Hold on US immigration applications lifted for doctors, but others are still waiting
The Trump administration has begun allowing immigration applications to move forward for physicians with pending visa or green card cases, offering a potential exception to a wider pause that has left many other applicants waiting, according to the Associated Press. The change comes as immigration attorneys and medical groups have argued that foreign-trained doctors are disproportionately needed in underserved areas, where staffing gaps have intensified pressure on hospitals and clinics.
Libyan physician Dr. Faysal Alghoula, who has cared for about 1,000 patients in southwestern Indiana, said he has been unable to renew his green card since the Trump administration stopped reviewing applications for people from several dozen countries it deemed high-risk. Alghoula, a pulmonologist and Intensive Care Unit doctor, said his current visa will expire in September if his application is denied and that a processing delay has become a threat to his ability to keep practicing.
Alghoula said the administration’s physician exemption gave him a “potential lifeline,” but he said it still does not guarantee that USCIS will approve his green card or renew his status. He described uncertainty about how quickly the government could act before immigration deadlines, particularly after many doctors and other applicants have received no direct updates from federal agencies since the announcement of the broader pause.
In Alghoula’s case, the uncertainty has been sharpened by appointment disruptions. He said he was “still scared to go to my interview,” adding that his interview—scheduled for early June—had been canceled without explanation, leaving him unsure what the cancellation means for his application.
The broader pause remains in effect for thousands of other applicants, including researchers and entrepreneurs from 39 countries, and immigrants who are caught in the hold said it prevents them from legally working, obtaining health insurance, or securing driver’s licenses. The AP reported that people in the pause also face the risk that if they leave the United States, they will not be allowed back in, heightening the stakes of the administrative delay.
Immigration lawyers and medical organizations said the exemption for physicians was something they had sought for months. The AP reported that physicians’ groups and attorneys have pointed to persistent shortages and the proportion of foreign-trained doctors who work in underserved areas, citing the National Library of Medicine.
At the same time, immigration attorney Greg Siskind said the policy has broader aims than simply processing delays. “It is all about making life miserable for people who are here legally so they will choose other countries,” he said, in a critique of the administration’s pauses.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration officials, did not answer questions about the pause or the physician exemption, but said in an email that it wants to ensure applicants are properly screened after determining the prior administration failed to do so. A spokesperson for the American Academy of Family Physicians said it was unclear how many doctors have been affected by the pause, though the organization said several physicians reached out asking for help.
While some doctors have gained access to review, others have already been denied. The AP reported that Iranian Dr. Zahra Shokri Varniab, who came to the United States three years ago for radiology research, said her green card application remained stuck in the pause. Varniab filed a lawsuit seeking a decision, and a federal judge ordered officials to review her case, after which immigration officials denied her application; Varniab said she believes it was retaliation for her lawsuit, and she said the physician exemption did not appear to apply because her case had already been decided. In court filings described by the AP, government lawyers wrote that Varniab’s application included inconsistencies about whether she planned to become a practicing doctor or a researcher.
Beyond medicine, immigrants with high-skilled jobs in science and technology said the pause blocks them from obtaining employment authorization documents, preventing them from working legally while their applications remain unresolved. The AP reported that some described running out of money for rent and groceries and worried that they could be forced to leave the country, while those from Iran said they also face barriers reaching family members during wartime, including disruptions tied to an Iranian government internet blackout.
Kaveh Javanshirjavid, a 41-year-old who came to the United States from Iran for a doctorate in agriculture, told the AP that his plans for a lab job have been delayed because he needs employment authorization and said his application is on hold. He said he has been borrowing from friends to pay rent and relying on his wife’s doctorate stipend for basic necessities, adding that he does not know how long that arrangement will last because she, too, is Iranian and will need work authorization after graduating.
The AP reported that the decisions to stop reviewing green card and visa applications for people from certain “high-risk” countries, and later for citizens of more than 75 countries, were made as part of a broader crackdown on immigrants. The pause followed the shooting of two National Guard troops by an Afghan citizen, which the administration said highlighted “what a lack of screening, vetting, and prioritizing expedient adjudications can do to the American people.”