PHILADELPHIA—CGFNS International launches its inaugural report on nurse and healthcare migration to the United States. Derived from this year’s VisaScreen® Service (VS) and Credentials Evaluation Services (CES) program data, the CGFNS Nurse Migration Report 2022: Trends in Healthcare Migration to the United States complements preexisting information on the U.S. nursing and healthcare workforce, including those internationally educated, and identifies new opportunities for future studies and collaborations.
The report’s key 2022 findings include:
- CGFNS received over 17,000 VS applications from 116 countries, a 44% increase from 2021 and 109% increase from 2018
- Health workers from the Philippines comprised 60% of all VS applications
- The top U.S. States where nurse migrants sought licensure were Texas, Illinois, Florida, Montana, and Maryland
- More than 80% of VS applicants were registered nurses, the majority of which held baccalaureate nursing degrees, or higher
- Permanent employment-based green cards (70%) were the preferred visa for applicants as compared to other temporary work visas such as TN (17%) or H1-B (11%)
Amid a rising nursing shortage in the U.S. and around the world, quality data on our healthcare workforce is crucial for understanding the current landscape, building a sustainable workforce, and implementing evidence-based policies at local, national, and international levels. CGFNS’ new annual report follows recent calls by the United Nations, World Health Organization, and International Centre on Nurse Migration to collect and disseminate quality and timely data to support good policies, effective governance, and to prepare us for future global emergencies.
“In releasing this report, we hope to identify key partners and stakeholders in governments, international organizations, the regulatory sphere, academia, the media, civil society, and beyond,” said Mukul Bakhshi, JD, Chief of Strategy and Government Affairs, CGFNS International. “We look forward to releasing this report on an annual basis, building off of the previous year’s findings, drawing comparisons and trends over time, and identifying new data points worth examining.”
Over its tenure as a leading standards-setting and credentials evaluation organization for healthcare migrants, CGFNS has processed upwards of four million applications for health workers wishing to live and work in their country of choice. Since 1977, CGFNS has become a global authority on nurse and health worker migration and cultivated decades of data on the demographics, pathways, and trajectory of migrating healthcare professionals. In the United States, there is a staggering lack of timely, quality, and contextualized information on its health worker immigrants.
To read the report in its entirety, visit: www.cgfns.org/2022nursemigrationreport.
About CGFNS International, Inc.
CGFNS International Inc. (CGFNS) is an immigration neutral non-profit organization that helps foreign educated healthcare professionals live and work in their country of choice by assessing and validating their academic and professional credentials. CGFNS has served millions of nurses and healthcare professionals globally and is recognized as the world’s leading credentials evaluation organization for nursing. CGFNS is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which serves as the central forum for international and social issues.
