November 2009 Visa Bulletin

I wouldn't say that this is a wonderful thing for all American nurses. There are still many US RN's with out a job. Regardless, there are many nurses abroad who are jobless which isn't a good thing.

Regardless on whether the visas become unavailable this year again or not I wouldn't say it is a cause for celebration. Many nurses all over the world are struggling to get a job regardless on country and gain experience not just nurses in the US.

If it is a dream to move to another country and you are aware of the time frame limitations and current events then hold onto that dream and with a bit of luck it will come true

It is apparent that American nurses does'nt want IENs to work in the US for the reason that it is there job to nurse America and they will have all the nursing jobs available for them. Well, there's nothing to argue about. It's a good thing that it is clear now than reading "posts of concerns" from others giving reasons why they discouraged IENs in America.

I believe that there is no permanent thing in this world and in America (like it is forever). Everything will change because CHANGE is the only permanent thing.

It's a good feeling to celebrate, but not in a way of "adding insult to injuries". With or without American opportunities, life still goes on for foreign nurses.

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This is the first time I've read that nursing enrollment in the Philippines has gone down. This is good news and bad news.

It's good news because the students who will NOT be enrolling in Philippine nursing schools will not be, for lack of a better word, "wasting" their time, effort and money because there are no jobs out there for them.

It is bad news as well because it is a reflection of the fundamental problems in the Philippine nursing profession that is unique to the Philippines. When many rich countries recruited tens of thousands of 'experienced' Philippine-based nurses year after year up until a few years ago, the supply of experienced nurses in the Philippines had almost dried up. This attracted a widespread media attention and lo and behold, the enrollment in nursing schools in the Philippines had gone through the roof. Not surprisingly, many new nursing schools opened up to meet the new demand, but as we now know, many of these new nursing schools are sub-standard in quality. These sub-standard nursing schools are producing many poorly-educated nurses. There are now hundreds of thousands of unemployed nurses in the Philippines, many of whom yearn of working abroad for a lucrative nursing job. Who can blame these Filipino nurses if their first choice is the U.S.A. where the 'starting' salary for an RN could be as high as $8,500/month and they can earn up to $10,000/ month after a few years on the job.

The U.S.A. needed and recruited foreign nurses to meet its huge demand for nurses. That was then. This is now. The "Great Recession" in the United States has resulted in many of the Americans losing their free or job-subsidized health coverage. The demand for nurses in the U.S.A. has diminished for the time being. There are reports that many newly-licensed RNs in the U.S.A. are having a hard time landing a job.

It will not be received well by the American public, and by the American nurses in particular, if the U.S. will continue to admit foreign nurses in large numbers during an economic recession. And to make matters worse for the unemployed Filipino nurses, the U.S. had given only a few hundred visas per year to Filipino nurses in the last few years. This is a very small number of work visas available per year compared to the hundreds of thousands of Filipino nurses wanting to come to the U.S.A. And now there is visa retrogression. There is a long wait for a work visa.

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Greenjungle, What are your hopes and dreams? Everyone shouldn't give up on their dreams just because of what is happening just be prepared that it may take time. people should only go into a profession if that is what they really want to do not because it will enable them to work in another country.

People with in-demand skills will still be recruited to the US and to other countries. New grads won't - the US has enough in most places. As always, it's an issue of supply and demand.

The gloating over unavailability of visas is very distasteful, greenjungle. The saddest thing about the USA's recession is this "me first" attitude that has arisen.

To all Filipino readers,

When all this retrog. is over, we can say to our selves that thru persistence and hardwork that our dreams will happen as long as there is hope!

I don't understand the gloating when the TS himself is affected by retrogression.
Just adding insult to injury.