International nursing students in the US

World Immigration

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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.

Do not contact the facility until after you have passed the NCLEX exam, at least as far as them offering you a job. They want to see that. And currently, there are no visas, so there is no AOS that can be submitted.

Feel free to tell them that you are researching a few places, and wanted to check out what they have. Do not mention visa at this time.

Do not contact the facility until after you have passed the NCLEX exam, at least as far as them offering you a job. They want to see that. And currently, there are no visas, so there is no AOS that can be submitted.

Feel free to tell them that you are researching a few places, and wanted to check out what they have. Do not mention visa at this time.

Respected Suzanne,

Thank you very much for the reply. Now, i will wait until i will pass NCLEX exam. I talked to nurse recruiter she told me that they do not sponsor. I believe she assumed it a case of H1B.. i am not sure about it. Ms. Suzanne! what does a hospital have to do while filing the petition for GC for an employee?

I wonder why hospital are so hesitant to sponsor their employee?

What is the difference between sponsoring someone for work visa and filing the petition for GC?

Is it just because of the cost associated with it?

Sincerely,

R.S.

Sponsoring is for a temporary work visa and they are not doing that, and will always tell you know when you ask. Hospitals hated doing that, and it required a full-time staff of three to just handle all of the paperwork.

Significant difference in what is needed for petitioning, just a couple of documents that need to be provided to the immmigration attorney and they handle all of it. That is why I suggested that you do not even ask about that right now. Once you have passed the NCLEX exam, then you get set up with an immigration attorney before you do anything, and they will advise you or give you a letter as to what you need to get petitioned, and things usually can easily get done that way. But never talk to them about anything with immigration, until you are set and ready to do things. Remember that I told you just to ask about the position, and not ask about visas if you spoke to them. Not a good thing to do right now.

Sponsorship means that they own you. And there are many hospitals where the nurses are unionized and those facilities do not permit a temporary visa for working there.

And as I keep stating, have not seen one nurse in the past three years get approval for the H1-B visa as a hospital staff nurse. It just is not happening. They are not available for nurses.

They are also bad news for nurses.

And as I keep stating, have not seen one nurse in the past three years get approval for the H1-B visa as a hospital staff nurse. It just is not happening. They are not available for nurses.

They are also bad news for nurses.

Respected Suzanne!

Thank you very much for reply. Now i will concentrate on the last semester of nursing and remain focused on school and reviewing NCLEX books. At the same time i will try to keep eyes on new opening in the hospitals in Birmingham and Las Vegas.

In the application form, i also noticed that there was a question

"Are you legally eligible for employement in the United States?"

yes or no

Since i am in F1 visa and do not hold work permit now. Does that mean i should mention "NO" to that question. Doesn't it make them back off from such job applicant?

Ms Suzanne! my another option is Las Vegas. I am trying to find hospitals that offer baylor plan. I would also apprciate if you recommend few names of the hospital that do petition for GC to international student like me in Las Vegas. Please do not hesitate to PM me if you have any names.

I also looked at EB2 visa as you mentioned in one of the previous thread. One of the criteria mentioned for this type of visa is a work experience of 5 years. And , i certainly do not have that. EB2 visa will be completely different story to me. And with Baylor plan, nursing job will be ideal placement for me. I am hoping retrogression will end soon and every thing will fall on the right places.

One more question about visa screen. Am i responsible to apply for visa screen or i should be doing it with the help of my attorney?

How long does it take normally to get work permit once we file for it? I am sure whichever hospitals want to offer me the job would definately want to know the time frame they would be expecting to see me working on the floor.

Once again, thank you very much for your guidance.

Sincerely,

R.S.

Respected Suzanne!

Thank you very much for reply. Now i will concentrate on the last semester of nursing and remain focused on school and reviewing NCLEX books. At the same time i will try to keep eyes on new opening in the hospitals in Birmingham and Las Vegas.

In the application form, i also noticed that there was a question

"Are you legally eligible for employement in the United States?"

yes or no

Since i am in F1 visa and do not hold work permit now. Does that mean i should mention "NO" to that question. Doesn't it make them back off from such job applicant?

Ms Suzanne! my another option is Las Vegas. I am trying to find hospitals that offer baylor plan. I would also apprciate if you recommend few names of the hospital that do petition for GC to international student like me in Las Vegas. Please do not hesitate to PM me if you have any names.

I also looked at EB2 visa as you mentioned in one of the previous thread. One of the criteria mentioned for this type of visa is a work experience of 5 years. And , i certainly do not have that. EB2 visa will be completely different story to me. And with Baylor plan, nursing job will be ideal placement for me. I am hoping retrogression will end soon and every thing will fall on the right places.

One more question about visa screen. Am i responsible to apply for visa screen or i should be doing it with the help of my attorney?

How long does it take normally to get work permit once we file for it? I am sure whichever hospitals want to offer me the job would definately want to know the time frame they would be expecting to see me working on the floor.

Once again, thank you very much for your guidance.

Sincerely,

R.S.

This is why I am telling you not to do a thing with any application where you have to do anything with that right now. And the VSC is something that you do, it is done via CGFNS/ICHP and you can find the application on their website at www.cgfns.org

You do not get a work permit, that is a temporary visa, so erase that word from your vocabulary. You will be getting the EAD, which is an employee authorization document and that permits you to work, but is not a work permit in the other sense of it.

Usually it is about two months before you would be ready to work, once the petitions are submitted. And that means that the I-485 is also being accepted at that time. Not all facilities require that the nurse start then.

