OCTOBER 2025 | 21 THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff. Unfortunately, in May 2023, the DOS announced that due to increased demand, priority dates for all other chargeability areas in the EB-3 category had been moved backward almost a full year to June 1, 2022.93, 94 For employers that had already started the green card process for nurses and for the nurses just starting their 12-month OPT employment periods, this was devastating news.95 The American Association of International Healthcare Recruitment (AAIHR) noted, “Visa retrogression amounts to a catastrophic interruption of the stable flow of healthcare talent to the bedside, and it will be felt acutely by ordinary patients, from pregnant mothers to dialysis patients.”96 The thousands of nurses who filed their Form I-140s after June 1, 2022, are now in a holding pattern, waiting for the backlog to clear and their priority dates to be current, with limited indication from the U.S. government about when to expect the situation to improve.97, 98 AMN Healthcare, a medical staffing agency, has estimated that nurses who entered the application process after June 2022 will likely have to wait 2 1/2 years to get to the EAD stage, with a growing wait time of six months per year going forward, absent intervention from the federal government.99, 100 Suggestions for a Solution Clearly, the current system for securing green cards and work authorization for foreign nurses is complex and wrought with inefficiencies. But finding workable solutions may not be as complicated, and there are several options for improvement worth consideration. First, the DHS could add nursing degrees (ADN and BSN) to the designated degree program list of approved STEM fields so that nursing students could take advantage of the additional 24 months of work authorization after their periods of OPT expire for a total of three years. This would expand employment opportunities for nurses and prevent the need for them to stop working at the end of their OPT periods. Not only would this designation provide two years of additional work authorization, but it would also be a critical part of unlocking federal funding for nursing education and recruitment programs in the United States.101 Among other advocates, the Nursing is STEM Coalition, founded in 2023, is actively working on building support from policymakers, health care providers and the public to add the nursing profession to the list.102 Meanwhile, this solution would help nurses and their employers better anticipate and plan for the green card process while waiting for any visa backlogs to clear up. Despite calls to add nursing to the STEM list, the DHS has yet to do so, even though the Department of Labor and the Department of Veterans Affairs recognize nursing as a STEM field in their departments.103 A second measure to consider would be to specifically include nursing professionals as eligible recipients of a “compelling circumstances EAD” through USCIS. This option exists for foreign workers in the U.S. who meet a series of criteria, as established by USCIS.104 This temporary employment authorization may be provided to certain nonimmigrants who are the beneficiaries of approved employment-based immigrant visa petitions and their qualifying spouse and children, and who are caught in the continually expanding backlogs for immigrant visas and face compelling circumstances. This stopgap measure is intended to address certain particularly difficult situations, including those that previously may have forced individuals on the path to lawful permanent residence to abruptly stop working and leave the United States.105 Typically, applicants must demonstrate that they are no longer able to continue employment in the U.S. and that they face serious harm, such as: 1) a serious illness or disability, 2) alleged abuse or illegal conduct by an employer, 3) other substantial harm to the applicant or 4) significant disruption to the employer.106 Applications are reviewed on a discretionary, case-by-case basis, and if approved, the compelling circumstances EAD is issued for one year at a time and can be renewed as needed.107 Notably, the significant disruption to the employer criteria is explained by USCIS as follows: Compelling circumstances need not involve termination of the principal applicant. A principal applicant who is unexpectedly unable to timely extend or change status to continue employment with the employer and has no other basis to continue that employment may be eligible for a compelling circumstances-based EAD if the principal applicant’s departure would cause the employer substantial disruption. Applicants should provide
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