hello! I am a citizen of Nepal, recently graduated from US nursing school and will be taking my nclex-rn in 2 weeks. Currently I am on OPT and looking for jobs. Honestly, I do not know squat about all the immigration stuff for nurses. I have been reading different forums on this topic and I am more confused now than ever! There are just so much stuff that I am no longer sure about because I am hearing different stories from different directions. I would greatly appreciate it if someone would provide answers to my following questions:
1. What is the current immigration status for nurses regarding green card? When do new visa numbers become available?
2. Do I obtain VisaScreen after I have my license? How long does it take? What kind of documents do I need to submit? Are there any other requirements?
3. When interviewing for nursing jobs, is it ok to ask if they will sponsor for my green card? Or does that affect on my chances of getting a job?
4. If I do find an employer who is willing to sponsor for my green card, what is the process like? What are the costs? Would the hospital bear the costs of hiring lawyers and doing all the paperwork or is it my responsibility?
5. Any additional information will be highly appreciated!
I am aware that I have a lot of questions but I am just very uncertain at this point in regards to the validity of the information I have. I truly appreciate everyone in helping me out regarding this matter!
I am in the same situation. I was able to find an employer willing to sponsor my immigrant petition but the hospital does not shoulder attorney's fees, which amount to almost 5,000 dollars. I was told by the lawyer that we can file the I-140 to save the priority date, and that even if I switch employers during the process, my priority date will remain the same. Since you are saying that this will only be true if an I-485 is filed with it, and since since the government is not accepting I-485s at this time (is this true?), that the option to switch employers will not be possible in my case?
I applied to nearly a hundred hospitals and only a handful considered hiring a foreign nurse with no hospital experience. That's why I felt quite lucky to have been offered a job. This employer is located in a place that I do not particularly like and has given me an offer for 15/hour beginning as a nurse-in-training. I'm willing to take a wage even that low if it means finally being able to have a priority date but I'm concerned if a wage that low is actually a violation - I have heard of foreign professionals working in the US under H1B/H1C and with an immigrant petition filed who have been denied and deported in the end because they agreed to work under a wage that was below the minimum for a US citizen, in effect gaining an advantage over US citizens. Is working for 15/hour initially as a nurse-in-training a technical violation that could get me in trouble later on?
I-140s can only change employers if the other requirements are met, and that is that it has been more than 180 days since the approval of the I-140 and no approval by that time on the I-485.
Since the I-485 cannot be submitted at this time, then there is not going to be any priority date saved if you change employers. Same thing as if you were out of the country and applying from there. There is no way to change employers, you lose the PD date.
And you are going to get denied with that salary, you need to be getting the going rate of what an American would be paid for the same job. And the rates for new grad nurses are never that low. The facility would be falsifying documents most likely and the government follows up on it.
Save your money if you are asking my opinion, you are only asking for trouble. This attorney has given you bad advice in several instances that are mentioned here, that should be a red flag for you to not pursue anything with this employer.
H1-B visas are also designed for specialists; as a new grad, one is definitely not a specialist. These visas are actually being investigated by the US government at this time for not being used for what they were designed for.
The H1-C visa is only available for 14 facilities out of the entire US and not all that are on the list are even sponsoring at this time. There is only a total of 500 of these visas available at any one time, and that does not mean per year or anything else, but only 500 nurses can have this visa out of the entire US. And they are also do to expire in 2010 and we do not think that they will be renewed. At least it is not looking that way so far.
The other thing that you need to be aware of is the fact that once your OPT is up, there is no way for you to remain in the US unless you will continue as a full-time student for the next five years or so. You cannot remain here if the I-485 is not available to be submitted. This is something else that you need to consider.
I-140s can only change employers if the other requirements are met, and that is that it has been more than 180 days since the approval of the I-140 and no approval by that time on the I-485.
Since the I-485 cannot be submitted at this time, then there is not going to be any priority date saved if you change employers. Same thing as if you were out of the country and applying from there. There is no way to change employers, you lose the PD date.
And you are going to get denied with that salary, you need to be getting the going rate of what an American would be paid for the same job. And the rates for new grad nurses are never that low. The facility would be falsifying documents most likely and the government follows up on it.
