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Medical bodies urge exemption for Indian doctors from H-1B fee
They say that the hike may exacerbate the existing shortage of doctors practising in rural hospitals across the U.S.
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Staff Reporter - Mon, 22, Sep 2025
- 23:55 EDT
- 24
Representative Image. / Unsplash
The American Health Association (AHA) has sought an exemption for health care personnel, especially trained doctors from abroad, including India, from the $100,000 H-1B visa fee hike.
Other top medical bodies have contended that the hike may exacerbate the existing shortage of doctors practising in rural hospitals across the U.S.
The AHA is trying to assess the impact of the Trump administration’s decision on health care and wants “to stress the importance of including health care personnel in potential exemptions to these changes.”
The Economic Times, an Indian newspaper, on Sept.22 quoted American Medical Association President Bobby Mukkamala as saying that the hike “risks shutting off the pipeline of highly trained physicians that patients depend on, especially in rural and underserved communities”.
The paper said “about 22% of immigrant doctors are from India, according to finance services provider Remitly”.
In a statement, the AHA said, “One of the short-term strategies used by U.S. hospitals to address personnel shortages is the use of foreign-trained health care workers.” Many of them are of Indian-origin.
The association explained the critical link between the H-1B visa and rural American health care. “While we work to educate more health care staff, the H-1B visa program plays a critical role in allowing the hospital field to recruit highly skilled physicians and other health care professionals to ensure access to care for communities and patients, including in rural and other areas where there are well-documented shortages of health care workers.”
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