To assist with the labor and nursing shortage, LeadingAge and a coalition of 12 long-term care provider organizations, sent an April 1st letter calling on the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to improve the processing and timeliness of Schedule A petitions, which delays the permanent residence and employment process of hiring foreign nurses and physical therapist. Schedule A petitions are recognized by DOL to provide permanent residence for employers seeking to hire foreign-educated workers. The Schedule A occupations are under the agencies Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) processing queue. PERM immigration pre-certification establishes that workers in certain job classifications will not adversely affect U.S. workers. Schedule A cases also bypass the need to “test” the labor market, and a PERM application. Employers must still obtain a prevailing wage determination from the DOL. Registered nurses and physical therapist have been designated as two Schedule A occupations.
The coalition letter requests that the DOL implement a more streamlined process for wage determinations for registered nurses and physical therapist. Additionally, since the prevailing wage determination is one of the bottlenecks that delay employers in filing an immigrant petition, the letter request the DOL to create a separate category for Schedule A category under the PERM processing queue.
