https://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/2017/03/henry_ford_nurses.html Skip to Article Set weather Back To Main MenuClose Customize Your Weather Set Your Location: Enter City and State or Zip Code [ ]Submit mlive's Logomlive's Logo Michigan * Ann Arbor * Flint * Grand Rapids/Muskegon * Jackson * Kalamazoo * Saginaw/Bay City * All Michigan Subscribe 1. Detroit 30 Canadian nurses at Detroit hospital pressured at border after policy change * Updated: Mar. 16, 2017, 10:45 p.m.| * Published: Mar. 16, 2017, 9:45 p.m. [hfhsjpg-2230f510709ae435] From left: Patti Kunkel, nurse practitioner, Henry Ford Health System; Marc Topoleski, principal attorney of business immigration services, Ellis Porter; Kathy Macki, vice president of human resources, Henry Ford Health System. (Dana Afana | MLive.com)(Dana Afana | MLive.com) * * * * Subscribers can gift articles to anyone By * Dana Afana | dafana@mlive.com Update: U.S. Customs and Border Protection denies that a change of policy led to the border difficulties the nurses are facing. A full statement from CPB has been added below. DETROIT -- Henry Ford Health System officials are helping to provide new visas for Canadian nurses who work at the Detroit hospital system and have been turned away at the U.S.-Canada border, apparently due to new federal immigration and travel policy. Nurses with nonimmigrant NAFTA Visas, known as TN visas, are at risk of being unable to cross the border if they are categorized as nurse practitioners or advanced practice providers, hospital officials said in a Thursday press conference. Kathy Macki, vice president of human resources at Henry Ford Health System, said 30 nurses have been affected by Customs and Border Protection agents newly determining that advanced practice nurses should not be approved for TN work visa status, based on a new interpretation of immigration policy. "Under the NAFTA treaty, there are a list of 63 occupations under which a person can come to the United States from Canada and Mexico," said Marc Topoleski, a business immigration attorney at the Troy-based Ellis Porter law firm. "One of those is the registered nurse category. There's no other language in the NAFTA treaty that sought to limit the registered nurse category to other class of nurses." Hospital officials hope to help the affected nurses obtain costly H1-B visas, another form of nonimmigrant professional visas. "'Registered nurse' was never defined in NAFTA, [it] was meant to facilitate the free trade among the three countries as well as the free movement of certain professionals in certain occupations so that category should be interpreted broadly not narrowly," Topoleski said. "They aren't saying what drove the new interpretation." Nurse practitioners are registered nurses with additional responsibilities. It's unclear why some might now be excluded from the TN visa program. A message seeking comment on what new policy prompted the changes was left for a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson. Patti Kunkel, a LaSalle, Ontario resident who is a nurse practitioner in the cardiovascular unit at Henry Ford Hospital, said she now faces daily anxiety, fearing being turned away at the border after being asked about her visa expiration date on Wednesday morning. "I'm always worried that I'm going to get pulled in for secondary under the NEXUS program and if they take my visa I'm just going home," Kunkel said. Kunkel works in the hospital's intensive care unit, which is already short-staffed, she said. "The idea of not being able to work over here after doing all that just because somebody has decided that I have advanced my role too far out of the RN category ... I work at bedside. I work with patients at a normal patient level," Kunkel said. To apply for H1-B status, Henry Ford Health System will have to request an expedited process, which could take up to three weeks before some employees would be able to return to work. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services plans to suspend its premium expedited process on April 3, Topoleski said. That means applications submitted afterward will undergo standard processing, which could take up to six months. "It will have a drastic impact on Henry Ford's ability to provide patient care," he said. "This change in policy was not announced and has yet to be put out in any written format, so we really don't understand the rationale behind this policy change." Expediting the H1-B application could cost between $3,000 and $5,000 per application, which Henry Ford Health system may cover for its affected nurses. "We are asking for the CBP to revisit the new interpretation that is causing confusion and frustration for our Canadian employees so we can continue to cross the border as smoothly and seamlessly as they have for years," Macki said. Statement from Customs and Border Protection public affairs officer Kris Grogan: "U.S. Customs and Border Protection has not had any policy changes that would affect TN status. One of the most common issues CBP sees is improper paperwork presented by the traveler in relation to the position classification they are applying under. Another common issues is the lack of proper documents needed to grant a TN nonimmigrant classification. Each application for TN status is evaluated by the inspecting officer, and the decision is made on the totality of the evidence provided. Every application for TN status is a separate inspection, and the decision to approve or deny is based on the merits of that individual case. "Under title 8 of the code of regulations (8 CFR) Part 214 appendix 1603.D.1 it lists Registered Nurse--with a state/provincial license or Licenciatura Degree as an acceptable classification to obtain a TN nonimmigrant classification as a Canadian or Mexican citizen. "Below are a few tips for registered nurses for a smooth TN Processing: * Canadian citizens do not need a visa for the TN classification * Diploma showing related education * Letter from Employer for TN Applicants to include the following information: * Name of employer * Position in the company * List of the nature of the job duties * Length of stay in the U.S. * Amount they are being paid * Evidence of education qualifications * Must be on company letterhead with original signatures * For registered nurse TN applicants, they must present a certificate from the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) - Often referred to as a VisaScreen "U.S. Customs and Border Protection is currently working closely with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for greater clarity in regards to specialized categories that fall under the registered nurse classification. More information about this can be found on the TN NAFTA Professionals website here." 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