Resource list for working in US

World Immigration

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for those of you wishing to work in the us and obtain a green card, these are the steps that you should follow:

1. apply for visa screen certificate (this will be the most time consuming,

and can be done before you take any of your exams) http://www.cgfns.org

there is a separate area for nurses form canada or mexico who are covered under the nafta treaty. look towards the bottom of the list to see this one.

2. complete application for cgfns exam (if you are going to take it)

hint if you submit a complete set of your transcripts with the school verification form, this will cover the complete requirements for visa screen as well as the exam. deadline for exam is approximately 90 days before the exam. this is the date that all data must be recieved by cgfns in their office, which includes verification from your nursing board, as well as transcripts. there are no exceptions, if anything is late, and you will have to wait another four months for the next exam time. the exam is only given in 6 locations in the entire us, if you are planning on taking it there.

importantthe verification from your nursing school as well as your license verification must be sent in an envelope with the appropriate seal over the flap as well as the person's signature who sealed the envelope over the flap. if either of these are missing, it will not be accepted.

3. contact the bon (board of nursing) in the state where you are interested in getting your license. you are not committed to working in this state once you get your license. once accepted by them, you will receive a letter called "authority to test", usually referred to as att. you must have this letter in your hand before you register to take the nclex exam. you do not need to take the exam in the state where you will be licensed.

passing nclex does not automatically give you your license. until you actually have been assigned a number, you do not have a license in the us. so please do not list a us license for visa screen if it is not in your hand or you will delay your processing . also any reference to your "current" license means the license where you are currently working, not the one that you will receive in the us.

hope that this helps you and answers many questions for you in advance.

good luck with reaching your dreams and goals......

:balloons:

Hi Suzanne,

I sent you an email but maybe I should contact you here then your advice can be viewed by others.

Can you offer any reassurance to a UK RN when starting nursing in the US?

Need to know if you are mentored for a while until you feel settled. What about preceptorship ?

Ooh so nervous about that first day!:uhoh3:

You are definitely mentored no matter which area that you are hired into. As a new employee at a hospital, you will get an orientation tilored to your needs. You will also go thru a basic hospital orientation, so you are not thrown to the wolves the first day. They will make sure that you feel comfortable with all that you need to know.

Hello everyone,

Good Day~

Facility A filed for my EAD and Green Card.

I got the acknowledgment from Immigration about it and got a date for finger printing. Now, facility B wants to hire me. What are the procedures involved?? I want to work in facility B.

What shall I do to work in facility B?? Can any one suggest??

Hello everyone,

Good Day~

Facility A filed for my EAD and Green Card.

I got the acknowledgment from Immigration about it and got a date for finger printing. Now, facility B wants to hire me. What are the procedures involved?? I want to work in facility B.

What shall I do to work in facility B?? Can any one suggest??

No doubt, you have already signed a contract if they are petitioning for you. If you have accepted a position it is not good manners to go back on a deal, unless there is something quite unscrupulous about the contract. If you cancle the contract with Facility A, then any documentation that they have filed on your behalf gets cancelled and you have to begin all over. Be aware of that.

I would stick with what you have for the contract, because you never know when things can backfire and bite you on the butt.

Just my opinion.................. :balloons:

Hello everyone,

Good Day~

Facility A filed for my EAD and Green Card.

I got the acknowledgment from Immigration about it and got a date for finger printing. Now, facility B wants to hire me. What are the procedures involved?? I want to work in facility B.

What shall I do to work in facility B?? Can any one suggest??

No doubt, you have already signed a contract if they are petitioning for you. If you have accepted a position it is not good manners to go back on a deal, unless there is something quite unscrupulous about the contract. If you cancle the contract with Facility A, then any documentation that they have filed on your behalf gets cancelled and you have to begin all over. Be aware of that.

I would stick with what you have for the contract, because you never know when things can backfire and bite you on the butt.

Just my opinion.................. :balloons:

I, too, dont think it is a good idea for you to turn your back on facility A at this time. First of all, it will cost you delay because if your earlier petition is cancelled and another petition is filed in your behalf by Facility B, your current date is moved backward. Secondly, Facility A may file for a breach of contract against you especially if they shouldered all lawyer and immigration expenses which is very likely.

just a thought....

Hello everyone,

Good Day~

Facility A filed for my EAD and Green Card.

I got the acknowledgment from Immigration about it and got a date for finger printing. Now, facility B wants to hire me. What are the procedures involved?? I want to work in facility B.

What shall I do to work in facility B?? Can any one suggest??

Hi Suzanne,

As you know I co-moderate a portugese nursing forum.

Recently we have been receiving some requests about information on how to go about if one would like to work in the US.

My first question, may I copy-paste your first post in this thread and post it on our forum?

Second question: do you have any additional info on what are the first steps to take if any nurse from Portugal (BoS-degree) would want to work in the US?

Thanks

Hi Suzanne,

As you know I co-moderate a portugese nursing forum.

