Help needed

Raj,

I moved your post to the International Forum, where I know you will get good answers. Best of luck to you!

H1B is not used for nurses anymore. there is retrogression in progress and because you have used OPT already the only option you have is to continue with your studies. To be petitioned you need to pass NCLEX and nothing really can be done until then. Suzanne has answered a few questions like this so suggest having a read in this forum especially her thread and international students in the US.

Welcome to the site

Your I-20 will permit you to remain in the US as long as you are a current student, the issue is that you will need to get it renewed if you go home for any reason, or leave the US.

You must pass the NCLEX exam to have the petition process started for you, there is no way to start it before you graduate. Just cannot be done. You have sixty days after you complete your studies to remain in the US, and they go by last day of class, not when you take the NCLEX exam.

There is a retrogression in place and not sure where you were actually born. This will greatly affect things for you as well. If there are no visas available when you graduate, then you are not going to be able to work in the US. there will not be any EADs available if no visas available then. The only other way to remain is to continue on with your studies and then apply for the green card when it opens up again.

Please be aware that attending school in the US for nursing does not automatically guarantee you a green card, if there are no visas available, then there is nothing that can be done.

India is definitely affected by retrogression and things may change between now and when you sit NCLEX so would suggest just keeping an eye on the situation. Nothing can be done until you pass NCLEX. Green card is the process you as a nrse will be going through

As Anna mentioned above, the availability of the green card is also based on where the applicant was born. And at the present time, there are no Schedule A visas available for nurses, so all are included under the EB-3, which is also the same visa that is used for those that are in the US under the H1-B and are also applying for the green card. And I am sure that you are quite aware of the number of IT people from your country that are already here and working. They are wanting a visa from the same pile that could be available for you.

There are less than 10,000 green cards under this classification we available yearly, and many more than that are already waiting. We expect the retrogression to continue for sometime for those from the PIC countries and Mexico due to the number of applicants from those countries. But things change continuously and not sure what will be happening next summer. But the fact remains that going to school in the US for nursing no longer guarantees that the nurse will be able to get a green card right away. All comes down to if there are visas available when you are ready to apply for it, and not one thing can be done until you have actually passed the NCLEX exam, since you do not have the OPT available any longer.

Best of luck to you, but not sure what will be next summer.

There has not been a Schedule A since the February Visa Bulletin took affect on February 1 of this year.

The Schedule A was a special category and does not exist, so do not even figure that at all at this time.

You will be considered under the EB-3 category. And if there are no visas available for you to adjust to when you have graduated and have passed the NCLEX exam, you are not going to be able to work at that time.

For you to be able to begin work, the I-140 can be submitted, but this is always open and is not affected by the retrogression. The I-485 for the AOS (Adjustment of Status) and the coordinating petition for the EAD must be able to be submitted to USCIS for you to be able to begin work once you receive the EAD. You cannot start without that. This is what is under the retrogression at this time, and we expect it to remain in effect for sometime. Especially for those that are from your country and a few others.

You have 60 days from the last day of class to be able to submit the I-485, without that being available, you will not be able to remain in the US. If the I-485 cannot be submitted when you are ready to do so, then you will have no choice but to leave or continue on with your studies.

Graduating from a US school of nursing does not give you any benefit over the others in terms of getting the green card. There is no guarantee that someone can remain in the US and be able to work when they finish.

At this time, there is not one thing that you can do. You are talking of what will happen a year from now, and things change on a monthly basis. But with things the way that we expect them to be, it is going to be highly unlikely that you will be able to remain and work next summer with what we know right now.