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.
excuse me, what does that mean "Adjustment of Status" here? Does that mean that I can ask to extend my legal staying in usa after I graduate? How much longer can I stay if I have no OPT to use after I graduate? 60 days usdsu just said?
does anyone know how much it may cost to have an immigration attorney in TN? or any good suggestion about where to find a reliable attorney in west TN? I'm going to graduate this Dec. and am now an nusre intern on Rehab floor at the hospital. However, the hospital has already told me that they only sponsor physicians for green cards and they don't do that for foreign nurses...
Thank you anyone's input in advance!
1. You do nto need an immigration attorney in the area where you are.
You are much better off finding one that is more familiar with foreign-trsained nurses and specializes in that. There are different requirements for nurses, and they get fast-tracked. Just like there are different types of doctors or nurses, immigration attorneys can also specialize.
2. As soon as you take and pass the NCLEX exam, you can get the AOS filed on your behalf. You do not need to wait the 90 days, as you have already been in the US for more than that. Once the petition is sumbitted, then that takes over in place of your tourist visa.
3. I would concentrate on getting a hospital lined up for when you need it.
4. Not sure if your facility realizes that they have much less paperwork for an RN, than a physician? The attorney actually does almost everything, and the facility only needs to complete about two documents? Most are unaware of that.
5. And since you are on a student visa, you can convert that to a tourist visa, but you cannot extend the student visa if you are no longer in school, if you need to. You just never want to extend a sixth month tourist visa. Most of them are getting denied. You should be just fine.
i'm new in this thread just signed up yesterday since i have this question. i have my opt training for a year and about to take my board 2nd week of june). i am in new jersey graduate and went to school here too. i was under f1 visa though before i got my opt permit. anyway, i was wondering do i still need to apply for ielts and toefl, twe and tse?? also, when and where can i apply for the visa screen? is there a long wait for that?
I would not sign that at all. You need to work in a hospital. And yes, they could move you even on a daily basis where ever they need help.
If you want my opinion on this? Never, ever sign a contract like that. You will belong literally to them and they could call you at 5 am and tell you that you need to be at a facility that is 90 minutes away that morning by 7 am. It is your choice, but I would not suggest it all.
Hi Suzanne4,
Thanks for the reply. I am really not getting many people esp. hospitals to sponsor the petition for me and absolutely need one done for me soon (not to be stuck in the retrogression). The contract termination fee is $12K. If at all things get too unbearable, I will walk away by paying this penalty. Only thing that you mentioned and that scares me is that if you sign a contart then they could send you or reassign you to any facility affiliated to the company if they fall short on people on that location. Same thing for the shift hours as well. The contarct includes statements to mention this stuff.
Are things like this true ? Do these nursing home people do that once you sign a contract even though you are hired as a full time employee for and by one particular facility. Do you know if an individual has any say in getting the contract wording modified ? Any thoughts or opinion sharing would be highly appreciated. Thanks.
I am new to this site but have been following this thread for a while. I appreciate the time and effort you have been putting into this. There is no one at my university who knows what a foreign nursing student has to do when graduating nursing school. I probably would be stranded if not for your postings. Thank you! :thankya:
i'm new in this thread just signed up yesterday since i have this question. i have my opt training for a year and about to take my board 2nd week of june). i am in new jersey graduate and went to school here too. i was under f1 visa though before i got my opt permit. anyway, i was wondering do i still need to apply for ielts and toefl, twe and tse?? also, when and where can i apply for the visa screen? is there a long wait for that?
If you did your basic nursing training in the US, then the English exams are waived for you. You apply for the Visa Screen Certificate at www.cgfns.org, but you cannot send them anything until you pass the NCLEX exam. It should only take about one month for you to ge the Certifcate after you pass the exam since you went to a US school and are in the US.
Thanks for the reply. I am really not getting many people esp. hospitals to sponsor the petition for me and absolutely need one done for me soon (not to be stuck in the retrogression). The contract termination fee is $12K. If at all things get too unbearable, I will walk away by paying this penalty. Only thing that you mentioned and that scares me is that if you sign a contart then they could send you or reassign you to any facility affiliated to the company if they fall short on people on that location. Same thing for the shift hours as well. The contarct includes statements to mention this stuff.
Are things like this true ? Do these nursing home people do that once you sign a contract even though you are hired as a full time employee for and by one particular facility. Do you know if an individual has any say in getting the contract wording modified ? Any thoughts or opinion sharing would be highly appreciated. Thanks.
