I'm Canadian and want to travel!

debbbsRN · Jul 24, 2010

I'm a Canadian Nurse that has been traveling about 3 and half years now. I have 18 years of experience but I think that most good travel companies want you to have at least 2 years. Some will say that 1 year is sufficient but you may find that the hospitals will be hesitant to hire you without 2 years.

Having said that, I travel with American Mobile (I know everyone writes bad stuff about them on here) and I've had for the most part no troubles with them. The were very helpful with the visa issue and immigration paperwork and questions. They also reimbursed me for all the costs involved in processing of it. Including the yearly fees.

One of the downfalls of being Canadian and working on a TN visa is that your visa is company specific. You do not have the luxury of either switching travel companies or being listed with more than one like the American nurses can. It requires paperwork and a border crossing to switch companies. Just for your info.

Good luck to you. I know I've enjoyed my travels, have worked in some great hospitals and seen so much of the country.

canadian_girl75 · Oct 19, 2010

I too am a Canadian travelling with American Mobile. I have also used Cross Country as well. They are the 2 biggest companies. I love my recruiter with American Mobile and I think that makes all the difference. A good recruiter who really goes the extra mile. Its true that some people may ahve bad things to say about them as another poster mentioned but when it comes down to it they are the biggest and have the most assignments. I can always find work with them. I always walk into a nice clean set up apartment close to my assignment and my paychecks are always on time. My recruiter will be honest with me about the hospitals and what others have to say about working there. Plus, my recruiter has been working with me since my last year of nursing school and kept in touch until I had my 2 years specialty expereince and walked me through all the licensing requirements. I did not go the TN visa route as my husband is an American and I was eligable for a family based green card. However, AMN can also sponsor you for your green card after a certain period of time if your interested. Canadians are definately received well here in the USA and people always find it interesting to talk to someone from another country. The patients are the same here as back home but I find the nurses have larger patient loads and less break time than back home.

Hope this helps