Please take things one step at a time, or it will turn and get you. And you will not be able to reverse some of the actions.

With the EB-2, and if you went thru Consular Processing, you would also hold the PharmD. That alone gets you into that category. But again, do not focus on any of that until you get the NCLEX done and passed. The VSC is currently not required to be submitted when the petition is started, of you can wait until you get that. But please, do not speak to anymore facilities until you have passed the NCLEX exam or you are automatically going to get "No" as an answer. Plus there are no visas currently available, so that adds in to the "No" also.

Trust me.

Can You Help Me. Please Guide Me Through This. I Am An International Nurse But I Was Trained Here. Just Passed My Nclex For Nj. Willing To Relocate To Other States. I Have O.p.t For 1 Year That Starts This May. I Am Seeking Employment With An Institution Taht Provides Sponsorship But Cant Find Any. I Tried Many Agencies Taht Advertized To Recruit Foreign Nurses But Most Of Them Tell Me Different Things When I Contact Them.. I Would Be Happy To Benefit From Relocation And Sign On Bonus. I Am Willing To Sign A 2year Contract. Do You Know Any Agency. I Am On An F1 Visa. Please Help Me. I Thank You

hello suzanne,

i am in desperate need of help right now. i am in F1 student visa. i have an externship offer from a hospital for this summer. but my DSO(Designated School Official) says that unless i don't get a credit for the externship(CPT), she won't be able to let me start the work. I talked to all my nursing faculties and curriculum committee and they say that they cannot award me a credit for the externship. The reason they have provided is that since it would be a 1 credit independant study course, there need to be a faculty involved. Since, i would be working in the hospital independantly(supervised by hospital nurses), the faculty cannot be there to supervise me. They are saying that by letting me work for a credit may jeopardize the faculty's nursing educator liscense.

i just don't understand..... iwould be working under the hospital and their staff and they are willing to take all the liablities that come with the hire, how would it affect the faculty's liscense?

i am so desperate right now. i worked hard to find that externship and now...they cannot do it!

can i do anything about it? i don't want to give up without a fight.

any suggestions?

-desperate saninani

Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Can You Help Me. Please Guide Me Through This. I Am An International Nurse But I Was Trained Here. Just Passed My Nclex For Nj. Willing To Relocate To Other States. I Have O.p.t For 1 Year That Starts This May. I Am Seeking Employment With An Institution Taht Provides Sponsorship But Cant Find Any. I Tried Many Agencies Taht Advertized To Recruit Foreign Nurses But Most Of Them Tell Me Different Things When I Contact Them.. I Would Be Happy To Benefit From Relocation And Sign On Bonus. I Am Willing To Sign A 2year Contract. Do You Know Any Agency. I Am On An F1 Visa. Please Help Me. I Thank You

Hi

At the moment with retogression you will find a lot of hospitals are not recruiting but if you are using the word sponcership instead of petition that will be where you are finding problems. Try rewording it to petition but also I would concentrate on getting a job with your OPT as you can't do anything really at the moment for GC until retrogression is sorted. Would suggest having a good read on here as there are plenty of comments about it

Can I also suggest not putting a capital letter at the beginning of each word as it makes hard reading

hello suzanne,

i am in desperate need of help right now. i am in F1 student visa. i have an externship offer from a hospital for this summer. but my DSO(Designated School Official) says that unless i don't get a credit for the externship(CPT), she won't be able to let me start the work. I talked to all my nursing faculties and curriculum committee and they say that they cannot award me a credit for the externship. The reason they have provided is that since it would be a 1 credit independant study course, there need to be a faculty involved. Since, i would be working in the hospital independantly(supervised by hospital nurses), the faculty cannot be there to supervise me. They are saying that by letting me work for a credit may jeopardize the faculty's nursing educator liscense.

i just don't understand..... iwould be working under the hospital and their staff and they are willing to take all the liablities that come with the hire, how would it affect the faculty's liscense?

i am so desperate right now. i worked hard to find that externship and now...they cannot do it!

can i do anything about it? i don't want to give up without a fight.

any suggestions?

-desperate saninani

CPT is actually more restricted than the OPT. Your school is the one that is sponsoring you for this, so you need to follow what they want you to do. They are in control 100% for the CPT.

Hello Suzanne,

I got a hospital here that decided to petition for me.I just sent my documents to the lawyer.Its the retrogression over?what is the process now?I was surprised that they agreed to?The recruiter also told me that they petition all the time.I dont graduate till Aug 07 and they have started the process already.

Hello Suzanne,

I got a hospital here that decided to petition for me.I just sent my documents to the lawyer.Its the retrogression over?what is the process now?I was surprised that they agreed to?The recruiter also told me that they petition all the time.I dont graduate till Aug 07 and they have started the process already.

Sorry, but they are not starting the process right now. You have to have passed the NCLEX-RN exam and have that documented in writing from a Board of Nursing before they can even submit for the I-140. And yes, there is a retrogression in place right now, which means that no Adjustment of Status can be filed on your behalf, nor getting an EAD because of the AOS processing. We do not expect Adjustment of Status to be able to be filed before November of this year at the very earliest.

The only way that you are going to be able to work is if you are under the F-1 visa and qualify for the OPT. Otherwise there is nothing that you can do until visas are available, and that means that you would need to continue on with your studies if you wish to remain in the US.

The lawyer may be preparing your papers, but they cannot be submitted until you are actually an RN in this country. No way can they be submitted if you have not completed your schooling and have passed the NCLEX-RN exam. Guess they left that part out.

Please read the sticky at the top of this forum called the "Primer."

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