Reality Check: Jobs for GN on OPT?

It is very safe to assume that it is not going to be lifted by then, the supply of petitions far outweighs the number of visas that are available per year. And how long the wait is for a chance at a green card is also dependent on your country of birth.

And it is usually hard to get a position in the Bay Area even if you do not need petitioning so it is going to be much harder for you to get as well.

There is talk of different programs being put into play, but there are so many that are already ahead of you and waiting with completed petitions that we do not expect the AOS to be opened up for several years past that date for you. There werfe over 800,000 petitions submitted last summer and only 140,000 visas issued per year.

The degree that you will be getting does not qualify for the EB-2 as you will not be getting the CNS or the NP certifications and the job that you will start off with will not require the Master's degree for entry level as you will not have experience by then either.

Would expect for you to take and pass the NCLEX exam before even applying and therefore you would not be a GN at that point in time either.

Best of luck to you but be aware that it is not going to be easy for you to remain in the Bay Area with the OPT.

you never know. I was applying for a position with a big teaching hospitals and just below the position for emergency nurses, i saw one listed for ' registered nurse - international applicants'. I'm not exactly sure what the application stated because i was looking for past the ER application down to the ICU but i was a little surprised to see they were hiring international applicants. I know one teaching hospital here manages to hire international nurses and i figured this other hospital i'm looking at is using the same means to do it, i think.
I know a friend recently got hired as an internationl at a hospital in MD. I actually heard it from another friend but i'm not sure which hospital it was.

I would suggest you focus on finishing school. No one knows what tomorrow may bring.

But be aware that this poster asked about the Bay Area and that is a world all of its own and highly unionized, and the unions do not permit temporary worker visas. There is already a glut of new grads and not enough positions for them.

Have not seen one foreign nurse get petitioned there since the last retrogression started and I do watch it very closely. And this is even for someone with several years of actual bedside nursing.

If they want to go to other parts of the country, there are some facilities that are able to hire under the H1-B in certain cases, but the job also has to require at least the BSN for entry level and many do not.

That was the only point that I was making. Strictly referring to the Bay Area as the poster was. Just not going to happen and to get a management job there without experience as a new grad is not going to happen either.

The 800,000 applications last year was from a variety of occupations. RN's are now banded as EB3. Retrogression is still in progress and even if you find a employer there is no guarantee that you can stay in the US and wait.

It is 140,000 EB-3 green cards that are issued per year, that 800,000 is the total of petitions that were submitted last summer for the AOS and definitely not all RNs. Many other professions are included as well under that classification and nurses no longer have a sub-category under the EB-3 called the Schedule A that has been gone since February of 2007.

What I am trying to explain is that even with these 800,000, if one does the math, that makes it about a five year wait and that does not even include all of those out of the country that are under CP processing either.

This is why you always see me write about an expected five year wait for a chance at a green card, and this is the reason why. That 140,000 is for all and not just those that wish to go thru AOS processing.

It is getting quite tight to find any hospitals that are willing to hire with the OPT because they do not know when things will open up again. And even if there are some hospitals that are willing to sponsor with the H1-C, does not mean that it will be there when you are done, nor with the H1-B. Things are changing all of the time now and getting much tighter as well.

This is what I am trying to get across to everyone. You are speaking 18 months from now and none of us have any true idea as to what is going to happen by then, but from what I am hearing from my sources, expecting it to get tighter and not easier and additional restrictions placed on those that wish to go thru AOS processing.

Doubt visas will ever become current especially as grouped as a whole in EB3. If in the US and visas are not current you can not file I485 which gives you permission to work whilst waiting for your file to be assessed. There is also talk of not being able to file I140 and 485 at the same time but wait like CP and I140 has to be approved first.

Even if you were to change your major, the chance of getting hired without any RN experience first in a role like that is going to be quite slim and that is what is required to be able to qualify for the EB-2 visa.

We are not expecting the retrogression to be lifted for quite sometime, the only reason for it is that there are more applicants than there are visas available. Depending on your country of birth, and even with getting the MSN with advanced practice standing, there is still going to be a wait for one to get even the EB-2 if they are from India or China as there are many from those two countries that are here and getting Master's in other fields as well.

With things the way that they are right now, starting a nursing program so that you can remain in the US may not be the brightest thing to do given what is happening with immigration and expect it to even tighten more. The push is to put Americans thru nursing programs to give them jobs over a foreign nurse, that is just how it is right now. The economy is getting quite sluggish and the unemployment rate just shot up to its highest in more than 20 years or so, so any schooling as well as jobs are going to be a priority for an American so that they can take care of their family.

Do not think that I am against foreign nurses, that is definitely not the case, but for anyone that is just considering starting nursing so that they can remain here, really needs to look at things from all angles.

Best of luck to you.