New USCIS Approval Aims to Break Logjam for Foreign-Educated Nurses

NEW YORK, NY – March 30, 2026 – In a move that could significantly impact the U.S. healthcare landscape, The Evaluation Company (TEC) has received approval from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to issue Healthcare Worker Certificates for foreign-educated nurses. This development introduces a new and crucial player into a tightly controlled market, promising to streamline a notoriously complex process for thousands of nurses seeking to work in the United States amid a critical staffing shortage.

TEC's authorization, granted on March 27, 2026, for a five-year period, positions it as one of only a handful of organizations nationwide empowered to grant these essential certifications. For countless internationally educated nurses (IENs), this certificate is a non-negotiable key required to unlock the door to practicing in the U.S., and delays in this step can add months or even years to their journey.

A Market Disrupted

For decades, the process of credential verification for foreign nurses has been dominated by a very small number of providers. The Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) International, in particular, has long been the primary entity for these evaluations. While other organizations are authorized for specific professions like physical or occupational therapy, the field for nurses has been exceptionally narrow.

This limited competition has been a source of frustration. In the company's announcement, TEC's Dr. Josh Eisen alluded to the difficult market conditions applicants have faced. "This is a space that was a monopoly until years ago and behaved like one," he stated. "Client disregard was the norm. At its worst, applicants waited months for communication that should take days, if not hours."

TEC's entry, alongside the more recent 2024 approval of International Education Evaluations, LLC (IEE), signals a significant shift. The introduction of new competition is aimed squarely at alleviating the bottlenecks that have plagued the system. By offering an alternative, TEC intends to create a more responsive and efficient environment for nurse applicants. The certificate itself is a mandate of Section 343 of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), which requires non-physician healthcare workers to prove their education, training, licensure, and English proficiency are comparable to U.S. standards before they can obtain an occupational visa.

The Labyrinthine Journey of a Foreign Nurse

The path for an IEN to work in the U.S. is a marathon fraught with bureaucratic hurdles. The Healthcare Worker Certificate is just one of many steps. These professionals must navigate credential evaluations, pass licensure exams like the NCLEX, secure a visa sponsor, and then wait in line for a visa. This final step has become a significant roadblock in recent years.

Due to high demand exceeding the number of available visas, a condition known as "retrogression," the U.S. State Department has effectively paused the processing of new visa applications for international nurses. As of mid-2024, an estimated 10,000 nurses who had already secured jobs with U.S. hospitals were stuck in limbo, unable to enter the country and begin work. Some nurses report waiting years, and in extreme cases, over a decade, to complete the entire process.

Given these extensive delays, the efficiency of each individual step becomes paramount. A slow or unresponsive credentialing process only adds to the immense financial and emotional burden on applicants. TEC's Chief Legal and Compliance Officer, Mukul Bakhshi, acknowledged this challenge, stating the new service will bring "much needed relief to foreign-educated nurses facing a complex and challenging process."

A Lifeline for a Strained Healthcare System

The need for a smoother pathway for IENs has never been more urgent. The United States is in the grip of a severe and worsening nursing shortage, a crisis accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic but rooted in long-term demographic trends.

According to projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the U.S. will need to fill nearly 195,000 openings for registered nurses each year through 2032. The nation's aging population requires more complex medical care, while a significant portion of the existing nursing workforce—over one million RNs—is projected to retire by 2030. Compounding the problem, U.S. nursing schools are forced to turn away tens of thousands of qualified applicants each year due to a lack of faculty and clinical training sites, limiting the domestic pipeline of new nurses.

Internationally educated nurses are a vital component of the solution. They play a critical role in filling staffing gaps, particularly in underserved rural and urban communities. By expediting the certification component of the immigration process, TEC's new service could, in time, help get more qualified nurses to the bedside, alleviating pressure on overworked domestic staff and improving patient access to care.

The Road Ahead for The Evaluation Company

For TEC, a company founded in 1986 with a long history in academic credential evaluations, this approval represents a major strategic expansion. As a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluations Services (NACES), the company has an established reputation in the broader evaluation industry. TEC states it has built a "robust infrastructure" and is prepared to launch what Mukul Bakhshi calls a "state-of-the-art product that will be a market leader out of the gate."

The healthcare industry, immigration attorneys, and thousands of hopeful nurses will be watching closely to see if the company can deliver on its promises of speed and superior customer service. While the larger issue of visa retrogression remains in the hands of federal policymakers, optimizing the certification process is a tangible step forward. If TEC succeeds, it may not only transform the experience for individual applicants but also set a new competitive standard for a service that is indispensable to the health of the nation.