About Retrogression

yes retrogression is the visa issue, i would like to comment i have lot of frineds who undergo already there interview the experience was not the issue at the US embassy , they were not asked about it, they were ask about the employer , how much the salary and did they pass there nclex, because some has just passed the cgfns and take the NCLEX i the US> so lets not generalize.

its my opinion ok

what i posted above was based on the experienced of my friend they were only ask about there employer and if they passed the nclex and after that the consul asked the visascreen thats it.

Actually it has been for some and they did not get visas in your country as well because they did not have any experience. The officers that issue the visas are getting tighter on their requirements all over and we are expecting the US to go to having the current work experience requirement as almost every other country is doing.

All comes down to the official that is on duty that day as far as the interview goes. And with more and more applicants than there are visas, things can only be expected to get tighter. There is even a big push here in the US for states to require the NLE before they will grant permission to sit for the NCLEX and that is something new as well.

Look at it from the other side, if you will, and perhaps this will better explain it:

Lets say that you are the official that issues the visas and you have five that you can give out but you have 20 applications in front of you for only those five. Seven of the people have ten years of work experience in their country or another country, two have five years of experience out of the last four years, and then there are about 10 without any experience and have never worked one day as an RN since they gradauted five years ago. Who would you wish to grant a visa to?

And the other caveat to this is that we are starting to see employers cancel contracts when they are not going to have jobs for the nurses and these are usually the ones that do not have local experience. And if the contract gets cancelled, the nurse starts all over trying to find an employer, they cannot transfer the PD date.

So I stand 100% by what I wrote above and with very good reason. It also does not make one bit of difference as to who got thru before and has a visa, things are changing dramatically almost on a daily basis. The number of visas has not increased, the number of applicants has become explosive, and there are never going to be enough visas to go around. And with more applicants, then any government can become much more selective in who that will take, and the requirements are going to get more difficult.

Your choice as to what to do.

If experience is required to obtain a visa, then it should be clearly mentioned when the nurse applies for one along with the NCLEX / CGFNS and English language proficiency requirements. It seems arbitrary and unfair that the nurse may get rejected based on what day he or she has the interview or with which official.

Is there anyone here in the forum whose visa has been rejected for lack of current eperience?

Although I do respect what Suzanne is saying, and I would like to think that our government doing it's job, but, on the other hand I've seen far too many foreign nurses who are coming over here (and continue to do so) and they don't have the English skills in order to function as a nurse. Yes, they did pass the English exam but, they still are lacking the written and speaking skills. There are patient charts that I've read that were poorly docummented, and I'd say that 85% of those were docummented by foreign nurses. IMO they need to also really be strict when it comes to the English language. A nurse should pass a college level English exam, not just a basic English exam. If we as citizens & legal residences of the US are required to pass college level English courses before we graduate from college, then the same should be expected of foreign nurses.

I'm all for foreign nurses coming over and getting a job, but the jobs need to be given to the residents and citizens of the US before foreign nurses who are still in the other country. There are far too many nursing grads here in the US who can't even find a job.

I'm still a little unclear about retrogression, but, from what little information I've gained here I'm fine with it.

US must impose essential criteria for immigration of nurses so as to protect its citizens and if they find the requirements lacking in some respect they should update it as and when it is required. BUT the requirement should be mentioned clearly at the outset along with the various CGFNS , NCLEX and English language proficiency requirements. To leave the nurse at the mercy of the consular official who decides suddenly that so many years of experience is required by HIM to accept the nurse is ridiculous; one may decide that current nursing experience is essential while 2 years experience in a period of 3 years maybe good enough for another one. Some may consider proficiency in English more important than years of experience and if we apply the theory of "more applicants than visas" then maybe a score of 6.5 is not good enough anymore as there are a lot of7 and 7.5 scorers around.

All I am saying is that the fresh graduate also spends hard earned money, time and effort on the various exams and other requirements to be eligible to work as a nurse and immigrate to US and if experience is required (even though the employer does not require it) it should be made evident to her at the outset itself, seems unfair to me to wait up till the interview to inform her that she was never eligible in the first place, almost like actively punishing the nurse for the having the temerity to apply for a US visa inspite of being a fresh graduate. If new requirements are necessary then it should be introduced transparently and without retroactive effect.

This is just my opinion of course, the US can use whatever methods it deems fit to filter the entrants into its borders but it need not be fair.

I do agree that it should be made clear up front what is expected of the Registered Nurse when applying for a visa....A Registered Nurse shouldn't be informed of experience and all other exams that need to be done during the interview process...

IMO the US needs to tighten up it's requirements regarding foreign nurses during this retrograde period. The US should set higher standards for the English exam at a college level (not basic 6th grade level) IMO if the foreign nurse doesn't pass the college level English exam, then they should be required to take the 4 college level English classes similiar to the ones that I had to take (just an example) in order to get my Bachelors Degree. IMO, I feel that a foreign nurse should also take a series of courses in order to test their clinical, medical terminology, pharmacology, and theory skills that way they can be up to par with how we practice nursing here. It can be some sort of bridge program that may take between 6 months to a year. We need something like this because there are far too many "questionable nurses" that are slipping through the cracks that really don't know what they're doing, and you wonder how they passed nursing school in their country. That's if they passed nursing school I know because I've seen it first hand on the clinical floor.

From what I see it seems that the Philippines are pumping out nurses like the US are pumping out Medical Assistants. Nurses from the Philippines are a dime a dozen.

However, I've worked with many foreign nurses who are superior, and I would go to them any day of the week if I had a question as a nurse on the floor. Those are just amazing nurses who were taught nursing at a higher standard than what has been coming over now. I know that this doesn't apply to all foreign nurses, but it does apply to the majority I'm sorry I don't mean to offend anybody but that's just what I'm seeing. I'm hoping that not everyone is seeing what I'm seeing. If that were the case then that would mean that health care in the US is scarier than we all thought.