking Senators and Congressmen sitting on the Conference Committee to retain this section in final negotiations.
President Barack Obama signed the Homeland Security Appropriations bill into law on October 28, 2009.
To view the coalition letter click this
link
To view AAPI's congressional letter this
link
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