Opportunity Overview
The Wyoming Department of Health, Office of Rural Health, currently administers the Wyoming Conrad 30 J-1 Visa Waiver Program for healthcare facilities recruiting qualifying J-1 physicians. The program supports physician recruitment into medically underserved and rural Wyoming communities by allowing the State to recommend waiver of the J-1 two-year foreign-residence requirement, subject to federal approval.
What the Program Provides
This is a non-cash healthcare workforce and immigration benefit, not a conventional grant. Wyoming may process up to 30 waiver requests per fiscal year. The State’s current guidance says up to 10 of the 30 may be used for specialists and/or non-designated shortage areas through Flex waiver requests. A Wyoming recommendation is discretionary and does not guarantee approval by the U.S. Department of State or USCIS.
Current Timing
The current Wyoming Department of Health program page and application package do not publish a fixed annual application deadline. Wyoming assigns case priority numbers as requests are reviewed. Once 30 case numbers have been assigned for the year, remaining cases may receive priority numbers and be carried into the next fiscal year. Applicants should therefore treat the program as rolling and submit a complete request as early as practical.
Who Must Submit the Request
A waiver request must come from a U.S. healthcare facility on behalf of the J-1 physician; the physician may not submit the Wyoming request directly. The facility’s Administrator or CEO must provide a letter requesting WDH sponsorship and documenting recruitment efforts, the physician’s qualifications and responsibilities, the unmet healthcare need, the three-year employment offer, acceptance of Medicare and Medicaid patients and medically indigent patients, and the expected local impact if the waiver is denied.
Physician and Facility Requirements
The physician must have a bona fide offer of full-time employment and agree to work at least 40 hours per week for at least three years. Regular waiver requests are tied to a geographic area designated by HHS as having a shortage of healthcare professionals. The employing facility must accept Medicare and Medicaid and medically indigent patients. The physician must begin employment within 90 days after receiving the waiver and must meet all Wyoming medical licensure requirements before employment begins.
Required Application Materials
The Wyoming package requires one original and one copy of the complete request. Required materials include the Administrator or CEO request letter, a detailed facility description, the complete employment contract, applicable No Objection Statement, immigration documents including DS-2019/IAP-66 and I-94 records, proof of required examinations, recruitment and retention documentation, the physician curriculum vitae, letters of recommendation, the Wyoming J-1 Visa Waiver Policy Affidavit and Agreement, the Physician Data Sheet, and the facility’s commitment to submit semi-annual compliance reports during the service obligation. Wyoming also requires the U.S. Department of State case number on each page of the submitted package.
Flex Waiver Requests
Wyoming permits up to 10 Flex waiver requests within the annual 30-waiver limit. In addition to the standard materials, Flex requests must document the need for the physician, show that the facility has sufficient patients from designated shortage areas to support one full-time-equivalent physician in the relevant specialty, document specialty-specific recruitment efforts, and establish the applicable shortage designations and underserved service population.
Submission Method and Contact
The current Wyoming guidance directs applicants to submit the original and one copy of the complete package to Keri Wagner, Healthcare Workforce and Primary Care Office Manager, Wyoming Department of Health, Office of Rural Health, 122 West 25th Street, Suite 102E, Cheyenne, WY 82002. The current WDH program page identifies Keri Wagner as the Wyoming Primary Care Office contact.
Atlas Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 93/100. This is a high-value physician recruitment and retention pathway for Wyoming hospitals, FQHCs, rural health clinics, health systems, primary-care practices, behavioral-health providers, Tribal health organizations and other qualifying healthcare facilities that have difficulty recruiting physicians into shortage and underserved areas.
N9+ Fit Score: 0/100. QC Healthcare Fit: 0/100. Conrad 30 provides immigration-waiver sponsorship rather than cash, equipment, telehealth technology, remote-exam devices or contracted clinical staffing. Atlas therefore does not infer a Nonagon N9+ device and platform or QC Healthcare procurement role from this program.
Next Action
Confirm the physician’s J-1 status and Wyoming licensure pathway; validate the proposed practice site’s shortage-area basis or Flex pathway; document the facility’s recruitment efforts and unmet healthcare need; finalize a compliant three-year employment contract; assemble the complete Wyoming package in the required order with the Department of State case number on every page; and submit promptly because Wyoming is limited to 30 waiver requests per fiscal year.
Official sources: Wyoming Department of Health — Health Workforce Development / Primary Care Office and Wyoming Conrad 30 J-1 Visa Waiver Guidelines and Application Information.