Let our deep legal expertise and technology-enabled processes guide you in your U.S. immigration journey
Nurses play an invaluable role in society. They serve as the backbone of the U.S. healthcare system and are integral to the health and wellness of Americans. As such, many hospitals experience high demand for qualified workers, yet face gaps in the domestic labor force, so as a result, they turn to the H-1B visa to fill these positions.
As a foreign nurse, you will need a sponsor as per H-1B visa requirements, and in the majority of cases, a hospital will usually be your sponsor. Identifying hospitals that sponsor H-1B visas can be done through:
On that same site, you can also see an index of H-1B sponsoring companies along with their max salary, H-1B approval rate, and total LCAs. If you use other employment search engines like Indeed.com, and a job posting does not specify whether a nurse H-1B visa sponsorship is available, then it is worth contacting the company and inquiring whether they are open to such an arrangement.
Though a nursing position seems to be a qualifying match for an H-1B visa, a general RN or LPN position does not qualify as a valid position in need of an H-1B for nurses. However, if a state requires at least a bachelor’s degree in nursing to obtain a nursing license, an RN position in that state would generally be considered a specialty occupation.
In general, to qualify for an H-1B Visa a nurse must:
This is not an exhaustive list. There may be other specialist positions available at hospitals that meet H-1B eligibility requirements
Recommended read: Get H-1B Visa Without a Degree.
USCIS lists some of the documents that a petitioner should submit as evidence:
Learn about the Memorandum Requirements for H-1B Nurses.
If you were selected in the 2025-26 H-1B visa lottery, contact VisaNation attorneys for filing your H-1B petition. Contact Us
If you were selected in the 2025-26 H-1B visa lottery, contact VisaNation attorneys for filing your H-1B petition.
Contact Us
All must qualify under the general position, education, Department of Labor, USCIS, and U.S. employer H-1B requirements.
The position also requires the nurse to be a certified RN (registered nurse). To become an RN, the nurse must have a minimum of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing with additional education.
Approved H-1B applicants may also come to those who are not APRNs. However, non-APRNs must have successfully passed examinations based on clinical experience, emergency room nursing, operating room, occupation health, rehabilitation nursing, critical care, oncology, and pediatrics.
If you qualify for an H-1B visa for nurses, your petition will likely be entered into the annual H-1B lottery. This lottery was put into effect due to the large number of petitions that are received each year. Overall, there are two major sections of this lottery:
The lottery works by randomly selecting the first 65,000 petitions in the regular cap. For those with advanced degrees not selected in this first round, a second round is conducted with 20,000 visas randomly allocated to those with advanced degrees. This essentially gives those with an advanced degree two chances of being selected.
Recommended read: H-1B chances of selection
It is important to note that there is no other way to increase your odds of selection. It doesn’t matter if you are applying for an H-1B for nurses or an IT manager; the chances are the same. If you are not selected in the lottery, then you will need to wait until the following year or find an alternative visa.
If your petition is selected, then it will be processed by the USCIS. Of course, there is still a chance that a petition could be selected and then denied. To avoid this, ensure your case is handled by an expert immigration attorney.
If you can work for a university, nonprofit research institution or government research agency as a nurse, you may be exempt from the H-1B cap. There are only three major categories of H-1B occupations that would be considered cap-exempt:
Also, if you submit a cap-subject petition and it is selected, you will be considered cap-exempt for any subsequent I-129 petitions that you need to have filed for job transfers or visa extensions. However, if you are approved for a cap-exempt position and decide to transfer to a cap-subject one later on, you will need to file a new petition that will be subject to the cap.
Registered nurses with just a two-year associate’s degree will need to pursue further education to increase their chances of getting an H-1B visa. In the absence of a bachelor’s degree, a registered nurse will have to make up for that with a qualifying amount of job experience.
USCIS requires H-1B beneficiaries to have at least three years of specialized training and/or work experience for each year of the college education that he or she lack. So a four-year degree would be equivalent to 12 years of experience.
Additionally, the beneficiary should also have recognition of expertise in the specialty by progressively being in a position directly related to the specialty. So, without a bachelor’s degree, a registered nurse may still be granted an H-1B visa if he or she can demonstrate the years of training or experience in the specialty position. Acquiring certain certifications in nursing will also help, such as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN).
Conversely, being in an administrative role is another potential advantage for nurses. A good example of this is occupying an upper-level nurse manager role in a hospital administration position. Managerial or administrative positions typically require at least a bachelor’s degree, which may help count as equivalent experience to the H-1B qualification requirement. Nurses in this category are generally supervisory level RNs and often hold graduate degrees in nursing or health administration.
Under normal processing, H-1B processing time normally takes between 4 and 8 months, but that can be shortened significantly to 15 business days with premium processing (an additional $2,805).
See how we helped a NICU nurse get selected in the H-1B lottery and then have her petition approved by November 2o24, despite the obstacles and challenges that were presented!
If you are looking to get a green card for nurses, you will need to take your priority date into account, which may add a significant amount to your processing time.
Speak with your immigration attorney if you would like to make the transition from H-1B to green card status.
Learn more about processing time as well as approval reasons and delays.
The basic fees for an H-1B are listed below. The costs below are to be paid by the employer. The optional fees that would be relevant to a nurse would be certain attorney costs since some employers might not cover them, any credentialing and licensing fees relevant to the nursing position would be the responsibility of the nurse and premium processing might not be covered by the employer but can be paid by the nurse if elected. Note that employers cannot require the nurse to pay for the mandatory H-1B fees.
The requirements for any nurse from India to come and work in the U.S. are relatively the same as for any other foreign-trained nurse. Here is a quick summary of the steps that an Indian-trained nurse might have to take to work in the U.S.
VisaNation Law Group’s immigration lawyers are able to advise foreign nurse practitioner clients on which work visa or immigration category would be best suited based on the client’s qualifications and position requirements.
We understand that government forms can be challenging to complete. VisaNation Law Group lawyers are skilled in assisting clients with H-1B documentation and any supplementary evidence needed to support their case.
Contact us to find out if you can take advantage of our consultation and have one of the qualified immigration attorneys provide a general overview of your visa options. If you are not eligible for an H-1B visa for nurses, there are many other visa options that can be explored. We intend to inform you of your options to ensure that you’re making an informed decision.
