foreign nursing grad, passed CA nclex, need to work in TX!

Silverdragon102, BSN · Oct 19, 2007

hi guys! i'm eila, i'm a new member and i registered because i really don't know what to do now! the situation is this - i graduated BSN from the philippines just last march 2007, took the california nclex at the beginning of this month and found out yesterday that i passed! but my big problem now is that i'm currently residing in texas and i need to find work here for family/personal reasons. the reason is actually grave, and it's because my mom is here with me and she has been diagnosed with AML when we arrived here last july 2007. she's going to have her stay extended for medical reasons until she has completed her treatment here.
so i really have to find work in texas, but the eligibility/requirements in texas and california are totally different and i don't think i'll be able endorse my license easily, without taking more exams like the cgfns or ielts...and then the next issue is that i'm time-pressed, because i'm just on a visitors visa which would expire on january 21 2008 - so i have to do everything by then! unless i would have my stay extended which is another story.
it's really complicated and i really really need help! please, can anyone tell me what to do? right now i'm trying to call human resource offices in different hospitals around houston but since i have no work experience yet, they're telling me to apply for an internship program. but my case is entirely different since i'm a foreign graduate on a visitors visa and i am looking for sponsorship!
so please please please help :-( im really worried and pressed for time...

Sorry but you have no choice but to return home before your visa expires. Retrogression is in progress and no visas to adjust and I doubt that route will open again for a few years due to the high demand and amount of visas that was filed July/Aug to AOS. Because CA will not issue license without SSN you have a slightly different path to follow this thread explains what you need to do but you will need to meet requirements for Texas as a foreign nurse so will need CES and also you need VSC which can take several months to get and will need to arrange with CA to forward your NCLEX results and you will also need to pass English exam. It is also no guarantee anymore that you will qualify for a work permit having passed NCLEX. I suggest a lot of reading in this forum especially on retrogression. You will also find it hard to get your tourist visa extended and the process for CES and VSC is about 4-6 months and that is if they recieve all relevant paperwork in a timely manner.

this link will help regarding CA https://allnurses.com/forums/f75/california-initial-licensure-253147.html

dave787 · Oct 20, 2007

difinite;y you cant work. you cant endorse since you dont have ssn and the CA wont issue your license, and noting can be done for you to process for immigrant since retrogression is current. if you dot want to encounter problem better go home or else youll be deported

suzanne4, RN · Oct 20, 2007

I have agree with the other posters here; there is no way that you will be able to work in Texas at this time. A visitor's visa does not permit you to work at all, and you can get deported for ten years if caught trying to do that. With all of the stress that you are under right now, suspect that unfortunately, that would happen to you.

Please be aware of the requirements of the English exams for you to be able to get a visa to work in the US. That is needed as well as the CES which is a credentials evaluation done by CGFNS. You do not have a CA license so therefore no license number to endorse. You will need to use the License by Examination process and then have CA submit your results to them.

Please be also aware that there was an opne window back in July where you could have had things submitted by an employer, but you did not have the exam completed by then. There were more than 800,000 petitions submitted at that time, so we expect it to be a couple of years before you can get something submitted for the AOS procedure. Even with the Consular Processing, you are looking at a couple of years before you will be able to work legally in this country.

You may be able to get your tourist visa extended one time due to your mother's illness, however that will still not permit you to work in the US legally.

No matter what you may have heard, there is no way that you can do any type of work with the tourist visa. It is not permitted at all for any reason what so ever.

Suggest that you look into things that can be done back in your country for you at this time, or working in another country; but the US is not a viable alternative for you at this time.

Best of luck to you.

aky_888 · Oct 20, 2007

Hi eirn11,

I suggest you consult a lawyer to have your stay extended as soon as possible. While you're waiting apply for licensure in texas as stated by suzanne. And complete all other requirements.

There is a small chance that a law may be passed by congress to end the retrogression and you may be able to adjust status. Again it is only a small chance.

Extend your stay and try to wait it out. What ever happens at least you will be here 'in status' to accompany your mom while she is undergoing treatment.

Good luck!

suzanne4, RN · Oct 21, 2007

Unfortunately, there is no way that anything is going to be done during this time that she has. And she has to prove that she did not have dual intent when she came here, and that is what is going to hang her up. The US is not as short as many are led to believe. And if nothing has gotten thru in over a year, it just proves this even more. There are also many more from her country that have everything completed and have been waiting for a visa number, so no experience and nothing even started, no way to get anything done at all. Even if visas open up, they are going to go for those that are already in the process and have everything done, not to anyone that has not started anything. We do not expect any AOS visa petitions to be accepted for at least two years from now. That is something separate from any visas opening up.

Even if the retrogression eases up for those from some countries, there is still a limit to the number of visas per year for those from her country of birth.

Next you add into the equation that there were just 800,000 petitions submitted just two months ago, and only 140,000 visas issued per entire year in the US for those under EB-3. There is no way to get the green card or even get a petition submitted that will permit her to stay.

And if you ask any immigration attorney, the worst thing that you want to do is to ask for an extension for your visa. It draws attention to you and that is something that you do not want to do with immigration at all. Add into it the fact of wanting to extend, then to adjust status. Not a good thing to do at all.

