Another point of view -- from a possible nurse dependent

zuriel · Jul 5, 2005

hello to everybody.
i have been lurking around this forum for quite some time, i'm finding the insights and comments of people around here very useful and enlightening to both me and my wife (suzanne's and dale's easily come to mind).
i hope you don't mind me making my first, albeit lengthy post. from a different perspective, if you will -- from a candidate nurse dependent.
my wife has practiced nursing in the philippines for almost 10 years, in a national (government) hospital. she has been around -- from female surgical ward, to a burn unit, then to male surgical ward. from staff to head nurse.
almost 10 years of passionate and genuine service to our underprivileged countrymen. all these despite the odd working hours, a paltry salary, under a poor health-care system in a decaying national government.
a job well done, you might say. doing work she has envisioned doing since she was a young girl.
she stopped working november of 2004, in order to focus on all the requirements asked from a nurse who wishes to work in the US.
believe me, the decision for her to stop working was a difficult, conjugal decision. personally, it meant having to face the possibility of ending my promising career in broadcasting here in the philippines -- notwithstanding the odd working hours, a relatively laughable salary, under a poor labor-system in a decaying national government. this is a career i continue to love and nurture for almost 8 years.
but if the realization of a promise of a brighter future for the family should come from my wife, in the US, and not from me, then, so be it. i bit the bullet, swallowed the pride, and wholeheartedly supported her in this endeavor.
this path brought her to this current point. these are her particulars:
* signed a contract with a central valley, california hospital (thru an agency)
* PD is January 2005
* she has completed all critical requirements -- CGFNS, NCLEX, Visa Screen Certificate
* I-140 approved May 2005
* waiting for Fee Bill (when do you think it will arrive?)
i hope you guys don't mind, i have a few questions (don't worry, none of those "will she be able to enjoy a piece of the 50,000 pie?" it will happen when it happens):
1. my wife is currently 3+ months pregnant. during which part of the immigration process should we formally declare this? should we already pay the fee of the unborn child if and when we file the DS-230? the agency said that the lawyers will just manifest this fact during the filing. is this true?
2. is there a future for a dependent spouse? can i also work, but be subjected to the usual change of immigration status?
thank you, as i await your responses.
to the filipino nurses around here, you are in this forum because you wish to share in the american dream (it is not just disneyland, dale. :) ). i wish you all good luck.
but please humor some slight musings of an outsider to your profession...
you are a nurse first, and a possible immigrant second. your chosen profession is not a means to the (american) end. always set ablaze the flame of genuine service. prove yourselves worthy of the 50,000 pie (or an EB3 visa should it become current again). hone your skills in our country, the privilege of serving our countrymen comes with it.
please don't cut corners. if you're planning to take the TNT route, please reconsider. so many TNTers have hurt the legit applicants already (immigrants or non-immigrants!). prove your mettle!
bring pride to the filipino nurse. show the world what you are made of.
thank you.

Allow me to give you my insight, since I think we are in the same situations. I seek a consultation with an American lawyer, his adviced with my pregnant wife is to write on the application form I-140 BABY IS ON THE WAY for list of depedents. Second as beneficiary of alien being petition you are given a green card as well as your child/children. In this case you are allow to work. Additional information for California Visa Center, the current date of PD being process is Dec 2004. Hope it helps. zuriel :rotfl:

himdale · Jul 5, 2005

hello to everybody.
i have been lurking around this forum for quite some time, i'm finding the insights and comments of people around here very useful and enlightening to both me and my wife (suzanne's and dale's easily come to mind).
bring pride to the filipino nurse. show the world what you are made of.
thank you.

Pare ko,

I am proud to be a Filipino, raised with La Sallian values, although I am not a nurse just fell in love with one...we may have different views but you get to decide...