Yes, they can do it, and it is done. Especially int he area where you are located. And unfortunately, they are not going to change their contract for you, at least in most cases. You will have to have something that they really want for them to want to do that. And I do not think that will happen, since they think that you need them, more than they need you.
Your contract will be with the company, not the individual nursing home, as they are usually opened by much larger corporations.
I would not recommend that you go that route. You will have a green card, why settle for less than what you should be getting.
I am new to this site but have been following this thread for a while. I appreciate the time and effort you have been putting into this. There is no one at my university who knows what a foreign nursing student has to do when graduating nursing school. I probably would be stranded if not for your postings. Thank you! :thankya:
Thanks for the welcome! I am about to graduate at the end of July and am counting the days. My friends tell me that I need to go ahead and apply for my temporary Alabama license 2 weeks before I graduate. But I am thinking will I as a foreign student be allowed to work on a temporary license? Anything you know about temp. licenses? Thanks. :monkeydance:
Thanks for the reply. I am really not getting many people esp. hospitals to sponsor the petition for me and absolutely need one done for me soon (not to be stuck in the retrogression). The contract termination fee is $12K. If at all things get too unbearable, I will walk away by paying this penalty. Only thing that you mentioned and that scares me is that if you sign a contart then they could send you or reassign you to any facility affiliated to the company if they fall short on people on that location. Same thing for the shift hours as well. The contarct includes statements to mention this stuff.
Are things like this true ? Do these nursing home people do that once you sign a contract even though you are hired as a full time employee for and by one particular facility. Do you know if an individual has any say in getting the contract wording modified ? Any thoughts or opinion sharing would be highly appreciated. Thanks.
There is no retrogression. Do not put yourself into a contract that can ruin your life for the next few years. And they can also add on penalties to that $12,000 and I have seen them do it.
Do it at your own risk. If you sign that, there is nothing that I will be able to do to help you. And you never, ever sign a contract with the idea that you are going to break it. It just makes it harder for any other foreign nurses to get placement.
Thanks for the welcome! I am about to graduate at the end of July and am counting the days. My friends tell me that I need to go ahead and apply for my temporary Alabama license 2 weeks before I graduate. But I am thinking will I as a foreign student be allowed to work on a temporary license? Anything you know about temp. licenses? Thanks. :monkeydance:
That will be up the facility and your state. Do you have an OPT? If not, then the temporary license will not do you any good. The other issue is that you cannot begin the immigration process until you have actually passed the NCLEX exam. I would focus more on that, than the tempoary license.
You will need to have a visa that will permit you to work, or the OPT. Without it, you cannot do a thing.
i have been offered Job and my hospital is abt 70% sure about filing a petition and they seem to be confused abt my status.. as i worked there on CPT...and i told them that i will get my attorney.. then they refused and insisted..that they will work thru their own attorney.., who according to me knws a few things abt this matter... so wat would be my next step.. i have a meeting wid the VP of HR...and i get my OPT in end of july..
I am in talks with a hospital about working for them. Things look optimistic but the recruiter is not very familiar with the process of hiring a foreign nurse. They are aware that I graduated from a US nursing school. What they really want to know is how far they are going to be involved in my Green card process.
I am quite unsure myself and was wondering if anyone could give me an idea on how much involvement the hospital would be looking at?
suzanne4, RN
26,410 Posts
1. You do nto need an immigration attorney in the area where you are.
You are much better off finding one that is more familiar with foreign-trsained nurses and specializes in that. There are different requirements for nurses, and they get fast-tracked. Just like there are different types of doctors or nurses, immigration attorneys can also specialize.
2. As soon as you take and pass the NCLEX exam, you can get the AOS filed on your behalf. You do not need to wait the 90 days, as you have already been in the US for more than that. Once the petition is sumbitted, then that takes over in place of your tourist visa.
3. I would concentrate on getting a hospital lined up for when you need it.
4. Not sure if your facility realizes that they have much less paperwork for an RN, than a physician? The attorney actually does almost everything, and the facility only needs to complete about two documents? Most are unaware of that.
5. And since you are on a student visa, you can convert that to a tourist visa, but you cannot extend the student visa if you are no longer in school, if you need to. You just never want to extend a sixth month tourist visa. Most of them are getting denied. You should be just fine.