How many H-1C nurses may a hospital apply for in any one year?
A.8 Not only does the law cap the number of nurses who may be petitioned in any one year to 500 nationwide, but it also limits the number of nurses who may be petitioned in any one state. States with populations of nine million or more in the 1990 census are eligible for up to 50 H-1C nurses per year while states with populations of less than nine million in the 1990 census are limited to 25 H-1C nurses per year. The per-state limitation may have the effect of further restricting the number of H-1C nurses who may be petitioned by qualifying hospitals. For example, five of the 14 hospitals that appear eligible to participate in the H-1C program are located in a single state: Texas. Since Texas’s population exceeds nine million, the per-state limitation means that the five qualifying Texas hospitals will be forced to compete for 50 H-1C nurses per year. (The hospitals will NOT receive a per-hospital allocation of 10 nurses each. Instead, the first hospital with an approved attestation wh