1. Ok on the issue of the baby...there's is no problem if she is 3 months pregnant just make sure if the baby is born you have to inform the National Visa Center(NOT THE USCIS) about a new child if you're still under the processing and still here in the Philippines. If the baby is born and you are on your way to the interview well just bring appropriate PAPERS( NSO Certified that the baby is yours, hospital records, photos even DNA! and etc...you got to prove them that the baby is in fact your BABY!!!)...you know U.S.Gov't/ U.S. Embassy supports the principle of BRINGING FAMILIES CLOSE TOGETHER!!! They would not allow that you leave a NEWLY BORN child in the Pinas! Although supports the principle of commone sense!!! Never leave an infant away from her mother!!!

Sad Part!!! If the Baby is on the tummy and you flew to U.S. and the baby was born there before she even got the chance to work ...of course the employer/agency will be so PISSED OFF...(they might cancel the contract!!!)...Imagine they petition a nurse, pays for all the expense just to find out that this nurse cannot work because she will be giving a child or just given a birth!!!! DAMN...

But they cannot revoke your greencard because of that!!! You're still lucky!!!:rotfl:

2. Well this is the privilege...You are also a greencard holder and that means that you can work...LEGALLY!!! Find a job that suits you without any problem...

I think you can have your share of the 50k visas...trust me!!!

I know its not about Disneyland...knew you read about my posts... (you're a broadcaster!!!)its giving a brighter future for your family and taking them away in a messed up country...

U.S.A. can be described in a phrase!!!

THIS IS LIFE AND THIS IS WHERE ALL YOUR DREAMS CAN COME TRUE!!!

GOODLUCK KABAYAN!!!

DALE

suzanne4, RN · Jul 5, 2005

Liked your post...........thank you..... :)

Nurse Dependent · Jul 6, 2005

zuriel:

thanks, i'll put into account your wonderful suggestion. if Cali NVC is processing Dec2004 PDs, does this cover even the issuance of fee bills?

what stage are you in your application? you have already taken your english exams, right?

dale:

i don't think my views are incongruous to yours. in fact, i find them complementary to most of your points of view.

don't worry, the disneyland bit wasn't an attempt at snideness. it was just a

functional handle for me to present the oversimplification of some people reagarding the filipino nurse's exodus to the US.

i agree. we are all in the same boat because the filipino nurse can't find a plausbile future in our own country. although i still can't shake the feeling that a lot of nurses are more concerned with their american objectives than the objectives of the trade.

believe me. i've seen so many who graduated eons ago, never practiced the trade, and recently came back to the fold (read: nurse returnees crash-training in local hospitals for just 6 months) because of this so-called-american-dream.

i like the way you address questions of student nurses. it is proper for you to encourage them to focus on their studies first, than troubling themselves with thoughts of US emploment. i laud you for that.

but then again, live and let live as they say.

as i've said, these are just musings of an oustider looking in. :chuckle

mabuhay ka, kaibigan.

suzanne

thank you for being an advocate of competent foreign nurses.

your warmth will make the enculturation process of some, easier.

:)

himdale · Jul 7, 2005

We live in a jungle were the fittest will survive. Our objective is survival. Its hard to see if our children will be hungry and we cannot send them to a good school even we work so hard here. Our country ranks as one of the most corrupt government in the whole universe. So i agree it is the American objective first, the trade is only secondary.

I cannot blame all the nurses that are coming back, that are willing to sacrifice everything just to give a brighter future for their families. They have seen that there is no hope for this country. As the tycoon Lucio Tan said, the Philippines would continue to sleep, and it would need 5 generations of good leaders to bring the sleeping dragon back to life!

I know it is hard to give up everything in this motherland of ours. I am proud of you because there are only a few left that follows certain principles in life, but then again as they say "you cannot eat that" and it would not feed your children nor send them to a good school...

Live and let live!!!

dale

Rep · Jul 7, 2005

Nurse Dependent,

Since your wife's petition was approved this May 2005, and I believe the agency's lawyer will be the one who will process your visas since your petition was attorney certified. Regarding the Visa Fee Bill, your agency will be receiving it shortly depending on how fast NVC will process your papers. Mine was approved on October 2004, by December my lawyer received the visa fee bill. Two months is a short time for me. I think for you too!

