From F2 to work in the USA

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I am a currently registered Nurse in USA passing from Texas board of Nursing and have compact license in many other states too. I am currently here in F2 visa? How can I process to get Nursing Job in USA now ? Any help as of now. I have seen many sites but nothing help at all. I went to the USCIS site and chat with them they say that from 2009 there is no nursing job for foreigner unless Work authorization to work in USA, is it true? What to do next after passing Nclex RN examination now? I am totally confused.

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.
I am a currently registered Nurse in USA passing from Texas board of Nursing and have compact license in many other states too. I am currently here in F2 visa? How can I process to get Nursing Job in USA now ? Any help as of now. I have seen many sites but nothing help at all. I went to the USCIS site and chat with them they say that from 2009 there is no nursing job for foreigner unless Work authorization to work in USA, is it true? What to do next after passing Nclex RN examination now? I am totally confused.

Without work rights you cannot legally work anywhere in the US. It does not matter if you passed the NCLEX, the medical boards or are a nuclear engineer.

In much of the US there is no shortage of inexperienced nurses and therefore no incentive for employers to go through the time and expense of visa sponsorship. Did you work as a nurse in your home country? Perhaps in a specialized area? What is your country of birth? If Philippines you are likely misunderstanding what USCIS told you. Due to retrogression (more people seeking visas than are available) there are no current employment based visas available. Those who applied back in 2009 and currently have a sponsoring employer are now eligible for visa processing. Most employers are not willing to hold a nursing job for 7+ years

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I applied in December 2015, accepted an offer in January 2016, graduated in May 2016... And didn't take my NCLEX until a week ago (I passed). And my start date at my job is July 6th, 2016. I don't know where you went to school, but mine alerted us to start applying at the end of our third semester, which was December 2015.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

If you have experience in a specialty and you find a employer willing to go the work visa route then the employer can applying next April for H1b and if successful start working October 2017. If the employer is not affected by the cap they can apply for H1b straight away.

mostly however nurses generally come under employment based immigrant visas EB3 is the category and dependant on place of birth will depend on who long the process will be. For example if born in the Philippines the wait is application approved before Nov 2008. This date does go up and down.

So all you can do is sort resume out, start contacting hospitals etc where you want to work and look for sponsorship but expect it to be hard and time consuming.

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Hello swasti . Did you find the job ? I m also. Having same situation right now, i. M BsN RN

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Specializes in 1 year experience in OT..

Hi Swasti and Vaish,

I am also in a similar situation. Did you find any solutions? Could you please share your experience?

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Have you tried applying with an international nurses agency? they usually provide you with an employer's letter which you need to obtain a TN visa at any port of entry (airport) in the United States. You could obtain a Visa Screen, CES. All that along with your degree is what you need in order to obtain a TN visa. You could speak to an attorney to determine if you are able to obtain this TN visa while still on an F2 visa. Good luck. It is been a while, if you have come up with another solution please share.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
2 hours ago, NLS said:

Have you tried applying with an international nurses agency? they usually provide you with an employer's letter which you need to obtain a TN visa at any port of entry (airport) in the United States. You could obtain a Visa Screen, CES. All that along with your degree is what you need in order to obtain a TN visa. You could speak to an attorney to determine if you are able to obtain this TN visa while still on an F2 visa. Good luck. It is been a while, if you have come up with another solution please share.

Original post is from 2016 and I see nothing mentioned that they are Mexican or Canadian which will give then the TN visa

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Original post is from 2016 and I see nothing mentioned that they are Mexican or Canadian which will give then the TN visa

You are totally right. I was trying to help but it is true that they cannot if they do not fit in that category. Thank you for posting this.

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As silver dragon has said the TN is not possible in this case but maybe an Eb3 or Hb1 offered by an international nurse staffing agency might be a good option. It can't hurt to contact them and to contact an attorney for these complex cases.

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Specializes in 1 year experience in OT..

From what I have found so far, the only option is to find an employer who could sponsor the H1b Visa.

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