Agencies and contracts -- revisited

[suzanne4]

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!

[suzanne4, RN]

To avoid this, why not call the Hospital directly and check if they sponsor these exams.

I think the hospitals rarely, if ever, gives free exams anymore. Some agencies however do offer financial assistance in the form of a loan to finance these exams but you would have to pay back while you are already working in the US.

Hospitals may reimburse for them once you get to the US, but they do not pay for them up front. How do they know that you will pass them?

The agencies that pay for them are not offering financial assistance for them, but will be making a large sum of money because you are working for them, to the rate about $10,000 per year of the contract.

[vicvic]

Hospitals may reimburse for them once you get to the US, but they do not pay for them up front. How do they know that you will pass them?

The agencies that pay for them are not offering financial assistance for them, but will be making a large sum of money because you are working for them, to the rate about $10,000 per year of the contract.

but they do offer financial assistance for those who cannot afford to finance their own review and exams. as i said, this is in the form of a loan and to be guaranteed by your own co-maker/guarantor! you will have to pay back, pass or not! the interest is minimal and if you pass and eventually get to the states it will be basically up to you to make your payment scheme. fair enough. many of my colleagues have opted this route because there will be no way they can pay these review and exams on their own.

as far as i'm concerned, even if i paid for my own, i am not under obligation with these agencies because i am under contract directly from my hospital and if you say otherwise, i am just going back to my province and plant and eat camote (sweet potatoes) and you are invited to visit!

[suzanne4, RN]

but they do offer financial assistance for those who cannot afford to finance their own review and exams. as i said, this is in the form of a loan and to be guaranteed by your own co-maker/guarantor! you will have to pay back, pass or not! the interest is minimal and if you pass and eventually get to the states it will be basically up to you to make your payment scheme. fair enough. many of my colleagues have opted this route because there will be no way they can pay these review and exams on their own.

as far as i'm concerned, even if i paid for my own, i am not under obligation with these agencies because i am under contract directly from my hospital and if you say otherwise, i am just going back to my province and plant and eat camote (sweet potatoes) and you are invited to visit!

sorry, but i say otherwise. if an agency helped you get the job and they provided funds for you to do so, you do owe them. and they will collect. and the interest is much more than minimal, that is why they have a co-signer required and that should have sent up a red flag in front of your eyes.

enjoy the gardening!!!!:smilecoffeecup:

[ayenp]

Hi Suzanne,

i signed a contract with this agency last year and since then i have been battling with myself if i did made the right choice. they strongly discoured me into take the NCLEX exam while still here in the philippines despite the fact that i was willing to pay for it myself. what i only needed from them was assistance on how to go through with my application to BON of cleveland where they claimed i will be getting my eligibility. yet, even that they refused to give help. i ended up applying in BON Nevada despite of it all, proceeded with the test & passed just this january.

up until this moment, i can't understand why they were so against my decision in taking the test while still here in the philippines. anyway, i've been toying with the idea of changing employers, but i really respect the contract that i signed with them, plus i'm already on pcket 3 with them as they claimed, though i haven't received any notice from NVC yet that they already have my packet 3.

what do you think are the odds that my agency is not giving me the right service?

thnks in advance for the infor you might offer to shed light to this dilemma.

--ayen

[suzanne4, RN]

Hi Suzanne,

i signed a contract with this agency last year and since then i have been battling with myself if i did made the right choice. they strongly discoured me into take the NCLEX exam while still here in the philippines despite the fact that i was willing to pay for it myself. what i only needed from them was assistance on how to go through with my application to BON of cleveland where they claimed i will be getting my eligibility. yet, even that they refused to give help. i ended up applying in BON Nevada despite of it all, proceeded with the test & passed just this january.

up until this moment, i can't understand why they were so against my decision in taking the test while still here in the philippines. anyway, i've been toying with the idea of changing employers, but i really respect the contract that i signed with them, plus i'm already on pcket 3 with them as they claimed, though i haven't received any notice from NVC yet that they already have my packet 3.

what do you think are the odds that my agency is not giving me the right service?

thnks in advance for the infor you might offer to shed light to this dilemma.

--ayen

Cleveland is a city, and it is in Ohio. Therefore the license would be in Ohio, and they require the CES to be able to endorse. If they did not want you to test while in the Philippines, it would be so that they could pay you much less for the beginning of your contract......no RN license means less pay to them.

Do you know for a fact that they have paid the visa bill? The DS-230 does not get sent until that is done.

How long ago did you sign with them? If you signed last January or February, then you should have been further ahead. Are you going to remain as their employee, or that of a facility?

Your choice as to what to do....with the retrogression you would not be losing any time, but it will be dependent on what this one will want you to pay to get out of it.

[ayenp]

Cleveland is a city, and it is in Ohio. Therefore the license would be in Ohio, and they require the CES to be able to endorse. If they did not want you to test while in the Philippines, it would be so that they could pay you much less for the beginning of your contract......no RN license means less pay to them.

Do you know for a fact that they have paid the visa bill? The DS-230 does not get sent until that is done.

