H-3 Trainee Visa for Nurses

A foreign nurse may enter the U.S. under an H-3 visa to receive training provided he/she has an unrestricted license in the country of his/her nursing education or such education was obtained in the U.S. or Canada.

The petitioner must certify that under the laws of the place where the training will be conducted, the nurse is fully qualified to receive the training and the petitioner is authorized to give such training.

The training program must meet certain criteria.

First, it must not be available in the beneficiary’s home country; secondly, the beneficiary will not displace the regular employment of citizens and resident workers; third, the training will not result in “productive employment unless necessary”; lastly, the training will benefit the beneficiary in pursuing his/her nursing career outside the U.S.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will examine the training program to ensure that it meets the above requirements by scrutinizing whether any of the following features are present:

• It deals with generalities and does not have a fixed schedule, objective or means of evaluation;
• It is incompatible with the petitioner’s business or enterprise;
• The beneficiary already has substantial training and expertise in the field of nursing;
•  His/her training will unlikely be used outside the U.S.;
•  It results in “productive employment, unless necessary to the training”;
•  It is designed to recruit and train foreign nurses for staffing of U.S. hospitals and other healthcare facilities;
• The petitioner has no venue or sufficient staff to provide proposed training;
• It is designed to extend the total allowable practical training allowed a nonimmigrant student.

If any of the above features is present, the training program may not be approved.

The training program should include the kind of training and supervision to be received by the trainee and indicate the number of hours spent in classroom instruction and on-the-job training.

The petitioner should also state the reason why such training cannot be obtained in the alien’s country and why it is necessary for him/her to be trained in the U.S.

In one case, an H-3 petition was filed on behalf of nurses from the Philippines but it was denied because the petitioner did not sufficiently establish that the nurse trainees would not be doing normal nursing care. Moreover, the purported training seemed to be incompatible with the petitioners’ business as a recruiter of highly trained nurses. The petitioner also did not have sufficient staff to train the nurses and the background and experience of the nurses were not clearly stated in the petition.

An H-3 beneficiary is admitted for the duration of the training program but not exceeding two years. After two years, he/she may not seek extension, change of status or be readmitted to the U.S. under H or L unless he/she has resided and been physically present outside the U.S. for the immediately preceding six (6) months.

The filing of a preference petition for the nurse trainee who is currently employed by or in a training position with the same petitioner may be a reason to deny an extension of his/her stay.