Agencies and contracts -- revisited

World Immigration

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I am not against agencies in general, but only the ones that take advantage of nurses.

Things to consider when going the route of using an agency:

1. There is absolutely no such thing as free exams, free green card, or free plane fare and expenses paid. It will come from your paycheck.

2. Agencies can be paid in one of several ways: 100% by the hiring facility if they direct place you, by the facility as well as the nurse, or by charging the nurse a significant fee before they leave their country such as India, in addition to getting paid by the facility. In India, they call it a bond, but I have failed to see one get that bond returned when they complete their assignment. Or by keelping the nurse as their employee and getting the billing rate from the facility.

3. Make sure that you have taken the NCLEX exam before you arrive in the US, or you may find that you will not get paid until you pass that exam. In many contracts, look closely, it states that you will be paid as a CNA until you pass that exam, and many agencies will not even submit documentation to the BON until you arrive. This also adds months onto your contract, as it states "work as an RN."

4. If living arrangements are made for housing in the beginning, have it specified as to what it will be in writing. We have seen 10 people placed in a studio apt in NY and without heat in the winter; or eight women in a four bedroom apt with only one shower, and a small kitchen. Please be very careful with this.

5. If it is not in writing, it does not exist. A verbal condition from a recruiter does not hold water in a court of law, it must be in writing.

6. If an agency tells you that you need to write the CGFNS exam to work in the US, run from them. That has not been factual in several years. The CGFNS exam is only required in five states currently. Howver, if you live on a continent where the exam is not given, and too costly to travel that is another story....

Please be very careful before you sign anything, much easier to have it checked out before you sign. It is a legal binding contract, inlcuding the cancellation clause that some have added to go into effect even before you take the NCLEX exam. Also be cautious of large cancellation fees, $8,000 to $10,000 could be considered reasonable, but $25,000 and above is crazy. A guarantor also should not be required to sign your contract.

Always be an informed consumer!:nurse:

Hi Suzanne

Thanks for the reply.

Just a follow-up though:

Does the 8T or 10T cover the legal, exam, fare, admin overhead, fare?

If the recruiter asked their nurse to pay the buy out fee but they couldnt provide the breakdown of their expenses, should the nurse still pay them?

What are the possible consequences if he doesnt pay them because both couldnt meet an agreement with the amount and specifications of the contract-release-agreement?

A guarantor also should not be required to sign your contract.

Hi suzanne4, what exactly is a guarantor? Why is it a bad thing? I'm asking because I have with me an agency contract & it does have a space for a guarantor to sign at the end page. Thanks!

Run as fast as you can from that contract. The gaurantor becomes responsible to repay the agency if you do not have the funds and break your contract.

And to add in to one of the above posts:

About the contracts in the tri-state area: Tri-state is NJ, NY, and CT.

There are currently no hospitals that are petitioning foreign nurses, so that means nursing homes only. And the living conditions that those agencies have provided there are horrible. Ten people in a studio apt, or 8 women with one bathroom. That is treatment of unskilled laborers, not those with BSNs.

And NJ does not give three months housing in all of the contracts from there. It is 100% inappropriate to state that with nothing to back it up.

I still stand 100 by what I wrote.

I'm not about sure about other foreign nurses, but they'd been hiring in the Philippines ( 5 years ago, and 15 years ago too) and now they're hiring again, I think. I don't know if they also go to different country to recruit, I'm only aware the recruitment in the Philippines. A lot of employers I know does it, but of course offers different packages. I think this is the best so far. About Canadian nurses, they get sign-in bonus which is equivalent to the employer's expense for Filipino nurses' and the agency fee. When I started I got free housing too, and sign-in bonus.

Hi Suzanne

Thanks for the reply.

Just a follow-up though:

Does the 8T or 10T cover the legal, exam, fare, admin overhead, fare?

If the recruiter asked their nurse to pay the buy out fee but they couldnt provide the breakdown of their expenses, should the nurse still pay them?

What are the possible consequences if he doesnt pay them because both couldnt meet an agreement with the amount and specifications of the contract-release-agreement?

What is in the contract? You asked me what the costs were. The agency can add on numerous fees to cover what they are not going to get paif by the facility as well. I do not agree with that, but they can do it.

I'm not about sure about other foreign nurses, but they'd been hiring in the Philippines ( 5 years ago, and 15 years ago too) and now they're hiring again, I think. I don't know if they also go to different country to recruit, I'm only aware the recruitment in the Philippines. A lot of employers I know does it, but of course offers different packages. I think this is the best so far. About Canadian nurses, they get sign-in bonus which is equivalent to the employer's expense for Filipino nurses' and the agency fee. When I started I got free housing too, and sign-in bonus.

Please check your sources again. You will find that there is a retrogression on and there are no facilities that are currently recruiting, especially from the Philippines. And you add that they are hiring again, you think.

Please verify your sources first before posting things like this, when you do not even know for sure if they are correct. This is how we do things here.

We are very familiar with most of the contracts coming out of the Philippines, and on a daily basis and this is for the entire country. Not just one city.

I am still working in this hospital. And they still recruit nurses from the Philippines. The recruiter told me that.

The apartment that they are mostly 2-bedroom. They also have 3 bedrooms and studio. Each bedroom has 2-occupants. They are all furnished. We don't have to pay for utilities, only if we want extra channels or internet. For the internet, we go to the hospital's library.

When I started I was in a 3-bedroom unit. Then when my free rent was up, I tried to applied for subsidized housing from the hospital. Of course, there was no slot for me because every month a batch of nurses came. I was with the 2nd batch of nurses. But after almost 2 years, it kinda slowed down, since most of them are already here. I was able to get a unit- studio. I asked to be move to a 2-bedroom unit, coz legally we have to have 2 bedrooms if there are 3 tenants. I just gave birth then.

WHAT? I didn't get it. Sorry.

And nurses from Mexico also qualify for the TN Visa, same exact visa as those from Canada. You forgot about that.:madface:

Hellooo, there is a retrogression going on and no one is coming in from any country in the world to work in the USA. The HR or recruiter can say anything but until there are visa released again no one is coming. Canadians and Mexicans (citizens only) are allowed to come because of the NAFTA agreement. They come on a TN visa and can work until they are able to adjust their status. Please be careful what you put here it gives some people false hope...

If you have some miracle way please let me know in a pm... I have lots of friends looking to come...

I just know coz 2 of my friends are coming from the Philippines to work there...arriving April 26.

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