Save your money if you are asking my opinion, you are only asking for trouble. This attorney has given you bad advice in several instances that are mentioned here, that should be a red flag for you to not pursue anything with this employer.
hi suzanne,
another employer is offering me a base salary of $21/hour. if this is within legal limits, i think i already found my employer: medical center in heart of major city which i find nice enough, location close to my relatives -- i don't think there's anything more i can ask for considering my situation. i am thankful they are willing to maintain the job offer in spite of the economic crisis....i think i'm finally going to take this offer and secure my priority date. do you think the pay is not low enough to violate immigration rules?
You did not mention the state so hard to tell if it would be accepted. But the issue is that you are looking at five years plus and getting the PD date does not guarantee one thing about getting the visa to work here.
The US is quite bad at this time, and the facility cannot guarantee that they will even meet the requirements down the line. They need to prove that they were unable to hire an American at this time, as well as be able to prove it again when and if you would be able to have a chance at a visa. Employers cannot guarantee a visa, and if they are, or making promises that they will have a job for you, that is reason to run. They cannot do that.
Things can change on a moment's notice and they are and not for the better.
You did not mention the state so hard to tell if it would be accepted. But the issue is that you are looking at five years plus and getting the PD date does not guarantee one thing about getting the visa to work here.
The US is quite bad at this time, and the facility cannot guarantee that they will even meet the requirements down the line. They need to prove that they were unable to hire an American at this time, as well as be able to prove it again when and if you would be able to have a chance at a visa. Employers cannot guarantee a visa, and if they are, or making promises that they will have a job for you, that is reason to run. They cannot do that.
Things can change on a moment's notice and they are and not for the better.
Thank you for your reply, Suzanne. The hospital is in Atlanta, GA. Yes I understand that it could take several years and is not guaranteed, but if this salary is within legal limits I have decided to finally push thru with the filing of the I-140 and get a PD. I'll take my chances. I am actually in the US now and my I-94 is due to expire in a few months. I am just happy to be able to accomplish the filing of the immigrant petition and will finally be able to go back home and search for opportunities in other countries like New Zealand and Canada while waiting for it, because right now it is nearly impossible to find a job in a hospital in the Philippines. I have decided to look at the long wait in a positive light: as a chance to experience living in another country and enrich my life with its culture and people. I will be hoping and praying that the petition goes thru but if it doesn't, I may just end up loving my new life and would rather stay there....who knows, right? Thanks for all your help. Truly appreciate it.
Remember that even if a hospital makes an offer to you now, they still need to prove that they were unable to hire an American and provide proof of that before your papers can even be submitted. And that is going to be hard to do with what is going on right now. They will also need to prove it again later on as well.
With having an employer, there still is no guarantee that you are going to get a green card; there are many more applicants from your country than there are visas available per year in the US. Training in the US does not give one an advantage any longer.
Best of luck to you. These are just things that you need to be aware of, especially if you are going to paying quite a bit of the expense and not knowing if it will ever work out for you.
Remember that even if a hospital makes an offer to you now, they still need to prove that they were unable to hire an American and provide proof of that before your papers can even be submitted. And that is going to be hard to do with what is going on right now. They will also need to prove it again later on as well.
With having an employer, there still is no guarantee that you are going to get a green card; there are many more applicants from your country than there are visas available per year in the US. Training in the US does not give one an advantage any longer.
Best of luck to you. These are just things that you need to be aware of, especially if you are going to paying quite a bit of the expense and not knowing if it will ever work out for you.
Yes, that's true. It feels like I'm gambling big money but I really don't see any other way to do this. I feel that if I pass up on this opportunity, I could regret it later on.....I'm willing to take my chances. I've already gone this far with the NCLEX, Visascreen, etc. and throwing away tons of money on gas just to drive around the state and seek out opportunities...there really is no other acceptable choice for me.
Thank you so much for responding (and very quickly i might add!) to all my queries. You have been such a great help! ):heartbeat
I truly appreciate everyone in helping me out regarding this matter!
):heartbeat
suzanne4, RN
26,410 Posts
I-140s can only change employers if the other requirements are met, and that is that it has been more than 180 days since the approval of the I-140 and no approval by that time on the I-485.
Since the I-485 cannot be submitted at this time, then there is not going to be any priority date saved if you change employers. Same thing as if you were out of the country and applying from there. There is no way to change employers, you lose the PD date.
And you are going to get denied with that salary, you need to be getting the going rate of what an American would be paid for the same job. And the rates for new grad nurses are never that low. The facility would be falsifying documents most likely and the government follows up on it.
Save your money if you are asking my opinion, you are only asking for trouble. This attorney has given you bad advice in several instances that are mentioned here, that should be a red flag for you to not pursue anything with this employer.