I would not get her hopes up, she has not even taken the English exams, nor has the Visa Screen Certificate.

eirn11 · Oct 22, 2007

thanks for all the posts... it seems the common advice is that i extend my stay. and actually, it's the only thing i CAN do, because the difference with my situation (compared to others), is that going home is hardly a choice. im not making this up, but really, our family is undergoing a terrible crisis right now, brought about by my mom's diagnosis. she is still not done with her consolidation chemotherapy (currently 3 out of 4 sessions done), and considering our family literally has nothing, financially - we are fully supported by my aunt and grandfather here in the states. my dad, however, went back home to the philippines to sell majority of our possessions, including our car, and eventually our house (in the process of being sold) to contribute to the financial burden of my mom's treatment - and that's why going home for me is truly the last resort. even my bed has been sold already! my relatives here are saying that we are going to do everything we can to keep us here, legally, and get a job asap. i know this is all kind of personal, and im saying this not to provoke pity or sympathy but to emphasize the fact that i really need the best possible, legal option to take in order to obtain a change of status - anything that is possible at all at this time.

i do have several questions, mostly for suzanne:

1. suzanne - you said "the worst thing that you want to do is to ask for an extension for your visa. It draws attention to you and that is something that you do not want to do with immigration at all." - what if it's the only thing i can do? i mean, there really is a valid reason, too. if in case i do get approved - would i be able to process my visa screen then here? ive been told by one of my mom's nurses before that i have to extend my stay first before filing for my VSC so that a "record" may be avoided... is this true?

2. suzanne - i had just sent out the license endorsement papers both to california and texas state boards in the hope of being allowed that possibility, but yes i do have doubts - since i don't have the other requirements (CES/IELTS) for initial licensure by examination here in texas. im half expecting that texas would ask me for those requirements before issuing a license... but my question is, would they be keeping my file for a certain period of time until i can get the requirements done? i mean, im just concerned with the money that has been put out, since unfortunately it is non-refundable...

thanks so much for your replies... i really appreicate it. in fact, this is the only source of information i have because i don't know a lot of people who has gone through with this situation. thanks!

Silverdragon102, BSN · Oct 22, 2007

Even if you find work there are no visas to change your status and I doubt you will be able to extend your tourist visa more than once and AOS is not going to happen atleast for a couple of yeas due to the high applications submitted July/Aug 07. Texas will not release any license until you meet all their requirements. I also can't understand how your parents are going to be able to get a visa to stay in the US as once treatment is complete there is a requirement that you will need to return home and your aunt can petition your parents but processing date for them is over 10 years

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Oct 22, 2007

My regrets on your situation - I will keep you and your family in my prayers.

I have to agree with Silverdragon and Suzanne. There is a big delay in getting a green card here.

While you may be able to get an extension on your tourist status, it will make you more "visible" and your status will be supervised more closely. And even with your mother having leukemia, that will generally note be a reason to expedite a green card for you.

I currently on assignment in a well-known research facility, that works with adults with hematogical diseases/cancer. Approximately 1/3 of my patients are international, predominately from South America and Asia. I have seen several pts/family members try to get "compassionate" expedition of green cards or extensions. I have never seen them be successful at getting an early green card for that reason. The theory is that your mother is an adult who can care for herslf, and if sick enough to not be able to care for herself, will be in the hospital where nurses will care for her. Also, if she is so sick that you personally have to be here, you would not be working. While that sounds heartless, as you know you want to help your family, that is the position that the PTB take on this issue - that you do not really "have" to be here, even if you know in your heart that cannot be anywhere else at this time.

And if you get an extension, it does raise suspicions that you may try to work illegally especially due to the pressure to help your family.

Whatever you do, stay within the legal limits of your status. It will not help your family or your mother if you get in trouble with immigration and would worsen your case immensely.

I do have to ask, why did your father sell everything off, knowing that you did not have a green card. That will also raise suspicions with Immigration, if you no longer have a home in the Philippines.

Silverdragon102, BSN · Oct 22, 2007

Also if you was to get a green card don't think you can petition your parents and will be 5 years before you become a citizen and then be able to petition them and will take 12 months. really think you need to re think your plan

lawrence01 · Oct 22, 2007

I couldn't add more to what Suzanne, Anna and caroladybelle has already posted. They are all excellent advice. Filing for extension and selling off properties in the home country are red flags that one is not returning home.

Remember that if filling for tourist/visitor's visas the applicants that are given one are the ones that can demostrate that they still have links to their home country such as properties. The consul doesn't care much on what's the real purpose of the tourist visa but if you can demostrate that you are returning home. And there is no such thing as expedited green card for extreme hardship or any other reasons.

Consult a competent immigration lawyer first before you and your father do anything at all. That would be my advice. It would be hard to undo things if action preceded consultation. Much expensive as well, since lawyer will be doing damage control instead of just giving good advice.

eirn11 · Oct 22, 2007

thanks caroladybelle and silverdragon for the replies...

so, it isn't really advisable now for me to file for an extension of stay? especially with my mom's medical reason? because, yes im aware that it's actually two reasons - both to be here for my mom (though im not the primary caretaker), and to try to to process the visa screen. and i'm not desperate enough as to push my legal limits, which is why this is a really big problem. i CAN still go home, there would be other places for me to stay, but wouldn't my returning here be more difficult?

as for my parents, they are actually the lucky ones because they've been petitioned by my uncle way back 1986 and if all goes according to plan for the immigration, they might be approved by next year. which is good because my mom really needs to stay here. but it's me now who's in the tight spot, because i only have the opportunity to work as a nurse which is turning out to be difficult, with all the time pressure and legal consequences.

caroladybelle - the selling deal, is ultimately for us to generate finances that would help my mom. we still have the house, though, because it is not that easy to find buyers for such property. so hopefully that wouldn't be an issue in immigration...again, thanks for your reply to this matter :-)

silverdragon - if texas wouldnt be able to grant me a license, would they at least keep my file until i get my requirements?