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.
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Don't know what you mean by your response. I was asking Suzanne a question in connection with something she had said in a previous post and that I had responded to and she answered. So I was seeking clarification. I am still in school, graduating in December and starting OPT in Feb '08. I am preparing myself and trying to make sense of everything in case I don't get change of status by the end of my OPT in Feb '09. So I am not sure I understand your reply about AOS in July/August? If you read back some posts you may understand my question better.
If you are not starting your OPT until Feb 08 then no one can predict what will happen but be prepared for retrogression lasting a while. The only thing you can do is continue watching to what happens and if a window should reopen make sure you are ready to file, but after last fiasco I doubt a window will open soon.
If you are not starting your OPT until Feb 08 then no one can predict what will happen but be prepared for retrogression lasting a while. The only thing you can do is continue watching to what happens and if a window should reopen make sure you are ready to file, but after last fiasco I doubt a window will open soon.
I guess my question was, if I do have to go back for MSN at the end of my OPT without change of status, can I apply for working permission, would it CPT or what would it be? Since I will be an RN and I don't want to lose my skills, and it would be nice to be able to work even part time, does CPT apply at that level? This is what I was trying to get clarification for.
No one has ever gotten his/her green card automatically.
This is not true. One can work full-time on CPT.
It depends. If one applies for EAD and I-485 gets rejected, then one has to leave the country.
Back to the point. The above statement is inaccurate.
After reading your post here it seems to me that your responses are not correct and taking the posting apart line by line does not take into consideration the meaning of the entire posting. The forum is to provide people with information to help them not just to make oneself right and other wrong. The whole story needs to be taken into consideration and there are many varibles in most peoples lives, hence the reason for reading the whole story.
I do know that Suzannie is tryiing to provide reliable, accurate information to people as guidelines.. not as written in stone. Things change, but in all honesty this forum has the best information available. This is information comes from someone that has got a long history of working as a nurse in the USA and Internationally. She does consult with immigration attorney's and is well read. She is here providing information and guidelines as a volunteer as are the other moderators.
( THANK YOU to you all for an outstanding job) :balloons:
reading something on a website about immigration does not mean that it is correct.. many of the websites are not up date and sometimes the information is just not correct. Moderators are here to help you all.. and give you guidelines.. but ultimately we are all responsible for doing our own homework. Just like on the job.. you need to read and make the right decisions..
I hate to say this, but "it is not what you say but how you say it"
I do feel that developing this skill will carry you far in your career and enable you to be an outstanding RN ...
I guess my question was, if I do have to go back for MSN at the end of my OPT without change of status, can I apply for working permission, would it CPT or what would it be? Since I will be an RN and I don't want to lose my skills, and it would be nice to be able to work even part time, does CPT apply at that level? This is what I was trying to get clarification for.
While under the OPT, you are actually under the F-1 status; as the OPT is still considered student status for immigration purposes. The I-94 that is in your passport will have a date of D/S and that means last day of studies. You have 60 days after that date to remain in the country if you do not continue on with your studies, or are able to get the I-485 submitted on your behalf.
The OPT is not renewable, so you would have to follow the same protocol that was used to get the CPT during your basic training, it is done thru your school. But until the time that you actually have the CPT in hand, you will not be able to work after the OPT expires if there are no visas to adjust to.
I hate to say this, but "it is not what you say but how you say it" I do feel that developing this skill will carry you far in your career and enable you to be an outstanding RN ...
This is so true and not just for one's career but on every single endeavor that one chooses to do on one's lifetime.
Anna is correct in what she posted above, and the bigger issue is that the CPT time is subtracted from the one year that is available for the OPT. The CPT and the OPT is applied for thru the school, but the EAD in fact comes from USCIS, so they are in fact giving the final approval.
CPT time is not subtracted from OPT. There is no EAD card for CPT.
If you take the time to do some research here, you will find quite a few posters that have gone thru the CPT and OPT processes and have had only a limited number of months for the OPT; not the full one year because time was subtracted from when they used the CPT full-time during breaks and vacations, etc.
