Relief for retrogression hope???

suzanne4, RN · May 5, 2008

Lawyers can argue for whatever they want, but they are not working in the field of nursing; nor are administrators and having to deal with those that have training that is significantly lacking.

I do expect requirements to get much tighter in the next year or two, not become less. The US can become much more selective in who it will issue a visa to and this is what needs to be done.

For those that are going into nursing now in other countries for the sole purpose of being able to come to the US right away, you need to think again. And perhaps change your major of study.

suzanne4, RN · May 5, 2008

does the retrogression concerns everybody? how would it take (in average) if you are not from india, china or philipines?
by the way, it is just out of curiosity

The entire world is under a retrogression at this time and it has been in effect since October 31, 2006.

Average wait for most now that have not started the process can be up to five years or so and no guarantee that one will ever be able to get a green card. There are many more applicants than there are visas available.

And if the person is now in the US, they are looking at years before the I-485 will be accepted again. Much already written on this topic so not going to go into it here, just do a search.

Ginger's Mom, MSN, RN · May 5, 2008

I am a clinical instructor in a US ,LPN program. Many of my students have college degrees and have opted for the LPN program since they can't get into the RN program. Once they are LPNs they will be able to get in the LPN-RN program.

Even though I have over 30 years of experience, I got no assistance in getting my MSN two years ago from my government and very little from my employer, 10K a year would have been great!

My point is, that my government needs to support US citizens first, not import nurses. US trained nurses are better since they support and have ties to the community ( they are not sending money home to a foreign country). Patients like having US trained nurses since they are cultural sensitive to the needs of their patients. If a hospital needs to support nurses, don't you think they are better investing money in the community rather then importing nurses?

I feel bad that the overseas nurses have been told that USA will cure all their financial problems.....I would be very concern if this bill passes and shame on who ever proposes this bill

lawrence01 · May 5, 2008

I thought from what I read that it meant unlimited visas for nurses and the 20,00 limit was for their dependants?

No, it's the other way around. It's 20,000 per year for the primary beneficiary (the nurse) and the dependents aren't counted anymore with the 20,000 a year cap.

This has just been introduced and even if it survive, there's also chance that it won't be exactly what you see now.

And the way it has been worded on it's current version, it seems it is set to expire by Sept. 2011.

20,000 a year for 3 years is just 60,000. Practically the same thing as the previous one (50,000 visa). However, since this version does not anymore count dependents, there will be more visa numbers going to the nurse than going to their dependents.

It also doesn't mean the 20,000 has to be exhausted on a given fiscal year.

This is practically almost the same legislation for Schedule A but doing it another way and none of the disadvantages/problems of the last one.

For one thing, if the core of this bill survives, "bad" agencies will absolutely have no excuses on why a case should not go through in completion and on time. The "good agencies/petitioners" will also have confidence that cases they filed will go through w/o any hindrances such as freezing in the middle or latter stages of the process. No need for premium processing of the I-140 as well and the $1500 grant fee goes to a grant program for training more American nurses.

icedragon · May 5, 2008

Wow, that's good news for 60,000 Philippine RNs who can go to the USA soon! :yeah:

Silverdragon102, BSN · May 5, 2008

Wow, that's good news for 60,000 Philippine RNs who can go to the USA soon!

What about the rest of the world?????

elkpark · May 5, 2008

Wow, that's good news for 60,000 Philippine RNs who can go to the USA soon!

No, that's not what anyone is saying here. The new proposal is nowhere close to actually becoming law. Most bills that are submitted in the US Congress never become law. Also, please be aware that there is a lot of public opposition in the US to increasing the numbers of legal immigrants coming into the country to take jobs that could be held by US citizens, and the senators and representatives are aware of that.

Most US nurses (most US workers of any kind) are strongly opposed to large numbers of workers (nurses or otherwise) coming in from other countries. There is no real nursing shortage in the US -- there are more than enough licensed RNs in the US right now to fill every vacancy in the country; they are just not working as RNs at present. There are some problems with distribution of nurses around the country (shortages in some areas and over-supply in other areas), and there is a shortage of nurses who are willing to put up with the low salaries and poor working conditions offered by so many healthcare employers, but there is no nursing shortage. Large numbers of RNs coming in from other countries keeps nursing salaries and working conditions here down, and US RNs are not happy about that. And most people in the US feel that the government should be helping our own citizens to be educated and working as RNs, rather than helping foreign workers come in while unemployment for US citizens is going up.

There is so much conversation on this board about the sorry situation for Philippines RNs in the PI, how low their pay is, and how awful the working conditions are. I wonder how PI RNs would feel if your government started allowing large numbers of RNs to come into the Phillipines to work from some other country where the conditions were much worse, and nursing salaries and working conditions in the PI were much better than they ever dreamed of in their own country? What do you think would happen to salaries and conditions in the PI if there were all these other workers who would be more than happy to work for much less, and in much worse conditions, than you have? Salaries would go down and working conditions would get even worse than they already are, wouldn't they!

