I have tired to become a nurse in the US for last 6 years. Now I'm lost.

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Hello there,

I'm a foreign nurse. I have done many things to become a nurse in the US from July, 2005 until now. I did my best to achieve them, though those were not the best ones for becoming a nurse in the US. These are the list of them.

1) I went to Canada to study English for 1 year in 2005.

2) I passed NCLEX exam in 2007. I've got NY RN license.

3) I took IELTS exam and passed the minimum score in 2007. I have Visa Screen Certificate now.

4) I took Canadian Nursing Exam and passed it in 2008.

5) I worked in Korea as an RN for 4 years. I work in General Medical Surgical Unit for 3 years and Intensive Care Unit for 1 year, though they are in Korea.

6) I worked in Korea Interpretation and Translation Center for 6 months(Korean to English and English to Korean).

7) I worked as a "dispatcher" for foreigners in Korea (Seoul Emergency Medical Information Center) for 1 year.

8) I came here in California 9 months ago to take WHPC program to get OPT in which I can work in the US as an intern nurse without visa support.

9) I worked as a campus worker and now I have social security number.

All above are I did for last 6 years. But, after all those, no matter how I'm trying to get a job as an RN now, everytime I submit my resume, cover letter, and application form to many hospitals and staffing companies in California and New York, they just say I can't work for the hospital where I applied, because I don't have experience in the US as a nurse, or because I don't have visa support. What should I do now? Where can I get a job in the US? Now, I don't care about where I can work, I just need a job! Please help me. I'm really desperate!

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nursing under H1-b is in retrogression, so you cannot come to USA under H1-b, which would also require that you be hired into a specialty position that requires a bachelors degree. H1-c is ancient history.

F1- RN thru OPT is also a sham. OPT is intended to allow you to gain work experience related to something you just learned in a degree program (that you just finished in the USA). OPT done after education would be an internship, effectively. you don't need this, as you are already an accomplished RN and have practiced in various countries.

http://www.ice.gov/sevis/students/opt.htm

the truth is, there is no shortage of nursing in USA now. the number of new grads is up 15% over 5 years ago, and lots of previously retired nurses are back in the field. foreign nurses are out of fashion right now, and will probably remain so for another 15 years.

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for me u have achieved so much

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Do you have a pd? And sponsor? If you don' t have agreen card,it will be a long wait.

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All new nurses have issues finding jobs,unless you have a green card you will have long wait,sorry no short cuts.

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dont lose hope. u have gone so far, dont give up

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
nursing under H1-b is in retrogression, so you cannot come to USA under H1-b, which would also require that you be hired into a specialty position that requires a bachelors degree. H1-c is ancient history.

F1- RN thru OPT is also a sham. OPT is intended to allow you to gain work experience related to something you just learned in a degree program (that you just finished in the USA). OPT done after education would be an internship, effectively. you don't need this, as you are already an accomplished RN and have practiced in various countries.

http://www.ice.gov/sevis/students/opt.htm

the truth is, there is no shortage of nursing in USA now. the number of new grads is up 15% over 5 years ago, and lots of previously retired nurses are back in the field. foreign nurses are out of fashion right now, and will probably remain so for another 15 years.

Incorrect

H1b is not under retrogression it is EB3 which is affected by retrogression mainly however EB2 and EB1 are also affected slightly as a lot depend on where you was born

H1b is a specialised visas and not many nurses use it however we have had some successfully make the transition to the US using H1b

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

You are affected by retrogression and if you have no PD then you have a 5+ years wait ahead of you. What is your status in the US now?

You have to consider either returning home or looking at another country however going to another country is not a quick option and will take time to go through the process

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Incorrect

H1b is not under retrogression it is EB3 which is affected by retrogression mainly however EB2 and EB1 are also affected slightly as a lot depend on where you was born

H1b is a specialised visas and not many nurses use it however we have had some successfully make the transition to the US using H1b

that's funny. most cases i have heard of used H1-b for nursing, rather than EB-3.

trouble is, the degree equivalent the person has is not the deciding factor. whether the position requires the degree is the key. most nursing roles in USA can be occupied by an ADN, so a foreign BSN is not permitted to apply for such jobs. in past many agencies attested that they were placing their BSN nurses in positions that require BSN, when in reality they were plugging them in bedside. this is why we have so many filipina nurses on the west coast right now.

the hospitals that the agencies were providing these nurses to were also in on the scam. they were/are getting contract nurses at rates significantly below the local average, and these nurses are chained to the institution that sponsors them by the sponsorship, so can be treated poorly and overworked. the upshot is that profits have gone, up for the institutions, patient care has suffered, foreigners are overworked and underpaid, and US citizens are unemployed.

the use of a HB-1 to import nurses has just about come to an end. the next step is in deporting those here on H1-b who are not working in positions that require a bachelors degree. it's beginning to happen already. if you follow the immigration forums you will see incidence of revocation of H1-b for foreign nurses in recent months.

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here is a 10 year old 5th circuit court case that spells out the H1-b issue in terms of nursing applicants. in this case the applicants were denied because the position does not require bachelors. so, despite the hospitals and nursing homes full of filipina nurses, if they are not working in managerial, or advanced practice positions they are here under fraudulent pretenses.

http://www.vkblaw.com/news/threehundredseventyfive.htm

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Same here, I'm lost and don know what to do.Thinking of taking OPT and apply but getting hopeless with all the previous threads..

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