I will be out of the office from Aug. 8, 2008 through Aug. 15, 2008. I will have limited access to e-mail. If you have an emergency and need immediate assistance, please contact my colleague, SRW firm partner Andrew Wilson.

A foreign citizen who seeks admission to the United States for the primary purpose of performing labor as a health care worker, other than a physician, is inadmissible to the U.S. unless he or she presents a Health Care Worker certificate. There are seven health care occupations that are subject to the Health Care Worker certification requirements, but only four TN visa occupational categories may be subject to this requirement:

• Registered Nurses.
• Physical Therapists.
• Occupational Therapists.
• Medical Laboratory Technologists/Medical Technologists.
  

Since the implementation of the Health Care Worker certificate rule, there has been much confusion on which professions are covered under this rule for the Medical Technologists and Technicians occupational category. The Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (“CGFNS”), an entity authorized to issue health care worker certificates, limits the Medical Technologists and Technicians category to cover only “medical laboratory generalists.” CGFNS has outlined two groups of professions that fall outside the scope of the “medical laboratory generalists” covered under the Health Care Worker certificate requirement. More...