Wisconsin J-1 Visa Waiver Program
Shortage Area for Waivers

J-1 Visa Waiver: General Information  |  Program Description

Application Information  |  Shortage Areas for Waivers

Other State Letters of Support  |  Immigration & Waiver Links

Primary Care Programs

J-1 Visa Waiver: Eligible Shortage Areas for Waivers

The lists of federally designated shortage areas, Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) and Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs) and Medically Underserved Populations (MUPs), are updated on an ongoing basis. The physician’s employment offer must include a practice site that is located in a primary care HPSA or MUA / MUP, or in a mental health HPSA for psychiatrists. A current listing of HPSAs and MUA / MUPs, respectively, are maintained at the following federal web sites:

Federal HPSA database - select state, then county and discipline (primary care, dental or mental health):

http://hpsafind.hrsa.gov/

Federal MUA / MUP database – select state and county:

http://bphc.hrsa.gov/databases/newmua/

Checking a street address for location in a HPSA / MUA / MUP:

To see if a  street address in a larger city  is located within a designated HPSA, you can use a federal web site for address matching.  Use this to check street addresses in Milwaukee, Madison in Dane County, Kenosha, Wausau in Marathon County, and Beloit in Rock County.

http://www.ffiec.gov/Geocode/default.aspx

Go into the address matching web site listed above: type in the correct street address (number and name), the city, and the state, and then submit.

The census tract number will be shown in the response, and can be compared to census tracts listed for designated HPSAs that are located in cities (e.g., Milwaukee, Beloit, Kenosha, Madison, Wausau). Be sure to compare the census tract number to the appropriate HPSA listing (e.g., primary care or mental health).

HPSAs are reviewed every 3 years by the federal government to determine if they continue to represent areas that have shortages of primary care or mental health providers. When an employment site is located in an area that loses its federal shortage designation before the J-1 visa waiver is approved, the U.S. Department of State has denied the waiver request in the past. If a HPSA is at risk of losing its federal shortage designation during the waiver application process, this will be discussed with the employer during the application process.

After the J-1 visa waiver and H-1b visa are approved by Immigration and if the foreign physician needs to change employers or practice sites, the foreign physician must locate another practice site that is located in a federally designated shortage area.

Other questions about designation of shortage areas in Wisconsin (HPSA or MUA/MUP) should be directed to:

Last Revised: May 20, 2008