The department will accept waiver applications six (6) months after the beginning of each federal fiscal year for petitioning J-1 visa waiver physicians to work in areas without a federal shortage area designation. The practice and petitioning physician must serve patients who reside in federally designated areas of underservice. The maximum number of flex applications may not exceed the total number of waiver slots available.
(1)  The practice location must be located outside of a federally designated shortage area to apply for a flex waiver.

Terms Used In Idaho Code 39-6111A

  • Applicant: means a health care facility that seeks to employ a physician and is requesting state support of a J-1 visa waiver or national interest waiver. See Idaho Code 39-6105
  • Department: means the Idaho department of health and welfare. See Idaho Code 39-6105
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Flex: means the applications that may be submitted six (6) months following the beginning of each federal fiscal year for J-1 visa waiver physicians to work in areas without a federal shortage area designation. See Idaho Code 39-6105
  • Petitioning physician: means the foreign physician, named in the J-1 visa waiver or national interest waiver application, who requires a waiver to remain in the United States to practice medicine. See Idaho Code 39-6105
  • Primary care: means a medical doctor or doctor of osteopathy licensed in pediatrics, family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics, gynecology, general surgery or psychiatry. See Idaho Code 39-6105
(2)  The applicant organization and petitioning physician must meet all eligibility, application and reporting requirements with the exception of the practice location.
(3)  The applicant organization must submit documentation demonstrating how the practice location and petitioning physician will serve patients who reside in federally designated areas of underservice.
(4)  Flex waiver applications must demonstrate a need for the primary care or specialty petitioning physician.