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Explore visasI-129Overview

H-1CRegistered nurse in a health professional shortage area

A former temporary work classification for registered nurses at qualifying U.S. health care facilities. It expired as of December 20, 2009, so nurses today look at other paths.

At a glance

Status
Expired. The State Department says the H-1C classification expired as of December 20, 2009
Checked Oct 18, 2026[1]
Who it was for
Registered nurses who met the qualifications in section 212(m)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and came temporarily to work at a U.S. health care facility for which the Department of Labor (DOL) had certified that an unexpired attestation was on file and in effect
Checked Oct 18, 2026[2,3]
How it worked
The health care facility, as the employer, had to file a petition with the immigration service before the nurse could apply for a visa or seek admission. For a visa, the consular officer had to be satisfied that the nurse qualified and had to have official evidence that the petition was approved (or that the period of authorized entry was extended); approval of the petition did not by itself establish that the nurse was eligible for a visa
Checked Oct 18, 2026[3,4]
Longest stay
3 years, counted from the date of admission. Time spent outside the U.S. for business or personal reasons during the petition's validity counted toward the 3 years, and no extension could go past the third anniversary of the first admission
Checked Oct 18, 2026[3]
Family
A spouse and children were classified H-4, and they did not count against the H-1C annual limit
Checked Oct 18, 2026[3,5]

What H-1C was

H-1C was added to the law by the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act of 1999 (Public Law 106-95). The same law repealed H-1A, the earlier temporary classification for registered nurses.[1,2]

High confidence You can still find H-1C in official texts: its rules remain printed in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 8 CFR 214.2(h), and the symbol H1C is still in the State Department's table of visa symbols (22 CFR 41.12). That does not mean the program is open. The regulation's definition still says the classification will expire 4 years from June 11, 2001. The U.S. Code note sets a later end, 3 years after December 20, 2006, which is the date of the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Reauthorization Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-423), and the State Department gives December 20, 2009 as the date H-1C expired.[1,2,3,5]

How H-1C worked

The rules below are kept for reference.

  • A U.S. employer that provides health care services (called a facility) could file an H-1C petition if it met DOL's eligibility standards in 20 CFR 655.1111 and the other requirements of 20 CFR part 655, subpart L. The petition had to include a current copy of DOL's notice accepting the filing of the facility's attestation on Form ETA 9081, a statement of any limits that the laws of the state of intended employment placed on the nurse's services, and evidence that each nurse named met the definition of a registered nurse and the requirements of INA 212(m)(1). The position had to involve nursing practice and require a license or other authorization to practice as a registered nurse from the State Board of Nursing in the state of intended employment.[3]
  • The petition had to show that the nurse: held a full and unrestricted license to practice nursing in the country where they obtained their nursing education, or had received nursing education in the U.S.; had passed the examination of the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS), or held a full and unrestricted (permanent) registered nurse license in the state of intended employment, or held such a license in any U.S. state or territory plus temporary authorization to practice as a registered nurse in the state of intended employment; and was fully qualified and eligible under the laws of the place of intended employment to practice as a registered nurse immediately upon admission, and authorized under those laws to be employed by the employer. Temporary or interim licensing could be obtained immediately after entering the U.S.[3]
  • No more than 500 nurses could be classified H-1C in a fiscal year. In each fiscal year, the visas issued for California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas could not exceed 50 per state, and for each other state 25. If the visas available in the first three quarters of a fiscal year exceeded the approvable H-1C petitions in those quarters, visas could be issued in the last quarter to nurses who would work in a state whose cap had already been reached.[3]
  • An approved H-1C petition was valid for 3 years. An H-1C nurse could not change employers, and automatically lost H-1C eligibility on no longer performing the duties of a registered professional nurse.[3]
  • An approved permanent labor certification, or a preference petition filed for the nurse, was not a basis for denying an H-1C petition or a request to extend it, or the nurse's admission, change of status or extension of stay. An H-1C nurse could come for a temporary period and depart voluntarily at the end of the authorized stay while, at the same time, lawfully seeking to become a permanent resident.[3]

Options for nurses today

High confidence For a green card (permanent residence), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) explains on its page for the third employment-based preference (EB-3) that petitions for occupations on DOL's Schedule A do not need a DOL-approved labor certification, because DOL has already determined there are not sufficient U.S. workers for those occupations; Schedule A Group I includes professional nurses. The U.S. employer files Form I-140, and a petition for Schedule A designation must be accompanied by a completed, uncertified Form ETA-9089 (including all applicable appendices), a signed Final Determination and a valid prevailing wage determination tracking number. An EB-3 professional or skilled worker needs a permanent, full-time job offer from a U.S. employer.[6,7]

