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H.R. 5283House119th Congress (2025-2027)In Committee

Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act

Sponsored by Bradley Scott SchneiderRep. Bradley Scott Schneider (D-IL)
Introduced September 10, 2025

AI-Generated Summary

Updated November 23, 2025 at 10:06 PM UTC

The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act would increase the number of employment‑based immigrant visas available for professional nurses and physicians by reclaiming visas that have gone unused in past years. It sets aside up to 40,000 such visas—25,000 for nurses and 15,000 for doctors—and lets them be issued without the usual per‑country limits. The bill also speeds up processing and removes any premium‑processing fee, aiming to bring more qualified health‑care workers to the United States quickly.

Key Provisions

  • Amends the immigration law to add a pool of unused employment‑based visas from fiscal years 1992‑2024, making them available for nurses and physicians whose petitions were filed within three years of the law’s enactment.
  • Reserves 25,000 visas for professional nurses and 15,000 for physicians, with a total cap of 40,000 visas (including family members).
  • Exempts these visas from the per‑country numerical caps and issues them based on the original priority date of the petition.
  • Allows family members of the nurse or physician to receive visas from the same pool without counting against the reserved numbers.
  • Requires the Department of Homeland Security and State to provide premium‑processing services for these petitions at no extra charge and to expedite the shipping and adjudication of related paperwork.
  • Mandates a labor attestation that hiring the foreign nurse or physician will not displace a U.S. worker.

Legislative Activity

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HouseIntro Referral Latest Action

Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Judiciary Committee

September 10, 2025

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

September 10, 2025

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Judiciary Committee

September 10, 2025

Bill Text

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Introduced in HouseIssued September 10, 2025

I

119th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 5283

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

September 10, 2025

Mr. Schneider (for himself and Mr. Bacon) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To enhance our Nation’s nurse and physician workforce by recapturing unused immigrant visas.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act.

2.

Recapturing unused immigrant visas for professional nurses and physicians

Section 106(d) of the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000 (title I of Public Law 106–313; 8 U.S.C. 1153 note) is amended to read as follows:

(d)

Recapture of unused employment-Based immigrant visas

(1)

In general

Subject to paragraph (2), and notwithstanding any other provision of law, the number of employment-based visas made available under section 203(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(b)) shall be increased by the number calculated in paragraph (3).

(2)

Limitations

(A)

In general

Visas may only be made available under this subsection for up to 40,000 employment-based immigrants (and their family members accompanying or following to join under section 203(d) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(d))) whose immigrant worker petitions were filed no later than three years following the date of enactment of the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act.

(B)

Reservations

Of the visas authorized under subparagraph (A)—

(i)

25,000 shall be reserved for professional nurses; and

(ii)

15,000 shall be reserved for physicians.

(C)

Exemption from country caps

Visas made available under this subsection—

(i)

shall not be subject to the per country numerical limitation set forth in section 202(a)(2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1152(a)(2)); and

(ii)

shall be issued in order of the priority date assigned at the time the visa petition was filed.

(D)

Additional limitation

Visas may only be made available under this subsection to a beneficiary and such beneficiary's dependents if visas are not otherwise immediately available to such individuals pursuant to the worldwide and per country allocations set forth in sections 202(a)(2) and 203(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1152(a)(2) and 1153(b)).

(3)

Number available

(A)

Unused visas

Subject to subparagraph (B), the number calculated in this paragraph is the difference between—

(i)

the total number of employment-based visas that were made available in fiscal years 1992 through 2024; and

(ii)

the total number of such visas that were used in such fiscal years.

(B)

Reduction and limitation

The number described in subparagraph (A) shall be reduced, for each fiscal year following the fiscal year during which the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act is enacted, by the cumulative number of immigrant visas used pursuant to paragraph (1).

(C)

Family members

(i)

In general

Family members described in section 203(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(d)) who are accompanying or following to join a principal beneficiary seeking admission under this subsection shall be entitled to an unreserved visa in the same status and in the same order of consideration as such principal beneficiary.

(ii)

Exempt from skill-based numerical limitation

Visas described in clause (i)—

(I)

shall be made available from the pool of recaptured unused immigrant visas calculated under subparagraph (A); and

(II)

shall not be counted against the total number of immigrant visas reserved for professional nurses and physicians under paragraph (2).

(D)

Rule of construction

Nothing in this paragraph may be construed as affecting the application of section 201(c)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(c)(3)(C)).

(4)

Premium processing; expedited processing

(A)

Premium processing

The Secretary of Homeland Security, in conjunction with the Secretary of State, shall provide premium processing procedures, as provided for under section 286(u) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1356(u)), for reviewing and acting upon petitions and applications for immigrants described in paragraph (2). Notwithstanding such section, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services may not charge a premium fee for such services.

(B)

Shipping petitions

The Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services shall expedite the shipping of each petition described in subparagraph (A) requiring consular processing to the Department of State immediately after—

(i)

the completed petition has been resolved; and

(ii)

the petitioner has replied to any request from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for additional evidence.

(C)

Expedited processing

The Secretary of State shall expedite the processing of applications for immigrants described in paragraph (2) after receiving a petition on behalf of such immigrants from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

(5)

Labor attestation

Before an immigrant visa reserved under paragraph (2)(B)(i) is issued to an alien, the petitioner shall attest, in the job offer letter presented by the alien to a consular officer during the consular interview or to the Department of Homeland Security as an application for an adjustment of status, that the hiring of the alien has not displaced and will not displace a United States worker.

.