I am a Pakistani national physician who has been working in the underserved area of rural southern Ohio since September 2003. I have been living in the United States for the last five years for medical training and education. I am board certified in internal medicine and I completed my residency at Newton Wellesley Hospital in Boston.

We take care of indigent patients as well as patients on Medicare, Medicaid and disability. West Union is in a health-professional shortage area with a predominantly low-income population. Our practice provides primary care as well as urgent care to a local population. I also provide inpatient services at the local hospital and nursing home.

This February I had to make an emergency trip to Pakistan after my mother had fallen seriously ill. She was hospitalized in intensive care at a hospital in Islamabad and later moved to Karachi for advanced procedures. She died recently after much suffering and pain.

After my arrival in Pakistan, I promptly applied for an H1B visa (which allows American firms to bring scientists, doctors and other professionals from other nations) at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad. I was interviewed March 3 and was told that my visa would need "special administrative processing." My passport has been withheld for more than two months now, and I have not heard a word from them.

It is regrettable that professionals such as hard-working doctors are being penalized on basis of citizenship in a Muslim country. My continued absence from work is a hardship for my patients, who solely rely on our services. My presence is extremely important for continued patient care, especially those with chronic diseases.

Our practice invested a lot of time and money hiring a J-1 visa waiver physician, a complex, time-consuming and highly competitive process. It took more than one year to hire a J-1 waiver physician. Therefore it is critical for patient care that my visa is processed in timely manner.

We talk about providing amnesty to illegal or undocumented workers, and yet we make it harder for genuine professionals to work in this country. Security is important for any nation or a person, but why does it have to take months to process the applications of genuine, hard-working professionals?

After all, we all are working for the common interest, for American freedom and for improving the quality of our lives.

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Dr. Khayam Shaukat, of Maysville, Ky., works at Dunkin-Blanton Health Center in West Union, Ohio.

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