Overview
- DHS confirmed that applications for medical physicians will keep moving after USCIS quietly updated its website late last week to exempt doctors from the freeze.
- The original hold grew out of a December 16, 2025 proclamation that expanded travel restrictions to 39 countries and paused decisions on visa extensions, work permits, and green cards.
- This shift matters because foreign-trained doctors make up about a quarter of the U.S. physician workforce and often staff primary care in shortage areas where the AAMC counts a deficit of roughly 65,000 doctors.
- Hospitals had placed some physicians on administrative leave, and advocates say roughly 1,000 trainees finishing this summer and hundreds starting on July 1 still face uncertainty about reporting to underserved sites.
- Operational risks remain as many doctors have not been notified, J-1 waiver timing and backlogs threaten status, and a new $100,000 H-1B blanket fee could price out reentry for those forced to depart.