Australian RN wishing to work as an LPN in the USA

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I'm currently a third year student completing my Bachelor of Nursing, with the eventual plan of working in the USA. I'm wondering about a few things. As my partner lives in the USA (he is an American citizen), I want to get over there as quickly as I can.

Is it easier to apply to be an LPN? How do I go about it? I'm pretty sure I still need to sit the NCLEX. I'm just not sure about the requirements as far as different fields go. As in, I know to be an RN in the US you need hours in paediatrics, OB/GYN etc etc, how many hours is that? Do I still need those to be an LPN? I'm a bit worried about that part.

Med/surge nursing experience I will get through working, but apparently you only need between 40-80 hours in the other areas. How am I supposed to get those? See, in Australia we have midwives who aren't nurses, but apparently in the US you have general RNs who work in OB/GYN, but the only way for me to get that experience would be to work in midwifery...which you can't do unless you're a midwife, which would mean doing my postgrad in midwifery, which seems excessive. I know it's not ideal, but I guess my issue is getting over there as quickly as possible.

If it's quicker to get over there as an LPN, I'd rather do that, then eventually work my way up, whether that be through more college etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Seriously, any.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

No it is not quicker to get there as a LPN and LPN doesn't meet visa requirements.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Also add LPN are also general trained and need required hours in all areas in the same way as RN

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Specializes in Home Care.
I know it's not ideal, but I guess my issue is getting over there as quickly as possible.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Seriously, any.

Get married and go through the immigration process. :yeah:

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Seriously, tie the knot with your "partner" and get sponsorship visa. Unless it's a same sex relationship and the state you decide to reside in doesn't recognize same sex unions.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

If same sex relationship then the government won't accept it in regards to issuing a visa for the US to work ie spouse and LPN will not meet work visa requirements. may have to wait and get RN accepted and as a Australian may meet E3 requirements but may need some skills or experience. Ghillbert posts are probably best to look for on this subject

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Getting married for the sake of a visa isn't the right choice for everybody.

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Specializes in CTICU.

OP are you planning on immigrating based on marriage/fiancee visa? Or did you mean you wanted to immigrated on a work basis?

You cannot immigrate as an LPN.

As to requirements for theory/clinical hours etc, it depends. Figure out what state you will want to work in and then check their state nursing board website for information as to how to apply. It would be smart to do so now if you are still in school and have the opportunity to do extra clinical hours if necessary.

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Thanks everyone. Good to know about the LPN thing, I guess I'll be going for my RN then :p Finding out from the state board is a good idea, I'm aiming for California. I'm...assuming if I google Californian Board of Nurses or something similar I might find their website?

My boyfriend is the opposite sex, so that's all fine. I know getting over there on the K-1 visa and getting married is an option, but I'd rather not...not because I'm opposed to marrying him, but it can take aaaages for it all to be processed and a) it would be quite a few months of me freeloading because I couldn't work and b) it still wouldn't solve my issue of working as a nurse, would it?

I guess my best option at the moment is try and find out exactly what the state of California wants.

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Specializes in CTICU.

Well the fastest would be to get married then apply for greencard based on marriage and you would enter the US as permanent resident and be able to work from day 1.

Be careful re California - you still did not state on what basis you DO plan to move and work, but you cannot get a CA license issued until you have a SSN - which you can't get until you have a valid work status in the US.. which you can't get without a job offer.. which you can't get without valid work status.. etc ad infinitum. Better to apply to a state with a SSN waiver then endorse license to the state you want later on. Just be careful though, you'll still need to meet the second state's requirements re hours etc.

I think you'll very quickly see that there is not really a faster way than getting married or engaged to get to the US.

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Thanks everyone. Good to know about the LPN thing, I guess I'll be going for my RN then :p Finding out from the state board is a good idea, I'm aiming for California. I'm...assuming if I google Californian Board of Nurses or something similar I might find their website?

My boyfriend is the opposite sex, so that's all fine. I know getting over there on the K-1 visa and getting married is an option, but I'd rather not...not because I'm opposed to marrying him, but it can take aaaages for it all to be processed and a) it would be quite a few months of me freeloading because I couldn't work and b) it still wouldn't solve my issue of working as a nurse, would it?

I guess my best option at the moment is try and find out exactly what the state of California wants.

Wouldn't it be better to "freeload" (your word not ours) than face five or six years for an independent visa?

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Well as to the SSN part, we have agencies here in Australia who are designed to recruit Aussie nurses to work in the US, they help you out with things like getting a permanent visa, then SSN etc etc etc. Really I suppose I should be talking to those guys, but they've proven a bit difficult to contact...or I keep forgetting. One of them. I guess I just wanted as much information prior so when I talk to them I can tell them what I want and how much I already know etc.

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