California Nursing

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Hello everyone,

I have been an RPN (LPN) in Toronto, Canada for 5 years. I have a lot of good experience. Now I am planning to go back to school. My boyfriend lives in California and he is on H1B visa at the moment, but soon he will be getting his i140. It will take him 30 to 40+ years to get his green card because he was born in India. We are planning to get married soon. We both want to live in California after marriage. So the problem is my education. I want to finish my LPN to BscN in California after we get married. I know I need SSN in order to write my NCLEX-PN in California. I have also heard that Trump is ending spousal work visa. If that's the case I don't know how else will I get my SSN and write NCLEX-PN and then start LPN to ADN/ BscN school?

Another concern we have is the cost related to my education. I don't want to pay too much international education fees and be in debt for the rest of my life. Is there something like if you live in a state for 6 months then you are a resident of that state and pay the same amount of tuition as an American would? Would I be able to get a job if I go to community college? Is it better to do LPN to ADN and then ADN to BscN in my case? I do eventually want to get my NP as well but I don't know when or how at the moment.

Also, another concern I have is working in the US. I know if Trump cancels spousal work visa, which is very likely to happen, I will need to apply for H1B or get TN visa before I apply for H1B so that I have more chances to get H1B. If I finish my BscN in California would I still be able to get TN visa being a Canadian citizen and having a bachelors degree? Would I be able to skip the education screening process because my BscN would be from California?

We don't know how any of this is going to work. It's all very confusing at the moment. We don't want to be in a long distance anymore. If none of this works, I guess we both have to move back to Canada but I don't want that either because then all of my boyfriends hard work that he has put towards US immigration will go down the drain.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for listening!

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

So your future husband is looking at 10 years for his immigrant visa. If you get your BSN and find employer willing to sponsor you you may get immigrant visa quicker and include him in your application.

you will need to check with the school you plan on doing your BSN and see what their requirements are for being classed as resident for fees. Visa screen certificate is still required if you go for TN regardless doing training in the US

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Thank you for your response. What is an immigrant visa? green card?

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Yes, immigrant visa is green card

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7 hours ago, Silverdragon102 said:

Yes, immigrant visa is green card

Is it because I would be an RN that's why I would have a better chance of getting it sooner? I was born in India as well even though I am Canadian. Apparently, If you are born in India or China no matter your country of Citizenship, it takes about 30-40+ years to get your green card after i140. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Thank you!

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Will not take that long but yes goes on place of birth. The visa is EB3 and you just look up US visa bulletin and then current month will show you current processing dates for India which for Jan 2020 is Jan 2009. This moves up and down but I can’t say I have seen anything longer that 15 years for China and India.

If you have your RN at degree level then you are fortunate as a Canadian citizen to use TN as long as you have employer

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Specializes in ICU.

Hey

As I know California has a lot of colleges , universities for nursing program. And for those who wants to be in US as sooner as they want, there're some colleges could help out . Like one college I know, absolutely legal , low tuition fee, you could take nurse program , like one year class, one year CPT ,then one year OPT. SO by this you get 3 years legally stay in US, within 3 years you should work on get your RN or LVN licenses, also work on your green card. Since right now the whole COVID-19 outbreak , it's a great chance for nurses.

Overall , Good luck .

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

My understanding is if you work 12 months full time on cpt you do not qualify for opt

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Specializes in ICU.

That's correct. So the CPT has 20 hours /week for work rule ; it could last one year, after CPT you can apply OPT . If you did full time CPT , then you will loss your OPT opportunity.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

But cpt with the 20 hrs a week work experience is taken is whilst studying so it will not give you three years

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Specializes in ICU.

Good morning. Thanks for your response. So the thing is it's depends on each one's situation. As I know , many international RNs they do this way, find a school in US, attend nursing program. first year full time student, second year CPT ,half time work half time in class, they could take 6 units class in their CPT, and the third year they can apply OPT. During this 3 years many of them will get their green card or at least work permit. It still depends on each one's case. Some one they prefer skip CPT then directly go to OPT ,then they will only get 2 years for their first study program, but they can earn more money to survive in US during OPT, some of them they choose to stay with routine schedule. So they have their 3 years program. It's all depends what they want and what they choose.

Again, Thank you for discussing with me . Stay safe and healthy. Have a good one.

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1 hour ago, Michelle Yin said:

Good morning. Thanks for your response. So the thing is it's depends on each one's situation. As I know , many international RNs they do this way, find a school in US, attend nursing program. first year full time student, second year CPT ,half time work half time in class, they could take 6 units class in their CPT, and the third year they can apply OPT. During this 3 years many of them will get their green card or at least work permit. It still depends on each one's case. Some one they prefer skip CPT then directly go to OPT ,then they will only get 2 years for their first study program, but they can earn more money to survive in US during OPT, some of them they choose to stay with routine schedule. So they have their 3 years program. It's all depends what they want and what they choose.

Again, Thank you for discussing with me . Stay safe and healthy. Have a good one.

Thank you. I am not worried about covering my rent and utility bills while I am studying in California because my boyfriend has a full-time job (hope it stays that way given the situation right now). He is on H1B visa. He applied for his i140 this year January. I am LVN in Canada and I know after we get married and I move to US I have to write my NCLEX-PN and that when I will be eligible to got to LVN to RN/BSN school. I am worried about how expensive tuition fees will be. If I am on spousal visa is anything going to be different for me than being on independent visa? Do I still need F1 study visa? after we get married I want to be able to start going to school asap. I am not sure how long that process is going to be either. ? I am planning to do LVN to RN and then write my NCLEX-RN, maybe start part-time work and continue to get my RN to BSN online.

I am not even thinking about green card at this point because I was born in India, even though I have Canadian passport that doesn't matter, I know it will take me and my boyfriend 10+ years to get our green card ?. At this point I am just trying to figure out how can my boyfriend and I stay together while I go to school. We don't want to be in LDR anymore.

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