Discouraged.........

rkm · Nov 29, 2007

The truth can be awfully hard, when your dreams are dashed. These are events over which no one in the PI has any control over. Best just accept that the US is now closed to PI nurses, probably for good and move on with your lives, the best you can.

Things will happen when they will, and everybody can only wait what comes next, but the retrogression unfortunately is a permanent thing for nurses from the PI. No silver lining in this one.

suzanne4, RN · Nov 29, 2007

What many of you are not thinking about, but focusing only on the retrogression, is the fact that the US has always had limits on the number of people that can get a green card from a country during a certain time period. It has never been more than 10,000 from your country; and that includes spouses and children of those that are being petitioned; and not just nurses.

The fact exists that there are many more applicants per year than there are visas available, this is what caused the retrogression to begin with. And add into this the fact that there were many that went back for nursing just to get a green card for the US, but that is not automatic anymore.

Passing of the NCLEX exam and finding an employer does not guarantee anyone that US State Dept will grant them a green card in the first place. This is definitely not the case anymore, and has not been for sometime.

No one should be waiting a couple of years for a visa without being pro-active and getting a better chance of getting a visa, and that means going to another country and getting real experience as an RN; not a three month volunteer program that does not count as work experience.

No reason to fret about things at this time, but do something pro-active to help your career.

dave787 · Nov 30, 2007

well we dont have to depend on US alone, we have to respect there rules also that we cnot get what we want as soons as possible, thats life. you dont have t be discouraged but a lot of options available. if you really wnated ot go to the US right time will come in real time. goodluck

milkshake_rn · Nov 30, 2007

What many of you are not thinking about, but focusing only on the retrogression, is the fact that the US has always had limits on the number of people that can get a green card from a country during a certain time period. It has never been more than 10,000 from your country; and that includes spouses and children of those that are being petitioned; and not just nurses.
The fact exists that there are many more applicants per year than there are visas available, this is what caused the retrogression to begin with. And add into this the fact that there were many that went back for nursing just to get a green card for the US, but that is not automatic anymore.
Passing of the NCLEX exam and finding an employer does not guarantee anyone that US State Dept will grant them a green card in the first place. This is definitely not the case anymore, and has not been for sometime.
No one should be waiting a couple of years for a visa without being pro-active and getting a better chance of getting a visa, and that means going to another country and getting real experience as an RN; not a three month volunteer program that does not count as work experience.
No reason to fret about things at this time, but do something pro-active to help your career.

hi suzanne!

what can you suggest to those people who are already case completed and only waiting for medical and interview? is it ok to try their luck to other countries while waiting? will it affect their ongoing contract to their employers in the u.s?

thank you!

rkm · Nov 30, 2007

The average nurse carries a spouse and maybe 2-3 children, it's no wonder that the visas are used up so rapidly. The techworker H1B backlogs are the main thing that pushes nurses to an infinite visa limbo. It's time to do something else.

potatomasher · Dec 2, 2007

It's not the end of the world yet! There are still countries open to Filipino nurses...with experience of course. Personally, I am not discouraged about this retrogression thing because we can't do something about it but wait. I do agree with Suzanne that while waiting we should get proactive with our careers. :-))

honeylet_1710, BSN, RN · Dec 11, 2007

It's not the end of the world yet! There are still countries open to Filipino nurses...with experience of course. Personally, I am not discouraged about this retrogression thing because we can't do something about it but wait. I do agree with Suzanne that while waiting we should get proactive with our careers. :-))

correct.....