Schedule A Occupations (Physical Therapists and Registered Nurses)
Schedule A category comprises a list of occupations for which, according to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) there are insufficient number of qualified U.S. workers available to meet present demands. Currently, physical therapists and registered nurses are the two occupations listed on the Schedule A list.
The main benefit of being on Schedule-A is that the foreign employees can get their permanent residence status ("green card") without undergoing the PERM labor certification process. In other words, the foreign national can skip the PERM process which is required for nearly all employment based permanent residency cases and go directly to the I-140 Immigrant Petition and the "green card" application process.
Requirements for Getting a Schedule A Visa:
To qualify for Schedule A processing, the following criteria needs to be met:
Registered Nurses
- They must hold a diploma from a nursing school in their country, a RN (Registered Nurses) license in their country, and a full and unrestricted license to practice professional nursing in the state of intended employment.
- They must have a CGFNS (Commission on Graduates in Foreign Nursing Schools) certification, or a NCLEX-RN certification.
Physical Therapists
- They must hold a bachelor's degree in physical therapy or the equivalent degree.
- They must own a certificate to practice in their state of planned employment or have a letter from a state licensing agency proving that these people are eligible for taking the state licensing examination.