Recently we have been receiving some requests about information on how to go about if one would like to work in the US.

My first question, may I copy-paste your first post in this thread and post it on our forum?

Second question: do you have any additional info on what are the first steps to take if any nurse from Portugal (BoS-degree) would want to work in the US?

Thanks

No problem at all with using my post. It will depend on which part of the US that they wish to work in, each state is a little different.

No problem at all with using my post. It will depend on which part of the US that they wish to work in, each state is a little different.

As far as I can deduct, most of them are looking at New England; Massachusetts and the NY-NJ region. There seem to be big portugese communities in f.e. Newark.

My best suggestion is to apply for NY licensure, as they will issue a hard copy license without a Social Security Number. Then this license can be endorsed to almost any other state.

It is also one of the easiest as they require a special credentials verification , done by CGFNS, where CGFNS is required to obtain all of your needed documents for you, you just need to sign a release for them to do it.

There are only a total of three applications, the actual one from NY Board of Nursing, as well as the CGFNS "Special Credentials Verification for NY" and the Visa Screen Certificate application, both of these are available on the http://www.CGFNS.org website.

Hope that this helps..................... :balloons:

Dear Friends -

I am Canadian and have been living in the US for 4 years. My husband had an H-1B visa and I was a dependent (H-4 visa, no work permit.) Six months before we were to receive our green card (we were almost through the long process) he divorced me.

I have been trained as a laction consultant, certified birth assistant and Lamaze teacher. So now I am in LPN school in Denver, to become a nurse so I have a hope of staying in the USA where I have made my home.

My H-4 expires after I finish nursing school. Till then, I won't be risking questions by Immigration Services about my divorce by travelling outside the country...

My goal is to work as an OB/GYN nurse, or go on to get a masters and become a certified Nurse-Midwife. I want to stay in Denver, Colorado where I live now (may be open to travelling...).

Otherwise, I am super-flexible.

1) Can I become a permanent resident easier as an RN? Is it important to take this step (LPN to RN) right away to stay in the US long term?

2) Is it advisable to just be an LPN and stay on the TN, renewing over and over? Does anyone get permanent residency with TN visa only?

3) I will also be taking my NCLEX in one year and plan to have Colorado LPN license at that time, what else do I need to find an employment offer?

Any words of advice or resources are greatly appreciated!!!

Faith

Dear Friends -

I am Canadian and have been living in the US for 4 years. My husband had an H-1B visa and I was a dependent (H-4 visa, no work permit.) Six months before we were to receive our green card (we were almost through the long process) he divorced me.

I have been trained as a laction consultant, certified birth assistant and Lamaze teacher. So now I am in LPN school in Denver, to become a nurse so I have a hope of staying in the USA where I have made my home.

My H-4 expires after I finish nursing school. Till then, I won't be risking questions by Immigration Services about my divorce by travelling outside the country...

My goal is to work as an OB/GYN nurse, or go on to get a masters and become a certified Nurse-Midwife. I want to stay in Denver, Colorado where I live now (may be open to travelling...).

Otherwise, I am super-flexible.

1) Can I become a permanent resident easier as an RN? Is it important to take this step (LPN to RN) right away to stay in the US long term?

2) Is it advisable to just be an LPN and stay on the TN, renewing over and over? Does anyone get permanent residency with TN visa only?

3) I will also be taking my NCLEX in one year and plan to have Colorado LPN license at that time, what else do I need to find an employment offer?

Any words of advice or resources are greatly appreciated!!!

Faith

The TN is only available to RNs, it is under the NAFTA Treaty............You need to have a green card for permanent residency. The LPN will get you no where in terms of being able to work in the US, you will be much further ahead to go directly into the RN program, or a bridge program as soon as you finish. You will no longer be covered under your husbnad, and it is virtually impossible to get any type of work permit as an LPN with your own visa in the US. You have to wait just like everyone else, only RNS get preferential treatment.

I suggest that you speak to an immigration attorney as quickly as possible to explore what your legal options are at this point.

If you are legally married to an American, then it is a different story, but you would be applying for a visa on your own, and sorry to say that LPNs are not fast-tracked so it would be a minimum of three years before you would get papers that would permit you to work.

hi

i'm an australian student, finishing my RN next year and then am going straight into the one yr masters in midwifery...

my fiance is american and is about to move out here till i get out of school...we want to get back to the US asap...do i need expierience to get a green card or can i come over right after i finish training and seek work?

i dont know what the midwife course is in the US but here its 32 hr a week of paid work plus 8 class hours a week...so i will have a yr's exp behind me in L&D and am currently working as a CNA...

also i keep hearing ppl talk about med-surg year...is this important in getting a visa? i was planning on specialising right away but if its better to get a yrs exp i could do this also... :rolleyes:

sorry for the pile of questions...we're just wrestling with the immigration dept. this end to get him in here (proving a real relationship and all that mess :uhoh21: ) and i'm starting to get the impression we will have to mess around on the way back too :crying2:

thanks

elle

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