For those of you that are studying in the US under either an F-1 visa, or any other where you do not have permission to work, and will need to apply for a green card when you finish your schooling-----this is for you.
You must meet all of the requirements for immigration that a foreign-trained nurse does, the only exception that you have is that the English requirements are waived for you. You still need to submit the application and get a Visa Screen Certificate. This is offered by CGFNS and the application is available on their website, http://www.CGFNS.org. There is only one application available, whether you did your training in the US, or overseas.
You will still need to find an employer that will petition for your green card. You will still need to undergo a physical exam at a physician's office that is approved by USCIS an have verification of all titers and vaccinations. If you do not have verifiable proof of having had chicken pox, etc., you will need to have either a titer drawn, or receive the vaccination. Immigration is very strict now with this, they will no longer go on what you are verbally telling them.
Hope that this helps...............most of you will also be able to get an OPT for one year of training while your documents are being processed, but you can only receive the OPT once, especially if this is now a second career for you, and you already used your OPT status for the other.
If you are coming to the US just for the MSN, and already have a BSN from overseas, you will be required to write the English exams. You are only exempt from them if this is your initial training as a nurse, meaning ADN or BSN only.
I just found out about this forum recently from my friend.The info you provide is very helpfull,thank you for your involvment and detailed responces.
I graduated from US nursing school (NYC)in December.I am F1 student and I hold OPT which ends January 2007. I haven't been working so far but I activelly search for a job.I have prospective employer and your explanations are very usefull.
However, I have other issues that I would like you to ask you.As a mentioned I hold F1 visa and my husband who stays with me is my dependant.My last I20 expired in December but I have OPT. My husban's F2 expired in December as well and my school claims that he does not need do anything and as long as I have OPT he is legally with me for duration of my OPT. Problems started when he wanted to renew his drivers licence(which expired in December also) and then we were told in DMV that he is out of status because he does not have valid I20 with his name on it. The copy of my I20 expired on December also.I called USCIS and I was told he is out of status and he should apply for adjustment of status at the same time I apllied for OPT. My school claims that is not necessary because his status has not changed and he still is F2 .Moreover, they claim that there is no such a form(I20) to issue for him for the remaining year(of my OPT).As you see, through the licence renewal we found out that something is wrong with his legal status.
Could you please tell me what is your opinion in this issue.
Thank you for your time.
kasia35
You are going to need to speak with an immigration attorney concerning that. What ever needs to be done, can be done right away.
What do you think about going with an agency so they can guide the sponsorship process.However , as you said before the employer should offer prevailing wages, so if they cut your salary then how they can prove to USCIS that they pay you as mich as for native RN?What about working part time for per diem? Can I be sponsored as well?
You will need a full-time contract to be sponsored, at least for most facilities. Plus you can develop your skills the best that way. And you will not find per diem work as a new grad, if you do, run as fast as you can from them. You do not have the skills ywet just to be able to jump into an assisgnment or work on a unit that you are not familiar with, and to do so would only be jeapordizing your license that you worked too hard to get.
You are much better off with direct hire, or thru an agency that is just the middleman between you and the facility. But definitely do not go the route where you belong to the agency.
I am currently in the 2nd semester of an ADN program here in Arizona with F1 visa. My I-20 expired last 12/31/05, and i had it extended for another year which ends this 12/31/06. By that time, i will still have to extend it again for another 4months or at least 1 semester to graduate and complete my program. With this, i am concerned if i will have any problem about obtaining an OPT? I still have not used any of my OPT opportunity.
Another concern is that this summer, I would be eligible to take the LVN/LPN exam. I would want to know if i could already apply for OPT or CPT for the 3-month summer vacation and work as full-time? If yes, how do i go about that? i am attending a community college and as far as i know, i have not been informed about any CPT opportunity. Would a student extern program in a hospital count as a CPT?
You will need a full-time contract to be sponsored, at least for most facilities. Plus you can develop your skills the best that way. And you will not find per diem work as a new grad, if you do, run as fast as you can from them. You do not have the skills ywet just to be able to jump into an assisgnment or work on a unit that you are not familiar with, and to do so would only be jeapordizing your license that you worked too hard to get.
You are much better off with direct hire, or thru an agency that is just the middleman between you and the facility. But definitely do not go the route where you belong to the agency.
Read some of the horror stories posted below.
Thank you Susanne for your reply.
Now I another issue that I would like to ask you for your opinion.
