During his testimony before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Tuesday, Mullin noted that DHS had received approximately 286,000 H-1B applications for the fiscal year 2026.
“We had 286,000 applicants this year for H-1B visas; of those, over 200,000 paid $100,000 for expedited processing,” Mullin responded to Senator Susan Collins’ inquiry regarding the shortage of doctors in rural areas of the country.
Mullin explained that applicants paying the $100,000 fee have their applications processed in about 15 days, while other applications typically take around 7.5 months to complete.
Collins shared that a hospital in Presque Isle, a rural town in northern Maine, recently paid this fee to secure a crucial surgeon from abroad.
She emphasized that medical service providers in remote areas should be treated differently than employers looking for highly skilled workers in sectors with larger domestic job markets.
“Would you consider creating an exemption for medical professionals from this fee when a community can show that no available medical professional exists?” Collins inquired.
Mullin assured the Senator that he would explore potential options for handling such applications with some flexibility on a case-by-case basis.
“I believe there’s a significant difference between bringing in a tech expert from another country to work in affluent California and Silicon Valley, versus a much-needed surgeon for a rural hospital in northern Maine,” she noted.
Republican Senator from Alaska, Lisa Murkowski, raised concerns regarding the shortage of teachers in rural school districts in her state.
“I will follow up with you on the issue I previously discussed concerning H-1B visas for teachers,” Murkowski told Mullin.
