The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Wednesday overturned federal immigration regulations adopted in 2000 because the rules conflicted with a law enacted in 1999 to encourage immigrant physicians to practice in medically underserved areas, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Under the law, immigrant physicians who work in the U.S. on a temporary visa can qualify for a green card and permanent legal status after they work for five years in underserved areas. In the case heard by the court, eight immigrant physicians filed a lawsuit over three regulations adopted by federal immigration officials that affected their ability to obtain citizenship and provided them with a limited time to qualify. The plaintiffs said that they were improperly denied credit for the time they had worked in underserved areas before the federal government approved their visa applications. In the 3-0 decision, Judge Harry Pregerson said that the denial of credit for work performed by the plaintiffs prior to approval of their visa applications threatens the intent of the law, which seeks to "attract immigrant doctors to health professional shortage areas." Carl Shusterman, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said that the decision would affect hundreds of immigrant physicians immediately and thousands more in the future. He added, "A lot more physicians will use this program, and it will really work to help Americans who are stuck in areas where they can't get medical help." Sharon Rummery, a spokesperson for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in San Francisco, said that the agency will review the decision (Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/9).

"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.