How long ago did you sign with them? If you signed last January or February, then you should have been further ahead. Are you going to remain as their employee, or that of a facility?

Your choice as to what to do....with the retrogression you would not be losing any time, but it will be dependent on what this one will want you to pay to get out of it.

Thanks for the reply :).. this probably is the reason why they offer less than $20/hour pay in my contract. can i renegotiate this rate and ask for a higher rate now that i already passed my RN exam or there's a slim chance of that happening due to the fact that i've already signed the contract? i have my CES already since i needed them anyway before i was able to be made eligible for testing by Nevada BON.

i signed with them june of 2005. it's a staffing agency by the way so they'll remain as my employer until the contract ends.

i paid for my husbands' fee bill last july 2006 so i would assume they have already sent my DS230. is there a way of checking out if our papers are actually with the NVC?

buying out my contract would probably incurr a large amount. i'm saddened about my situation. looks like i'm really tied in with this agency.

:(

--ayen

[suzanne4, RN]

Thanks for the reply :).. this probably is the reason why they offer less than $20/hour pay in my contract. can i renegotiate this rate and ask for a higher rate now that i already passed my RN exam or there's a slim chance of that happening due to the fact that i've already signed the contract? i have my CES already since i needed them anyway before i was able to be made eligible for testing by Nevada BON.

i signed with them june of 2005. it's a staffing agency by the way so they'll remain as my employer until the contract ends.

i paid for my husbands' fee bill last july 2006 so i would assume they have already sent my DS230. is there a way of checking out if our papers are actually with the NVC?

buying out my contract would probably incurr a large amount. i'm saddened about my situation. looks like i'm really tied in with this agency.

:(

--ayen

You signed with them that long ago and were not in the US before the retrogression? Sorry, but there is something definitely wrong here. You got a very bad deal.

Check with the attorney that is handling your file, and tell them that you want a copy of the receipt.

Do you know anything about the DS-230? Has it been approved? That will need to be done before your file is submitted to NVC. Sounds like your agency is not very forthcoming and they should be. When is the last time that you actually had any contact with them?

[ayenp]

You signed with them that long ago and were not in the US before the retrogression? Sorry, but there is something definitely wrong here. You got a very bad deal.

Check with the attorney that is handling your file, and tell them that you want a copy of the receipt.

Do you know anything about the DS-230? Has it been approved? That will need to be done before your file is submitted to NVC. Sounds like your agency is not very forthcoming and they should be. When is the last time that you actually had any contact with them?

i completly have no idea if my DS230 is approved. i get vague updates from them really. seems like it always has loopholes. they petitioned me twice to which i wasn't even informed that the first petition they filed was not approved as they claimed. i was just surprised when i received the second receipt notice after 5 months from the first one they filed.

i didn't even know that, as you said, the DS230 should be approved first before it can be passed to NVC.

i last talked to their representative agency here in the philippines this january. we only talked about the retrogression and when i asked her if regarding my papers, they claimed it was already at the NVC.

can't help but think that i'm doomed right now..

but let me not forget to thank you so much for your inputs regarding all of this. i get more answers from you than from them. god bless you.. :)

[suzanne4, RN]

i completly have no idea if my DS230 is approved. i get vague updates from them really. seems like it always has loopholes. they petitioned me twice to which i wasn't even informed that the first petition they filed was not approved as they claimed. i was just surprised when i received the second receipt notice after 5 months from the first one they filed.

i didn't even know that, as you said, the DS230 should be approved first before it can be passed to NVC.

i last talked to their representative agency here in the philippines this january. we only talked about the retrogression and when i asked her if regarding my papers, they claimed it was already at the NVC.

can't help but think that i'm doomed right now..

but let me not forget to thank you so much for your inputs regarding all of this. i get more answers from you than from them. god bless you.. :)

I suggest that you get out of that contract. They are not informing you as they should be. And if the petition was initially denied, I will bet it is due to an error on their part. If they were refiling a new petition, you should have been informed of that and given your consent for them to do that. And without approval of the DS-230, nothing is going to NVC as they get only complete files.

Contracts are a two way street and they are definitely not living up to what they should be doing. And shame on them.

[ayenp]

i'll surely do something about this but still don't know where to start. :(

thanks so much for your help...

[suzanne4, RN]

i'll surely do something about this but still don't know where to start. :(

thanks so much for your help...

if you need help, please let me know, i do not like to see anyone taken advantage of like this. and especially by a shoddy agency, and that is what they are being called by me. they actually needed to notify you if they were submitting another petition on your behalf and you could have refused. since it was their screw-up that got it denied in the first place.

they needed your permission to do that, and it looks like they did not have it if you did not know about it.

:angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire shame on them!!!!!!

[suzanne4, RN]

The other significant thing that comes to mind is that your signature is required on the new petition that was submitted that you were not aware of. They either copied your signature or they forged it, and both practices are illegal, and without your permission even more so. In that alone, they need to let you out of the contract, and if they do not want to, turn them into USCIS as well as the US Embassy in Manila. What they did do is 100% illegal.