The same reasons you gave regarding your plans to immigrate are the same with most of us. We are all sick of the graft and corruption going around that some of us can not stomach it anymore as Dale said.

By the way, I am going to California also.

Good luck!

Rep,

planet_adia · Jul 7, 2005

Nurse dependent, i like your post. You somehow enlightened me, as to the feelings of would be US nurse dependent. I have not asked my partner

but i can see that he's more excited than i am. Well i'm sure that you guys

would have bright future there too (the future so bright, gotta wear shades).

Dale

You sound so red hot chili pepperish in your californication. I like it better that GNR.

Hey, this is my first time to post. I'm on packet 3.

Nurse Dependent · Jul 7, 2005

rep:

we also have a feeling that the fee bill will arrive round this month.

i'm also interested on how this process will progress. i rarely see a PD2005

around here. most of you guys here are from 2002, i think?

about the state of our state, sad but true, eh?

well, i just think that we can be of better help to the country by being far from it? at the very least, we can help prop up the dollar reserves through our remittances.

adia:

like your hubby, i too am very excited about this prospect. new life, new set of chances. excitement comes after the acceptance of being a nobody in a new place, of trying to start from scratch. in my case, maybe our US office can help me start a parallel career. who knows?

we chose an area of the state where we can be close to our relatives. luckily, an opportunity came and my wife grabbed it. we're just a stone's throw away from very close relatives! this i guess strips off some giddy feelings about settling in a new environment and culture.

QUESTION: secondary to suzanne's call for proactivity, can we also call the NVC hotline in order to inquire about the fee bill? or do we start coordinating with NVC after the filing of DS230?

thanks!

himdale · Jul 7, 2005

Nurse dependent, i like your post. You somehow enlightened me, as to the feelings of would be US nurse dependent. I have not asked my partner
but i can see that he's more excited than i am. Well i'm sure that you guys
would have bright future there too (the future so bright, gotta wear shades).
Dale
You sound so red hot chili pepperish in your californication. I like it better that GNR.
Hey, this is my first time to post. I'm on packet 3.

Adia,

I am a Guns' N' Roses die hard fan. Got a complete collection of all their albums, memorized all their songs, and i know how to play Slash solo's on my guitar especially the seductive intro of Sweet Child 'O Mine with a Jimi Hendrix classic Wah-Wah Pedal...

Goodluck to all of you!

Well I think W. Axl Rose should have followed the footsteps of Kurt Kobain before his fame went down...I like Nirvana as Kurt the immortalized vocalist!

Hmmmm...Smells like teen spirit!

Dale

Rep · Jul 8, 2005

rep:
we also have a feeling that the fee bill will arrive round this month.
i'm also interested on how this process will progress. i rarely see a PD2005
around here. most of you guys here are from 2002, i think?
about the state of our state, sad but true, eh?
well, i just think that we can be of better help to the country by being far from it? at the very least, we can help prop up the dollar reserves through our remittances.
!

Well, once you received the visa fee bill and after you pay it. With in a month you will receive your packet 3 or the ds-230 forms.

Most of the nurses here have an earlier pd than I am. Mine is Nov 2003 via California.

planet_adia · Jul 8, 2005

DALE

W-O-W! I like it when we shift a little from the throbbing long waits

of our immigration papers to something like guitar heroes. But why do Kurt Cobain for an axl? for crying out loud!

Teen spirits that's what we have. But at my age, im kinda having ear problems

with hedrix, rose thing and besides I am a mother now. I did not really indulge with GNR,though i bought use your illusions I&II out of curiosity only. Yes it's hip to memorize lyrics than the electrolytes normal values.

BTW i wont be californicized as i'm headed to big apple.

Hey do you know The Jerks and their song "reklamo ng reklamo"?

Go figure.

Nurse Dependent

Good luck to all of us.

to your NVC question, yes we can always call and email the NVC.

but Rep is right too, in two months you may possibly get the visa fee bill. Hey i'm PD Jan 2005 and it works fine, I'm done with the visa fee.

My I-140 got approved in 35 days!