09/02/2026
A few of our hospital partners have called me about the visa interview pause and asked: Does international nurse recruitment still make sense?
I believe it does— it has never been a quick staffing fix.
International recruitment is a long-term workforce strategy. Visa processing may pause, priority dates may move, and policies will change. Hospitals still need to plan for the nurses they will need one, two, and three years from now.
The better approach is to build a pipeline: recruit carefully, start immigration processing early, and continue developing candidates while waiting for visa availability.
Not every international nurse is in the same situation, either. Some are already in the U.S. Others have existing priority dates or different immigration pathways.
This is also why attorney-led recruitment matters. Recruitment strategy should account for the immigration realities that determine whether—and when—a nurse can actually be deployed.
The timeline may change. The need for nurses does not. International recruitment remains an important part of a sustainable workforce strategy.
- Attorney Carmen Villamor, CEO and Founder
