HR5985-119

In Committee

Expanding Health Care Providers for Veterans Act

119th Congress Introduced Nov 7, 2025

Summary

What This Bill Does

The Expanding Health Care Providers for Veterans Act amends the Immigration and Nationality Act's H-1B cap-exemption provision. It adds nonimmigrants who are employed by, or have received an offer of employment from, the Department of Veterans Affairs or a State home recognized and certified by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. The amendment takes effect six months after enactment.

The bill also says a September 19, 2025 presidential proclamation restricting entry of certain nonimmigrant workers, or any substantially similar H-1B entry restriction imposed by executive order or presidential proclamation, does not apply to the newly covered VA and certified State home workers.

Who Benefits and How

The Department of Veterans Affairs benefits because it can hire covered H-1B workers without competing under the regular annual cap. Certified State veterans homes benefit from the same hiring flexibility. Foreign physicians, nurses, therapists, and other health professionals with VA or certified State home job offers benefit from cap-exempt H-1B treatment and protection from covered entry restrictions. Veterans receiving care benefit if expanded hiring helps fill staffing shortages.

Who Bears the Burden and How

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services must adjudicate the new category of cap-exempt H-1B petitions. The Department of State and border-entry agencies must apply the exemption from presidential H-1B entry restrictions. Domestic health care workers competing for VA or State home positions may face more competition from cap-exempt H-1B hires.

Key Provisions

  • Adds Department of Veterans Affairs workers and workers with VA job offers to the H-1B cap-exempt categories.
  • Adds workers employed by or offered employment at certified State veterans homes to the H-1B cap-exempt categories.
  • Provides that the amendment takes effect six months after enactment.
  • Exempts the newly covered workers from the September 19, 2025 H-1B entry restriction and substantially similar future restrictions.

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

Exempts H-1B nonimmigrants employed by or offered employment at the Department of Veterans Affairs or certified State homes from the H-1B numerical cap and from certain presidential entry restrictions.

Key Policy Areas

Immigration, Veterans Health, Health Care Workforce, H-1B Visas

Primary Purpose

Exempts H-1B nonimmigrants employed by or offered employment at the Department of Veterans Affairs or certified State homes from the H-1B numerical cap and from certain presidential entry restrictions.

Policy Domains

Immigration Veterans Health Health Care Workforce H-1B Visas

Section 2 H-1B cap and entry-restriction treatment for VA and State home workers

Identified Gains
  • Department of Veterans Affairs health care facilities
  • Certified State veterans homes
  • Foreign health professionals with VA job offers
  • Veterans receiving VA care
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih
Veterans receiving VA care:
Certified State veterans homes:
Foreign health professionals with VA job offers:
Department of Veterans Affairs health care facilities:
Identified Costs
  • U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services H-1B adjudicators
  • Department of State visa officers
  • Domestic health care workers seeking VA jobs
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih
Department of State visa officers:
Domestic health care workers seeking VA jobs:
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services H-1B adjudicators:

Legislative Progress

In Committee
Introduced Committee Passed
Nov 7, 2025

Ms. Tlaib (for herself, Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms. …

Nov 7, 2025

Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Nov 7, 2025

Introduced in House

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Veterans
2 mentions across 1 clause
+2 positive

Certified State veterans homes, Department of Veterans Affairs health care facilities

Health Care Providers
1 mention across 1 clause
+1 positive

Foreign health professionals with VA job offers

Government
1 mention across 1 clause
-1 negative

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services H-1B adjudicators

1/2
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Immigration Veterans Health Health Care Workforce
Actor Mappings
"va"
→ Department of Veterans Affairs
"state_home"
→ State home recognized and certified by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
"nonimmigrant"
→ H-1B nonimmigrant employed by or offered employment at VA or a certified State home

Key Definitions

Terms defined in this bill

1 term
"covered VA or State home worker" §214(g)(5)(D)

A nonimmigrant employed by or offered employment at the Department of Veterans Affairs or a certified State veterans home.

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology