Specialized nurses may still be delayed at U.S. border, says immigration lawyer

At least one specialized Canadian nurse working for the Henry Ford Health System was told this week that she would need a different visa to enter the United States, but all issues should be resolved by the end of the week, according to an American Immigration lawyer.

Bob Birach, Chair of the Michigan chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said supervisors with Customs and Border Control are again notifying all officers that advanced level Canadian nurses should be allowed into the country after widespread confusion was caused when visa applications were denied last week.

"I don't think there's going to be an ongoing problem. It should've been resolved Friday," he said. "We're hoping that they will actually put out some written guidance on this."

Nurses and hospitals were scrambling last week, but on March 17 a spokesperson for U.S. Customs clarified that specialized nurses do fall under the registered nurse category and qualify for a TN visa — a non-immigrant professional visa under NAFTA they had been using for years.

Now Birach said it's just a matter of waiting for that information to filter down through the ranks to frontline officers.

"Apparently, either somebody did not get the word or decided that, 'Well, I don't have anything in writing yet, so until I see it in writing, I'm going to interpret it as I see fit,' he said.

The immigration lawyer added some Canadian nurses who were denied last week "keep getting called into secondary inspection" when they cross, but their information should soon be in a database so that won't continue to happen.

But Birach said one sign that the problem is "fixed" is that at least one Canadian nurse who was denied last week applied again Tuesday and was granted a visa.

If a nurse is stopped at the border, Birach suggests they ask to speak with supervisor who should know their visa application is valid.

"All they have to do is politely ask to speak to a supervisor," he said. "Then it should be sorted out."