If you are an American employer requesting a national interest waiver on behalf of a qualified alien physician or you are an alien physician petitioning for yourself in the second preference classification, the petitioner is relieved from the labor certification process. This waiver serves to facilitate the employment of immigrant physicians who will be serving in medically underserved areas or at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities.  For each area of intended practice, the following documentation is required:

1. A full-time employment contract or an employment commitment letter from a Veterans Affairs facility;

2. If the physician will be self-employed, the physician's affidavit of commitment will be needed.  The affidavit should state that the physician will commit to the practice of medicine full-time for the required period, and outline the measures the alien physician has taken or intends to take to set up his practice.

3. The documentation must reflect that the physician will practice in an area designated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services as having a shortage of physicians and in a medical specialty that is within the realm of the geographical area according to the Secretary's designation.   In the alternative, the documentation must reflect that the physician will practice in a V.A. facility.

4. A letter dated 6 months prior to the filing of the petition from a Federal agency or from a State's Department of Public Health certifying that the alien physician's work is or will be in the public interest.

5. The alien physician must have also passed Parts I and II of the National Board of Medical Examiners Examination or equivalent as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and is able to speak and write English.  If the alien physician was licensed to practice medicine in any State on January 9, 1978, and was practicing medicine in a State on that date, then he or she will be considered to have passed parts I and II of the National Board of Medical Examiners.

6. If the alien physician has been a J-1 trainee in the United States, we would need to submit the Service-issued waivers of the requirements of Rule 212(e). Ordinarily, after J-1 training, an alien physician must return to his/her foreign residence and cannot apply for a green card for two years.  However, if it is found that return to the physician's home country would impose a heavy hardship on his or her spouse or child or the foreign physician cannot return home because he or she would face persecution due to his or her race, religion or political opinion, then the Attorney General would waive that requirement if it is found to be in the public interest.

The alien physician must complete a total of 5 years of full-time practice during the 6-year period beginning on the date that the Petition or the employment authorization document is approved.