Among the visa options for registered nurses, the relatively new H-1C allows 500 nurses from other countries to work in the US for up to three years.

The H-1C visa was created late in 1999, when Congress passed the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act. Under the act, a registered nurse is able to work for three years in, "health professional shortage areas."

Only 500 of these visas are available each year, and no more than 25 H-1C nurses can be sent to one state in a year. Under the law, facilities interested in sponsoring registered nurses for H-1C visas must submit a document containing a number of attestations regarding the employment of H-1C nurses.

Only 14 hospitals qualify to apply for H-1C nurses because of restrictions in both the statute and regulations, according to The Labor Department. These facilities include: Beaumont Regional Medical Center in Beaumont, Texas; Beverly Hospital in Montebello, California; Doctors Medical Center in Modesto, California, and Elizabeth General Medical Center in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

The H-1C visa is similar to the H-1A visa for nurses -- a now expired visa category -- although a much smaller number of H-1C visas have been allocated. What's more, new requirements limit a facility's dependence on H-1C nurses.

A facility interested in employing H-1C nurses must make a number of attestations to the Department of Labor, including:

• The employment of H-1C nurses will not adversely affect the wages or working conditions of similarly employed nurses.
• The facility will pay the H-1C nurse the facility wage rate.
• The facility has taken -- and is taking -- timely and significant steps to recruit and retain nurses to reduce dependence on immigrant nurses. Documentation of these steps needs to be included in the facility's public access file for H-1C nurse petitions. Steps may include: operating a training program for registered nurses at the facility, providing career development programs for other health care workers to become nurses, paying nurses wages at a rate at least five percent higher than the prevailing wage and providing opportunities for meaningful salary advancement by registered nurses.
• No more than 33 percent of nurses employed by the facility will be H-1C non-immigrants.
• The facility will not authorize H-1C nurses to work at a site not under its control and will not transfer an H-1C nurse from one site to another.

These attestations and supporting documents, along with a $250 filing fee, are submitted to the Department of Labor. After approval by the department, the facility can apply for an H-1C visa with the INS. After this approval, the employer must send a copy of the INS petition and approval notice to the Labor Department.