Direct hire in the US information

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Direct hire in the US is a good option to go through if you want to work in just one particular state. Agencies can not always guarantee that you will work in the state of choice.

You will find that hospitals will more than likely petition you if you have already passed the NCLEX. I would suggest either going direct to the BON of the state you want to work and follow requirements for foreign trained nurses which may involve CGFNS or they may do their own evaluation of your transcripts.CA or states which will not issue your license without SSN ideally should be avoided (not too many of them I believe) Each state has their own requirements regarding hours in general, mental health, paeds and midwifery. CES with CGFNS will do a break down on your transcript but will not tell you if you meet requirements (that is up to state BON). Training in the UK currently does not always meet training requirements but if still at university you may be able to come to some arrangements with them to meet hours both theory and practical to aid in working abroad.

Once you have passed NCLEX that is the time to approach the hospitals HR departments and ask about petition to the US I would not use sponsorship when making enquires but petition. You individually can not apply for green card but you can use your own lawyer but the hospital has to provide the documents although during the process you will need to fill in paperwork covering yourself and any other family members. Some hospitals may offer to pay for other family members but will have some impact on your contract and terms you have to fill, ie if the hospitals pays for yourself but you pay for the rest of family you may just have to sign a contract for 2 years with x amount $$ to pay if you do not complete contract compared to hospital pays for all and you sign a contract for 3 years plus x amount $$ to pay if you do not complete contract.

Suzanne has written this regarding on how to work in the US https://allnurses.com/forums/f75/primer-all-wish-work-us-160143.html

Be aware that the process is not a quick process and can take several months and this is the time to learn patience and be prepared for the minefield of paperwork.

Hope this helps those who want to go direct hire and please add any more comments which may be of use.

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Hello Anna. I am very interested to go to the US. I have recently passed my NCLEX and i am trying to find a hospital who can sponsor me. I want to go to California. Do you know of any hospitals that sponsor? will it be best to go through an agency?

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Hello Anna. I am very interested to go to the US. I have recently passed my NCLEX and i am trying to find a hospital who can sponsor me. I want to go to California. Do you know of any hospitals that sponsor? will it be best to go through an agency?

I believe California is hard to find a hospital willing to petition you, I don't know of any hospitals but would suggest approaching HR in hospitals close to the area you want to live and see if they will petition you.

Congratulations on passing NCLEX and welcome to the site :D

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i would suggest contacting a US travel nursing agency,NursesRX is one that I worked for. Cross Country Nurses also is good. Go to Healthcare Traveler on the internet and you will see there are a wealth of agencies that can find you a temporary job. Most likely you will be asked to stay on if you work out well with the hospital. Meanwhile,the agency finds you a place to stay and some travel allowance in return for signing a contract for 13 weeks,usually. You can try out different areas of the US and see which youn like.

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i would suggest contacting a US travel nursing agency,NursesRX is one that I worked for. Cross Country Nurses also is good. Go to Healthcare Traveler on the internet and you will see there are a wealth of agencies that can find you a temporary job. Most likely you will be asked to stay on if you work out well with the hospital. Meanwhile,the agency finds you a place to stay and some travel allowance in return for signing a contract for 13 weeks,usually. You can try out different areas of the US and see which youn like.

Sorry, but that does not work for foreign nurses as they need to be petitioned and these agencies do not do that. They also have no work experience in the US. Things that these agencies need.

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hello, can anybody offer me any advice. i am desperately trying to work and live in florida. i have passed the nclex/visascreen etc. i have bought a house in florida and am in close contact with the local ER near to my house out there. i had a phone interview with thier ER dept last nov. i have been doing this process independently as i wanted to choose where i worked. the hospital cannot offer me sponsorship at this time, but have positions available and would happily employ me when i have a greencard. i am trying to start my greencard application process, and the hospital are in agreement with this. the attourney i am using takes forever to reply to any of my emails, and needs prompting at every corner. can anyone recommend an attourney to me, or a link to legal services. i would b very greatful for any advice - its been over 2 yrs since i started this process and i am losing the will to live!!!!! help...many thanks.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
hello, can anybody offer me any advice. i am desperately trying to work and live in florida. i have passed the nclex/visascreen etc. i have bought a house in florida and am in close contact with the local ER near to my house out there. i had a phone interview with thier ER dept last nov. i have been doing this process independently as i wanted to choose where i worked. the hospital cannot offer me sponsorship at this time, but have positions available and would happily employ me when i have a greencard. i am trying to start my greencard application process, and the hospital are in agreement with this. the attourney i am using takes forever to reply to any of my emails, and needs prompting at every corner. can anyone recommend an attourney to me, or a link to legal services. i would b very greatful for any advice - its been over 2 yrs since i started this process and i am losing the will to live!!!!! help...many thanks.

for GC you need an employer and they need to be willing to petition you, you can not file alone for the process although you can hire your own lawyer you still need an employer

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many thanks for replying so promptly. As i am doing this independently, is it just a case of calling around all the hospitals and asking if they are willing to petition me, or do you think it is best to call upon the help of an agency at this stage. Thanks so much for previous advice.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
many thanks for replying so promptly. As i am doing this independently, is it just a case of calling around all the hospitals and asking if they are willing to petition me, or do you think it is best to call upon the help of an agency at this stage. Thanks so much for previous advice.

you need to decide on where you want to live, then contact hospitals in the area seeing if they are willing to petition you for greencard. There are a couple on here living in Florida SueIP and Letina plus RGN1 is currently going through the process for Florida so may be worth pming them and see if they have any contacts for you.

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Specializes in med/surg.

I started off intending to "cold call" all the hospitals in the area of Florida I wanted to live in but unbelievably I hit the jackpot with the very first one I telephoned!!

My main advice is pick a "biggie" in the area you want to live in. By that I mean one with LOADS of beds & tons of jobs that you could do if you already had the paperwork in place. Where I called I literally could have applied for 10 jobs on the first 2 pages of their recruitment site, I didn't even bother to look further on that that. My forte was that they didn't necessarily have to hold a specific job open for me because by the time my paperwork comes through they can still be pretty confident that there would be several jobs I'd be qualified for! As it happened though I did get an offer from a specific ward in the end but they know if that falls through I can still go elsewhere in the place.

Of course you must already have N-CLEX passed, a current US license & ideally your VisaScreen as that all helps.

SD & co are quite correct in saying that the hospital has to sponsor you in order for you to apply for a green card. I also had lots of local hospitals saying they would love to employ me but couldn't petition. That's why I say go for a big one. The one that's sponsoring me is the only level 1 trauma centre in the area & has over 1000 beds. That's the sort of size I think you need to look for.

Feel free to PM me if you like but I have to add that retrogression has really put them off foreign recruitment at the moment & it was only because I have years of varied experience that made them look at me at all. Hopefully the Senate will put an end to our misery soon!

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