Foreign Travel Nurses In CA: How Did You Get Here?

scotnurse · Jan 19, 2005

There is no quick fix in how to obtain your joc in CA

Some people swear by going it alone and some by using an agency as a means to an end.

I am about to start in a hospital in southern CA not through choice as have brother in Florida but it is a means to an end.

The basic steps to getting there are:-

Register with an american nursing board.

To do this you need proof of training of which you can get from your nursing school at a cost. You need to have practical and theory in MedSurg, Obstetrics, Mental Health and Paeds.

Sit your NCLEX.

I sat mine in the states but as from this year you can sit it in international centres. UK - Austrailia.

Apply to a central nursing board for international nurses in Philly. At cost

You have to find a hospital to sponsor you and give you a letter stating that you can do a job that no american can.

After clearance from them you must apply for your green card interview at local embassy. At cost

You must declare all your past problems/convictions since you were born.

And any crimes of moral turpitude will exclude you from entry but you have one right of appeal.

If you use an agency you will pay a little upfront but you will be paid around $10 an hour less because that is what the agency take and you don't get any real choice in where you want to live but the agency is not a charity and has to recupe all they have paid out to get you this far and make as large a profit as possible for there shareholders.

If you go it alone you will have to employ an imigration lawyer at large cost but you can pick where you want to live and enjoy higher wages.

Its a personal choice but there is no quick way to do it I am afraid to get there you have to junp through the hoops whatever you choose to do.

Best of luck

I've been bitten by the travel bug something BAD and I'm just ITCHING to start work in California. But the more I look into it, the more frustrated I get! It seems as though I will have to wait 2 years before I can even step foot on US soil with all the processing times and rubber stamping for this and that. Plus the agencies I've been looking at (mainly O'Grady Peyton and a few others) have bad reputations and aren't really that forthcoming with information. So my question, fellow travelling nurses (and in fact, anyone who has any info at all), is this: how did you go about landing your dream (or nightmare, if you were duped) job in California? Do you have any tips for a naive young traveller? And do you think it's worth going through an agency - can't you just apply directly to hospitals?

Belinda-wales, RN · Jan 19, 2005

We are using a company call inter staff they are a small company but work with good hospitals if you want more info PM me

suzanne4, RN · Jan 21, 2005

California will take about two years because of green card processing.

The New York area can take about one year.

Do not recommend California for initial licnesure as they will only issue you a hard license with a social security number, so it is impossible to endorse to someplace else beforehand.

Best suggestion is licensure in NY. You will need the application for NY, plus Visa Screen Certificate application from CGFNS, as well as the credentials evaluation for NY.

Make sure that you have completed theory as well as clinical hours in all of the required areas.

Hope that this helps.

The only foreign cities that offer NCLEX are London, Seoul, and Hong Kong. The exam is not offered as of yet in Australia. It is also given in the US territories such as Guam and Saipan.