You are entitled to your opinion, and I am entitled to mine. And I have seen hundreds here with this same problem and then not being able to get a petitioner as they only had 6 to 8 months of OPT time because of working while in school.
The CPT requires documentation that the person can legally work and a document that can be taken to the Social Security Administration office to get a SSN#.
Hi, I have a question for Ms. Suzanne regarding F1 visa.... the scenario is my agency wants to process me via F1 visa, and they say I can work partime while studying for 41/2 years and then after that it is my employer's jurisdiction if they will sponsor me or not and if they will not sponsor me for a green card I have to go home in P.I. I don't have any opportunity to find other employer who is willing to petition me because it says on the contract. Is it true? and does F1 a better choice especially now that there is retrogression? Can I bring my family with me ( I'm married )? will I not going to have any difficulty bringing them financially having just an F1 visa? by the way, I already passed CGFNS, NCLEX-RN, IELTS and I already have a visa screen. I need your expertise regarding this matter because I'm quite confused on what to do? I don't want to make a decision that I will regret later. Hoping for your reply regarding this matter. And thank you for helping us and giving us information. We, foreign nurses really appreciate it.
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Hi, I have a question for Ms. Suzanne regarding F1 visa.... the scenario is my agency wants to process me via F1 visa, and they say I can work partime while studying for 41/2 years and then after that it is my employer's jurisdiction if they will sponsor me or not and if they will not sponsor me for a green card I have to go home in P.I. I don't have any opportunity to find other employer who is willing to petition me because it says on the contract. Is it true? and does F1 a better choice especially now that there is retrogression? Can I bring my family with me ( I'm married )? will I not going to have any difficulty bringing them financially having just an F1 visa? by the way, I already passed CGFNS, NCLEX-RN, IELTS and I already have a visa screen. I need your expertise regarding this matter because I'm quite confused on what to do? I don't want to make a decision that I will regret later. Hoping for your reply regarding this matter. And thank you for helping us and giving us information. We, foreign nurses really appreciate it.
Something tells me this is wrong of the agency. On a F1 visa you can only work 20 hours a week initially and that is if you are lucky to get permission, also takes a few months to get permission and first year can only work on campus. The agency is also stopping you from finding an employer if one employer is not willing to petition you. Also yes your family can join you but they can not work and you have to prov e financially that you can afford to have then with you. Here is a link on F1 http://www.workpermit.com/us/exchange_student.htm
I personally would look for a direct hire and go away from this agency, if they want you to study for 4 1/2 years then you may as well find somewhere else to work whilst waiting, also no telling on how long retrogression is going to last
hi suzanne4, I am an RN here in Illinois but I got my RN license originally in California. I am a graduate of BSN in the Philippines. My question is, can I use my BSN here in the USA or should I go to a nursing school here to become a BSN.
i have asked questions before also. And have got enormous help from you. To short, I am currently in US in F1 status and I am trying to bring my wife who is a nurse to US as soon as possible.
By reading replies to my questions here i got to know that it will take MINIMUM 3 yrs for her to reach here through normal mode and start working. But i heard of an agency in india called "pinnacle" giving an advertisement that nurses (who have BSc(4yr course) in india) can reach here through student visa and can attend a 1 yr course in some university in Georgia. then they will conduct RN during the course itself and she has to work in their hospital for 2 yrs. But they r also specifying that there is no bond n she can change the job if she wants. the tolal cost is 14500$ including tutiion fees, accomodation and food for 1 yr.
but i read in your post that there is no H1 visa available for nurses and everybody has to go thru the procedure of greencard. And it will take a lot of time for getting the greencard coz of rretrogression nowadays. Then does it mean that this agency is not sayin the truth?
do you happen to know anything about this course in university in georgia or anything else that i shud know abt studying here and work as a nurse afterwards??
Silverdragon102, BSN
1 Article; 39,477 Posts
If you are not starting your OPT until Feb 08 then no one can predict what will happen but be prepared for retrogression lasting a while. The only thing you can do is continue watching to what happens and if a window should reopen make sure you are ready to file, but after last fiasco I doubt a window will open soon.