In a Schedule A, Group I petition for a beneficiary who will work as a registered or professional nurse, the USCIS Form I-140 checklist asks for one of these: a certificate from CGFNS; a full, unrestricted, permanent license to practice professional nursing in the state of intended employment; or proof of passing the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN).[7]

H-1B is the temporary classification for specialty occupations. A specialty occupation requires a bachelor's or higher degree in the specific specialty (or its equivalent) for entry into the occupation, and USCIS decides whether a position is a specialty occupation and whether the person qualifies to perform services in it.[1]

Interpretation H-1B has no category of its own for nurses, so whether a particular nursing job meets the specialty occupation test depends on what the position actually requires. An immigration attorney can apply the rule to a specific job offer.[1]

Separately, the general rules for temporary (nonimmigrant) admission in 8 CFR 214.1(i) require a person described in 8 CFR 212.15(a) who is coming to the U.S. to work in a health care occupation described in 8 CFR 212.15(c) to obtain a certificate from a credentialing organization described in 8 CFR 212.15(e), except as provided in 8 CFR 212.15(n). An eligible person seeking admission as a nurse may instead obtain a certified statement under 8 CFR 212.15(h).[8]

Recent policy changes

Recent policy changes

Official

Updates

Ask WELIVEINUSA Visa

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Answers come from our sourced database and your own timeline, sorted into fact, public data, inference and unknown. No AI model is used in this version, so questions outside what we cover get an honest "not covered".

Questions people ask

Can a U.S. hospital file an H-1C petition for me now?

High confidence No. The State Department says H-1C expired as of December 20, 2009, and the U.S. Code note limits it to petitions filed until 3 years after December 20, 2006. An employer that wants to hire a nurse from abroad would look at other classifications, such as EB-3 for a green card, where Schedule A Group I includes professional nurses. An immigration attorney can tell you which one fits your situation.[1,2,6]

Is there still a temporary work classification just for nurses?

High confidence Not in the H category. H-1A, the earlier nurse classification, was repealed in 1999 and H-1C expired as of December 20, 2009; the State Department describes the H classifications as being for professionals in specialty occupations, fashion models of distinguished merit and ability, temporary agricultural or non-agricultural workers, and trainees or special education visitors. Citizens of Canada and Mexico have a separate option, TN (for professionals under the agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada, USMCA): its list of professions includes Registered Nurse, with a state/provincial license or a Licenciatura degree as the minimum requirement, and a TN nurse providing health care services must also have a certificate from CGFNS or another credentialing service approved by the Secretary of Homeland Security.[1,9,10]

I see H-1C on an old document. Is it the same as H-1B?

No. H-1C was a separate classification for registered nurses under INA 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(c). H-1B, under INA 101(a)(15)(H)(i)(b), covers specialty occupations, services relating to a Department of Defense (DOD) cooperative research and development or coproduction project, and fashion models of distinguished merit and ability. H-1C had its own rules: for example, an H-1C nurse could not change employers and had a maximum stay of 3 years.[3]

Related categories

Content last reviewed: Oct 18, 2026 · General information, not legal advice.

Sources

  1. 1.9 FAM 402.10 TEMPORARY WORKERS AND TRAINEES - H VISASU.S. Department of State (Foreign Affairs Manual) · USCIS Policy Manual · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  2. 2.8 U.S.C. 1101 (INA 101) - Definitions, incl. 101(a)(15)(E), (H), (L), 101(a)(44), 101(a)(45)U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the Law Revision Counsel · Statute · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  3. 3.8 CFR 214.2(h) - Temporary employees (H-1B)eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  4. 4.22 CFR 41.53eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  5. 5.22 CFR 41.12eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  6. 6.Employment-Based Immigration: Third Preference EB-3 - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  7. 7.Checklist of Required Initial Evidence for Form I-140 (for informational purposes only)USCIS · Agency page · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  8. 8.8 CFR 214.1 - Requirements for admission, extension, and maintenance of statuseCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  9. 9.8 CFR 214.6eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  10. 10.9 FAM 402.17 USMCA PROFESSIONALS – TN AND TD VISASU.S. Department of State (Foreign Affairs Manual) · USCIS Policy Manual · Checked Oct 18, 2026