As I mentioned before I have OPT which is valid for the 1 year.Since I graduated in December 2005 from US nursing school I have 60 days window period to start working. As of now I did not receive confirmation letter from NYS Educational Department to schedule NCLEX.I hope it will happen soon, but still my deadline is coming in the middle of February and I can not find facility which would hire me without a licence on my hand.The only offer that I received was from the agency to work with limited permit-LPN:o .Should I go for it and after I pass NCLEX I would be able to make a transition to RN?If not, and I will not accept the LPN position can I lose my OPT?I am afraid to sign the contract for LPN and then I can be hold by the agency and what woud happen to my legal status?
Now I another issue that I would like to ask you for your opinion.
As I mentioned before I have OPT which is valid for the 1 year.Since I graduated in December 2005 from US nursing school I have 60 days window period to start working. As of now I did not receive confirmation letter from NYS Educational Department to schedule NCLEX.I hope it will happen soon, but still my deadline is coming in the middle of February and I can not find facility which would hire me without a licence on my hand.The only offer that I received was from the agency to work with limited permit-LPN:o .Should I go for it and after I pass NCLEX I would be able to make a transition to RN?If not, and I will not accept the LPN position can I lose my OPT?I am afraid to sign the contract for LPN and then I can be hold by the agency and what woud happen to my legal status?
Thanks for your help in this matter,
Kasia35
You will lose your OPT whenever it expires ( it's only good for a year) and you can't renew it.
After that you are OUT of status.
In order to get hired as LPN you must have LPN license. Nobody will hire you because you can't work legally. You can't apply for AOS as an LPN.
Now I another issue that I would like to ask you for your opinion.
As I mentioned before I have OPT which is valid for the 1 year.Since I graduated in December 2005 from US nursing school I have 60 days window period to start working. As of now I did not receive confirmation letter from NYS Educational Department to schedule NCLEX.I hope it will happen soon, but still my deadline is coming in the middle of February and I can not find facility which would hire me without a licence on my hand.The only offer that I received was from the agency to work with limited permit-LPN:o .Should I go for it and after I pass NCLEX I would be able to make a transition to RN?If not, and I will not accept the LPN position can I lose my OPT?I am afraid to sign the contract for LPN and then I can be hold by the agency and what woud happen to my legal status?
Thanks for your help in this matter,
Kasia35
Stay away from any agency that has told you that. You need to concentrate on passing the NCLEX-RN, that is the only way that you can get a petition filed on your behalf.
Sorry to say, but I have seen such horror stories with several of the agencies in the NYC area, that red flags would go up in front of my eyes for any of them untiul they can prove themselves otherwise. From placing ten to eleven people in a studio apt and saying that they provide accomodations. Animal Cantrol in the US will not permit that with dogs or cats, so how can an agency get away doing that with humans? And tryin gto placve a new foreign grad in a nursing home where they do not know the system, minimum orientation, and they have to legally be responsible for thrity patients.............until they can prove otherwise to me, I would not refer anyone to any of those.
Nursing home assignments give you 30 patients for meds and treatments, if not more. And almost no orientation as a new grad, you are set up to fail, as well as losr your license.
This just adds another red mark to NY agencies. I am begiining to wonder if there are actually some redeeming ones there, or are they all just there to make a fast back off of a foreign nurse. Something that I find just disgusting.
And I hope that the yremember that old saying that we have,
What goes around, comes around."
Sorry, but wait until one of those administrators gets sick. And then what are they going to do? People have very long memories.
Hi Suzanne4, I have been reading your posts and they are really helpful. I hope you can help me here. My case is a little bit different from most nursing students. I am on my F-1 visa right now and this is my second degree. And I have applied for 1 year's OPT when I graduate from my last college. I am graduating May 2007. Since I will only have 60 days to stay in US after my graduation and I need to get my NCLEX, I am worry that I won't have enough time to get my green card in process.
I am working in a hospital as a nursing tech. under I-765. One of my co-worker is a LVN and just applied for green card. Since I am a Junior right now, I will be eligible to take the LVN exam this summer. I want to know can LVN apply for green card? should I start apply green card using my LVN first so that I don't have to worry about my visa status after graduation? or is there any advise you can give me in particular to my case?
An LPN will not be given a green card on their own. They could have applied for it, if they are married to a green card holder, or an American.
How do they have papers that permit them to work as an LPN? Did they get this while in an RN program, or did they pass the CGFNS exam in their own country first? Soemthing is quite fishy. The US will not issue a green card to the LPN, they need to have a Visa Screen Certificate.
All you need to do is make sure that you take and pass the NCLEX exam within that time frame. The AOS can be submitted as soon as you have proof that you passed the NCLEX exam. And you will remain current as soon as that is done.
suzanne4, RN
26,410 Posts
You are going to need to speak with an immigration attorney concerning that. What ever needs to be done, can be done right away.