Can International Students with Associate of Nursing and RN license work in USA

You are doing something very risky, the visa retrogression if over 5 years and to qualify you have to present the minimal degree that is allowed in your home country. You are saying an ASN is not valid in Sweden, therefore you would not qualify for a work based visa. Just don't be upset that once you complete your degree and finish your OPT you will be asked to leave the USA and wait until your visa is approved. Slots in ASN programs are hard to get into, you will be denying someone an education that you will be able to use in your home country.

Also if your degree isn't valid in Sweden, then you really should look into another nursing school so it can be valid in Sweden and in the US. You will be required to return home and if you can't practice as a RN while you're waiting for your chance at a visa, how are you going to keep your skills up to date? Even if you get the chance to come back, then what is a potential employer going to say when they see that you haven't worked as a paid RN in 4-5 years? They're going to say that you're outdated and most likely will hire someone else with more recent experience. Weigh everything before you make final decisions.

Your only hope would be to get a MSN with a specialty and experience which would qualify you for a H1B visa. Even when retrogression lifts, they have to accommodate all those ahead of you. America does not have endless job openings. I feel bad for you, but would from what you are saying to me, that American Nurses would have to repeat nursing school if they went to Sweden. What would be my changes of going to school and staying after graduation in Sweden?

As an educator, I would be concerned that you are struggling with just taking the prerequisites to get into nursing school, the nursing courses are much harder.

Think about getting the higher degree as Medsurg nurse has stated. It keeps you here as a student, but it will also be very expensive for you. Keep all your options open, be prepared that you will have to go home after your studies are over and your opt is exhausted. But make sure you get that degree that will be valid in Sweden, so that way you can work in Sweden as a RN while you're waiting for your green card, or you get your specialty and wait for your H1b visa. Things can get better by 2012 or 2012but no guarantees that a visa will be waiting, so it's better to have all your ducks in a row.

BTW, where is Krokomosse?? I know it's in Sweden and forgive me if I mispelled the place. I had a friend who was a foreign exchange student from Sweden and lost touch with her, and have been trying to find her ever since. She was from that place.