Global Nurse Force leads fight against punitive H-1B fee

Global Nurse Force (GNF), a leading international healthcare recruitment and training company, has stepped forward as the lead plaintiff in a U.S. lawsuit challenging the newly imposed $100,000 H-1B visa fee. The company warns that this unlawful and discriminatory policy will not only shatter the dreams of thousands of Indian doctors and nurses but also cripple America’s already-strained healthcare system.

For decades, Indian medical professionals have brought their skills and compassion to American communities—strengthening hospitals, transforming lives, and filling critical shortages, especially in rural and inner-city settings. This new fee threatens to dismantle that bridge.

• Nurses already face decade-long backlogs for EB-3 green cards, leaving the H-1B as their only viable pathway to practice in the U.S.
• Doctors often serve in underserved hospitals on H-1B visas while awaiting permanent residency.

“This fee is not just a bureaucratic change—it is a closed door to a community that has given so much to American healthcare,” said Lalit Pattanaik, President & CEO of Global Nurse Force.

The lawsuit comes at a time when the U.S. faces one of the most severe healthcare workforce crises in history:

• A projected shortage of 1 million nurses by 2031.
• 42 states already reporting critical staffing gaps.
• 1 in 6 nurses and 1 in 4 doctors in the U.S. are internationally educated.

International Medical Graduates (IMGs) and Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs) form a cornerstone of this essential workforce, providing world-class care and sustaining hospitals that might otherwise be forced to close services.

For hospitals operating on razor-thin margins, especially in rural America, a $100,000 per-person fee is unsustainable.

• A GNF partner hospital in Louisiana had already selected qualified nurses to fill urgent vacancies. The new fee halted recruitment indefinitely—leaving patients waiting longer for care and existing staff exhausted.
• Studies consistently show that inadequate nurse staffing increases patient mortality. If enforced, the fee will accelerate ICU, ER, and surgical unit closures across the country.
• “We could not stand by while the door was closing on talented nurses and doctors who are the very backbone of the American healthcare system. This isn’t just a policy issue—it’s a patient safety crisis. We are taking this stand to support international clinicians who want to serve, and the American patients who desperately need them,” said Lalit Pattanaik, President & CEO, Global Nurse Force