H1 b visa --- is there any different category ??

Silverdragon102, BSN · Jun 11, 2007

Hi Suzanne. I am here in USA in H-4 visa and just finished my 2year RN program. I have not been able to find any jobs here .....as u said ....there r no visas available......but when i call back home (india ) i hear that there r so many jobs available for nurses and there r several agencies who even apply for their visas and take care of all the paperwork. I really did not understand this. Is there a different visa category for nurses who come from overseas.
Also does having a SSN# make any difference??
Could you please advice.
Thank You .

There are really only 1 visa open to RN's (exception H1C but would not recommend that) and that is the GC and currently there are none at the moment. This is the same whether you trained in the US although foreign or from overseas. Having a SSN makes no difference as it is the EAD you need to help you work and unfortunately this is not available for you at the moment. I find it very questionable if the agencies are applying for and they are getting visas now, I can understand if their PD is current and that is where the visa has come from.

H1B visas went in 1 day this year and not able to apply now until next year, but this is no longer applicable for nurses

suzanne4, RN · Jun 12, 2007

Out of the country and the process can be started, but there are still no visas available for the nurses that are waiting in any country at this time.

We also see this wonderful agencies in India requiring a $20,000 bond that they do not return when the nurse completes their assignment, and they require that it be paid before they will let the nurse leave India.

They are just offering you a bunch of garbage that does not hold water at all. Empty promises.

Nothing can be submitted past the I-140 no matter where you are. You are in a much better place to be in the US than back there with those horrible agencies. They also sell nurses like slaves to the highest bidder. They think that slaves are alive and well in the US, and I would like to see everyone of them out of business that treats humans like that.

There is not a thing that can be done at this time, does not matter about SSN#, but the fact that you are here on a visa that does not permit you to work. You could possibly have switched over to the F-1 status before you graduated, and then you could be working now on the OPT if you met the requirements for that. I know quite a few that did this on the H-4, and they are now able to work. But too late for that now.

suzanne4, RN · Jun 12, 2007

There have not been H1-B visas for nurses for three years plus. Thne other issue is that the H1-B is only available twice a year, already gone for the October start. Actually petition applications outnumbered the actual visas in less than a day. And no hospital will hire with the H1-B visa.