Immigrant doctors who treat people in the American backwoods are tired of waiting for the green card.

Dr. Raghuwever Kura is the only nephrologist who has been treating people in Poplar Bluff, Missouri for the past 9 years. He treats almost 3 thousands of patients, of which 80 need dialysis procedures, writes CNN Money.

Фото: Depositphotos

“Some of my patients spend an hour to get to me. There is no other large hospital in the city,” says Kura.

But now, after almost a decade of waiting for the green card, Kura was thinking about leaving the USA.

“I have roots in this community, my children are raised here, I pay taxes here, and I have developed close relationships with my patients. But my wait for a green card is not over,” said Kura, who helped establish a dialysis treatment center in the city.

Kura hails from India and is in the USA for the last 17 years according to the status of a temporary worker on an H-1B visa.

The government approved the doctor’s application for a green card back in 2014, but he still has to queue for hundreds of thousands of other applicants to get it. Since Kura must change his non-immigrant H-1B visa for permanent resident status.

Every year, the United States issues 140 immigration visas to work. And limits the number of visas that are issued to people from individual countries or with certain skills.

Often, the demand for these visas is much higher than the supply, and therefore a queue is created that can stretch for years.

Greg Siskind, Immigration Lawyer and Company Partner Siskind Susser PC says Kure will have to wait a minimum of 15-20 years before being granted permanent resident status. This is due to the fact that the government is just starting to process immigration visas for workplaces for Indian citizens who received permission to obtain permanent residence almost 10 years ago.

“I can’t wait another 10 years without knowing what my future will be in the US,” the doctor said. He plans to move to Canada or New Zealand.

If Chur leaves, then Pollar Bluff, located about 150 miles from St. Louis, will most likely be looking for a replacement.

Foreign graduates of medical colleges have stepped up their search for vacancies in the depths of the United States that they may take. Nearly 800 thousands of such graduates are eager to get a job. In return, they will receive work visas and permission to stay in the country after graduation. As a rule, foreign graduates, after completing their studies, must leave the country and wait two years before being allowed to apply for a working visa in the United States.

With the outflow of doctors, the situation with the shortage of medical specialists in the United States can only worsen. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, by the 2030 year in the United States, there may be a shortage of 120 thousands of doctors.

Indian citizen Dr. Depu Sudhakaran works as a bariatric surgeon in St. Mary's Hospital in the small town of Centralia, Illinois.

He conducted more than 200 operations over the past 3 of the year and was actively involved in setting up a nationally-accredited bariatric surgical center in the city.

In 2013, the government approved a Sudhakaran application for a green card, but “I have no idea when I will receive it,” he said.

The surgeon wants to live on an ongoing basis in Illinois with his wife and two young children who were born in America.

“I want to feel like I belong, not an outsider,” said the doctor, who has lived in the country for 17 years.

But his patience comes to an end, and Sudhkaran thinks about moving to Canada.

In Marion, Illinois, the shortage of doctors is so high that Dr. Ram Sanjiv Alour after two years became a junior doctor in the staff of the city hospital.

Alur, originally from India and Marion, treats mainly patients older than 60 years.

Alur applied for a green card in 2016. But still not received it. He must renew his visa every three years.

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