US may hire 25,000 RP health workers

At lest 25,000 Filipino nurses and health workers are expected to be hired as soon as the United States resumes hiring foreign medical workers by the third quarter of the year.

Acting Labor Secretary Manuel Imson said the Philippines expects to capture the majority of the 50,000 slots available for foreign nurses and medical workers that the US government will allow.

"We don’t have the actual number (of slots) yet... but, based on our past record, the Philippines normally gets the bulk of the quota allocated for nurses and other medical workers," Imson said in an interview.

He said that, based on the records of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), about 80 percent of the total number of nurses and medical workers hired in the US over the past few years were Filipino.

"Hospitals in the US traditionally prefer to hire Filipino nurses and other medical workers, so we are expecting an increase in deployment when the US resumes processing of visa applications," he said.

According to Imson, the DOLE is awaiting a report from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) concerning the US government’s decision to resume the hiring of foreign medical workers.

Based on the initial information received by the DOLE, Imson said the US is likely to resume hiring foreign workers in the medical field by the third or fourth quarter of the year.

The DOLE earlier reported that the US Congress amended the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act of 2000. The amendment is expected to pave the way for the resumption of the hiring of foreign medical workers in the US.

The amendment provides for the recapture of 50,000 EB-3 visa numbers, which will be used exclusively for the so-called "Schedule A" occupations, such as nursing and physical therapy.

The EB-3 visa number is used mainly by US hospitals in hiring foreign nurses, most of whom come from the Philippines, China and India.

In December last year, the US government temporarily suspended the processing of visa applications for nursing jobs for applicants from the Philippine, China and India because the three countries’ quotas had been exhausted.

But the existing EB-3 visas are now being reallocated to other countries, since their destined countries did not use them.

Meanwhile, the Philippines welcomed the approval of the amendment, saying it is a "win-win" solution for both Manila and Washington.

Ambassador to Washington Albert del Rosario reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that the amendment of US immigration regulations "reopens the door for the entry into the US of Filipino nurses, who are well known for their competence and compassion as health workers."

The amendment is expected to considerably advance the cut-off date for China, India and the Philippines, which was originally set for April 2002.

Del Rosario said the passage of the amendment "underscores a win-win solution in addressing the critical demand for nurses in the US, which the Philippines can readily help address."

He also commended the American Hospital Association, US recruitment agencies, the Philippine Nurses Association and the members of the Filipino community for their concerted efforts in supporting the passage of the amendment.