waiting out retrogression - will this work??

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Ok, I'm an RN with a BSN, currently still on OPT (F1). My OPT will run out in December 2010, and I've been planning on going on for a Nurse Practitioner. Since all programs I'm interested in seem to start in Fall only, I'd have to give up 4 months of my OPT and to back to school in August.

My problem with this plan is that I don't think I really want to be a NP. I love being a staff nurse, but the closer August comes the more I think I really lack the motivation of going on for a Master in Nursing. Maybe I'm not comfortable with the added responsibility or whatever, but I'm just not comfortable with the idea and hate spending my money on a degree I don't "really" want, just to stay here.

Here are some alternative thoughts:

- make another Bachelor in an unrelated field (I'd also be very interested in equine science) and hope the visa situation will change in the meantime

- make a Bachelor or Master in agricultural engineering (it also actually sseems interesting to me) and hope I can then get the GreenCard either with nursing or engineering afterwards.

- I might also have an option of switching to a H2A visa and work on a horse ranch for 1-3 years, and again hope the visa situation will change in the meantime

- if I run out of other options in a few years, go to Switzerland (I'm a European citizen) to work as a nurse and wait out retrogression there.

I would like each of these options a lot more than making my NP. I do hope to work as a staff nurse eventually, but also some things in the agricultural field on the side in some form. How much of a problem would such a break in my employment as a nurse be? I mean, let's say once retrogression is over, would it be a problem that I may not have actively worked as a nurse for 3 years or so? And does anybody have experience with switching from a F1 to H2A visa and back? Not sure how realistic that really is.

Sorry for the long post, but maybe someone has any advice or opinion on these choices... I feel sort of stuck and I'd appreciate any suggestions.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

You do realise a H2A visa is supposed to be less that 12 months in nature not the 1-3 years you are talking about?

If you don't want to do NP then I would say not to go that route as your place could be used by someone who wants to do it.

To get in the queue now for a GC you need a employer and then it will depend on them how they feel if you don't get nurse experience once your OPT has finished and you start working for them maybe 5+ years down the line. Bearing in mind that there are some nurses that have been waiting since 2005 for a visa which is where I get my 5+ years from.

Regarding moving between visas this is something where a chat with an experienced immigration lawyer would be beneficial

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You mentioned that you love being a staff nurse, why not go for CNS route? You can still be a staff nurse and have a higher degree at the same time. Best of luck to you.

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You mentioned that you love being a staff nurse, why not go for CNS route? You can still be a staff nurse and have a higher degree at the same time. Best of luck to you.

I agree with this poster...or even move on for a Nurse Educator. You may not have the required years of experience in order to obtain a position as Nurse Educator and not sure if the CNS route would work either for that matter. But it is worth a try. In order to get a EB2 visa you need to have a Masters and the job you would qualify for must require a Masters. Some of these degrees can be done via distance. And you would be able to leave the US temporarily and possibly come back with EB2 if need be since you mentioned you are a European citizen. There are a few options. I appreciate your dilemma. I think it will be a long wait. But once the numbers clear up it is predicted that people who apply later won't have the similar experience as the backlog would be cleaned up. So essentially we have been waiting nearly 3 years and those that apply at the time we get our green cards (since nobody is applying right now and creating a new backlog) will likely be able to get their green card relatively quickly (or at least not have an additional five year wait). Keep pursuing your options...and good luck.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
I agree with this poster...or even move on for a Nurse Educator. You may not have the required years of experience in order to obtain a position as Nurse Educator and not sure if the CNS route would work either for that matter. But it is worth a try. In order to get a EB2 visa you need to have a Masters and the job you would qualify for must require a Masters. Some of these degrees can be done via distance. And you would be able to leave the US temporarily and possibly come back with EB2 if need be since you mentioned you are a European citizen. There are a few options. I appreciate your dilemma. I think it will be a long wait. But once the numbers clear up it is predicted that people who apply later won't have the similar experience as the backlog would be cleaned up. So essentially we have been waiting nearly 3 years and those that apply at the time we get our green cards (since nobody is applying right now and creating a new backlog) will likely be able to get their green card relatively quickly (or at least not have an additional five year wait). Keep pursuing your options...and good luck.

Where do you get the idea nobody is applying right now? there are probably people still applying for EB3 (remember it covers a lot more professions than nursing) People in the US on other visas can apply for EB1/2/3 like L1A/B, H1b etc

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Where do you get the idea nobody is applying right now? there are probably people still applying for EB3 (remember it covers a lot more professions than nursing) People in the US on other visas can apply for EB1/2/3 like L1A/B, H1b etc

Anyone following immigration closely knows that employers are unable to wait for employees for the time it takes to obtain a visa. AOS is not possible now and the economy is down so the incentive is much less to hire a foreign worker. I realize EB3 is not just for nurses...my hubby is in IT. But if you look at H1B the yearly allotment is not even close to being exhausted and it used to have to go lottery and all gone within 24 hours. So maybe not nobody but the dramatic decrease is remarkable which is the point I was making. Retrogression will not be in future as it has been since 2006, at least not until the economy dramatically improves. Those of us LIVING it know. I understand you applied to the US also and have since moved onto Canada but we have been in the US since 2000 and had to leave in 2001 and returned in 2003 and unfortunately our timing was such that we are still waiting.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Anyone following immigration closely knows that employers are unable to wait for employees for the time it takes to obtain a visa. AOS is not possible now and the economy is down so the incentive is much less to hire a foreign worker. I realize EB3 is not just for nurses...my hubby is in IT. But if you look at H1B the yearly allotment is not even close to being exhausted and it used to have to go lottery and all gone within 24 hours. So maybe not nobody but the dramatic decrease is remarkable which is the point I was making. Retrogression will not be in future as it has been since 2006, at least not until the economy dramatically improves. Those of us LIVING it know. I understand you applied to the US also and have since moved onto Canada but we have been in the US since 2000 and had to leave in 2001 and returned in 2003 and unfortunately our timing was such that we are still waiting.

But if you returned in 2003 surely you could have gotten your GC as retrogression didn't start until Oct 06 and I know of several nurses that got GC in 2004 and 2005?

Some employers are still filing EB3 especially if the working has H1b or L1, another website I go on that has a lot of British expats post on there regarding their employer filing for GC although some do meet EB1 and 2 criteria.

At the end of the day the demand for GC is still higher than the visas allocated and some countries have a higher demand than others, as long as people are aware that there could be delays up to several years (earlier processing is a bonus) then don't give up on the dream.

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