There may be US laws in place to prevent you being paid less than what nurses are getting paid now in a particular area, but the ability of employers to import cheap labor from other countries certainly keeps nursing salaries from increasing, and keeps them from having to improve poor working conditions.

I wish that PI nurses would put a fraction of the time and effort they put into leaving the Philippines into working to improve conditions in your own country! Other countries don't owe you a good career and living because you come from a country with a corrupt government and poor economy. Why aren't the citizens of the PI putting their own house in order?

lost_stranger · May 5, 2008

No, it's the other way around. It's 20,000 per year for the primary beneficiary (the nurse) and the dependents aren't counted anymore with the 20,000 a year cap.
This has just been introduced and even if it survive, there's also chance that it won't be exactly what you see now.
And the way it has been worded on it's current version, it seems it is set to expire by Sept. 2011.
20,000 a year for 3 years is just 60,000. Practically the same thing as the previous one (50,000 visa). However, since this version does not anymore count dependents, there will be more visa numbers going to the nurse than going to their dependents.
It also doesn't mean the 20,000 has to be exhausted on a given fiscal year.
This is practically almost the same legislation for Schedule A but doing it another way and none of the disadvantages/problems of the last one.
For one thing, if the core of this bill survives, "bad" agencies will absolutely have no excuses on why a case should not go through in completion and on time. The "good agencies/petitioners" will also have confidence that cases they filed will go through w/o any hindrances such as freezing in the middle or latter stages of the process. No need for premium processing of the I-140 as well and the $1500 grant fee goes to a grant program for training more American nurses.

This time they have considered everything. Hope this bill passes.:wink2:

suzanne4, RN · May 5, 2008

Wow, that's good news for 60,000 Philippine RNs who can go to the USA soon!

Sorry, but they do not all go to those from one country. And it is spread over three years, but we do not expect anything soon. This is an election year and chances of this bill getting thru in the near future is not even a blink on the screen.

And there are others from other countries that are included in this, it is not specific to anyone country at all.

Lets be realistic here.

suzanne4, RN · May 5, 2008

I am a clinical instructor in a US ,LPN program. Many of my students have college degrees and have opted for the LPN program since they can't get into the RN program. Once they are LPNs they will be able to get in the LPN-RN program.
Even though I have over 30 years of experience, I got no assistance in getting my MSN two years ago from my government and very little from my employer, 10K a year would have been great!
My point is, that my government needs to support US citizens first, not import nurses. US trained nurses are better since they support and have ties to the community ( they are not sending money home to a foreign country). Patients like having US trained nurses since they are cultural sensitive to the needs of their patients. If a hospital needs to support nurses, don't you think they are better investing money in the community rather then importing nurses?
I feel bad that the overseas nurses have been told that USA will cure all their financial problems.....I would be very concern if this bill passes and shame on who ever proposes this bill

The state of MI has actually put a program in place that provides training for two years for the ADN for those that have been laid off from other industries and they are paying for it all for the two years.

And not sure where you live, but there are employers all over the country that contribute a sizable amount for tuition reimbursement. But again, money should be spent on helping Americans rather than spending $10,000 plus to import a nurse from another country first.

calabash · May 5, 2008

while I understand every thing that ms Suzanne says, I must say that from other sources there is a definite shortage of nurses in the US. and oversea trained nurses have contributed allot to American health care. Nurses trained in my part of the world are highly skilled and those I know that are presently working in the US, for eg apetition was made to retain one of them who was planning on leaving her hospital. so dont feel bad American nu

rse. we are not trying to take your job we are just good nurses.

suzanne4, RN · May 5, 2008

while I understand every thing that ms Suzanne says, I must say that from other sources there is a definite shortage of nurses in the US. and oversea trained nurses have contributed allot to American health care. Nurses trained in my part of the world are highly skilled and those I know that are presently working in the US, for eg apetition was made to retain one of them who was planning on leaving her hospital. so dont feel bad American nu
rse. we are not trying to take your job we are just good nurses.

Again, shortages are dependent upon the area. You also went to nursing school and I assume have worked as an RN and have experience. Am I not correct? But when someone went to nursing school for the sole purpose of being able to immediately go to the US without having a local license or any experience and most of the training is not the same clinically as here, then there is cause for concern. And that is my point. If things open up, then there is not an issue with someone from your country getting a visa, but when you have a limit of 10,000 green cards per year for those from the larger countries and have more than 950,000 in nursing school in one country in particular, then there are many issues with this. The US does not need to change their requirements to be able to give jobs when there own country does not have them.

The issue is still that jobs should go to Americans first and when an American can get trained in the same amount of time that it takes for one to go thru licensure and immigration, that makes the only sense to me and to others here.

We do not have a unlimited need for nurses, that is what you are reading by some agencies but when working here, things are quite different.