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.
first of all, wow for your ambition. keep following your dream! i am a nursing student from ny, and i am graduating with BSN this May. i am in the same situation, F1 visa. i am not sure if i know enough about the entire process to answer your questions, but here is what i know:
1. a lot of master's programs require at least one year of nursing experience, so look into the school you want to appy to and see if this applies to you. if that is the case, you will have to do the OPT before you can get in the master's program.
2. i called up a lot of hospitals in ny, and they do not sponsor anyone right now. so i called up a nurse agency, and they told me that they can find me a job in phoenix, arizona. so, unless something else comes up, i might have to move to AZ. you said you are in ny, so start looking into hospitals that can sponsor you. my feeling is that you might end up with the same situation. but the good thing is moving to AZ is probably not too bad because the cost of living is 40% cheapter than ny, and the pay is only about 16% less. so...
3. i am from cambodia, and the last time i checked, the country where you come from does not do anything to speed up the process. unless you came from china or some other countries which could actually slow down the process. don't quote me, i am not too sure. but you can look it up on the internet.
4. lastly, don't worry too much right now, just focus on your studies first because you won't be graduating until 2009, and a lot can change in one year, maybe by then, you are lucky enough that the retrogression will end! :) and good luck on your school!
Hey Spring2002, which school are you graduating in? nAre you based in the city? What are your plans after graduation?:nuke:
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
At the moment even finding an agency or hospital to petition you there is no way you can stay in the US and work whilst waiting. Retrogression has been ongoing since Oct 2006 with no idea on how long it will last. All I140 does is submit application does not allow work or stay in the US whilst waiting. Things may change after the elections but will be a while and also things may change by the time you graduate and complete OPT
Canada do accept foreign nurses but you will have to go through the process once you have graduated and pass their exam which is only offered in Canada three times a year and would only suggest this if you are planning on living in Canada
Agencies may hire you, but they need to get you submitted and then accepted by a hospital, and that is where you are going to have problems. Many hospitals do not want to train someone and then have them leave because they can no longer work there.
Do not believe everything that you are being told, it is just not going to happen that way.
Finding a facility to hire one with the OPT is getting harder and harder and first preference is always going to go to those that they are familiar with in the first place.
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The retrogression will not end until all visas are current, and the number of applicants that are already in the pipeline far exceeds the number of visas that are issued per year. Even if the government adds in extra visas, it is still not going to end the retrogression, impossible to do at this time.
Hey Spring2002, which school are you graduating in? nAre you based in the city? What are your plans after graduation?:nuke:[/quo
I am going to graduate from Dominican College in new york. i have a lot of plans, the problem is a lot of them are not good. one plan is to go with an agency (but then i might not get the visa plus the agency pays about 1/2 of what an american nurse would get), my other plan is to look for hospitals that sponsor directly, but a lot of them do not do this anyone, and I don't know which ones will ! my third plan is to just get a job regardless of weather i can be sponsored and after my OPT expires, i will go back to school, the problem with that is i don't have the money to do that. my last option is to still get a job, then after my opt expires, i could go to another country, but then i know it is easier said than done. i know i am being very negative here, but there is nothing positive about the situation right now. i am very stressed out!
1. If an agency offers you 1/2 of what the American nurse gets, then you need to report them immediately. They cannot do that and it is against the law.
2. There is no visa that you can get at this time as there are none available and agencies do not offer visas, only the US federal government does.
3. It is going to be difficult to find a facility that will hire you with just the OPT, we have seen a significant decrease in that happening over the past year or so.
There are many that are in the same position as you, there was never any guarantee given by anyone that you would be able to remain in the US once you graduated. No job can be offered without the NCLEX-RN being passed either. Many make assumptions that they can stay, but that is not always the case.
There are other countries were you may find it easier to get a job to get you started with.
1. If an agency offers you 1/2 of what the American nurse gets, then you need to report them immediately. They cannot do that and it is against the law.
2. There is no visa that you can get at this time as there are none available and agencies do not offer visas, only the US federal government does.
3. It is going to be difficult to find a facility that will hire you with just the OPT, we have seen a significant decrease in that happening over the past year or so.
There are many that are in the same position as you, there was never any guarantee given by anyone that you would be able to remain in the US once you graduated. No job can be offered without the NCLEX-RN being passed either. Many make assumptions that they can stay, but that is not always the case.
There are other countries were you may find it easier to get a job to get you started with.
Best of luck to you.
Thanks, let me clarify what i meant. what happened was the agency sent me a contract to sign, and the contract says that the agency will pay me according to the U.S. department of labor's prevailing wage, and i looked up what the rate is for Arizona state and i calculated the take-home amount to be about 2200$/month which is 1/2 of what my friend gets in new york. i know that in general new york pays higher, but i never expect the prevailing wage according to US department of labor to be that low. So, the agency is really not doing anything wrong. but, i just think it is not very fair that they pay that low.
I also understand that they cannot give me a visa, what i meant was they could partition me for the visa and i also know it is probably better to go directly to the hospitals, but like you said, a lot of hospitals don't do this any more. So, does that mean the only choice i have is to take whatever the agency gives? very disappointed and frustrated. Thanks again very much for all your help.
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Thanks, let me clarify what i meant. what happened was the agency sent me a contract to sign, and the contract says that the agency will pay me according to the U.S. department of labor's prevailing wage, and i looked up what the rate is for Arizona state and i calculated the take-home amount to be about 2200$/month which is 1/2 of what my friend gets in new york. i know that in general new york pays higher, but i never expect the prevailing wage according to US department of labor to be that low. So, the agency is really not doing anything wrong. but, i just think it is not very fair that they pay that low.
I also understand that they cannot give me a visa, what i meant was they could partition me for the visa and i also know it is probably better to go directly to the hospitals, but like you said, a lot of hospitals don't do this any more. So, does that mean the only choice i have is to take whatever the agency gives? very disappointed and frustrated. Thanks again very much for all your help.
Some hospitals are doing direct hire but the same regardless on whether agency or direct there is a queue for visas and no way can you stay in the US and work whilst going through the process. The only way after OPT and retrogression is still ongoing is to stay as a student
Thanks, let me clarify what i meant. what happened was the agency sent me a contract to sign, and the contract says that the agency will pay me according to the U.S. department of labor's prevailing wage, and i looked up what the rate is for Arizona state and i calculated the take-home amount to be about 2200$/month which is 1/2 of what my friend gets in new york. i know that in general new york pays higher, but i never expect the prevailing wage according to US department of labor to be that low. So, the agency is really not doing anything wrong. but, i just think it is not very fair that they pay that low.
I also understand that they cannot give me a visa, what i meant was they could partition me for the visa and i also know it is probably better to go directly to the hospitals, but like you said, a lot of hospitals don't do this any more. So, does that mean the only choice i have is to take whatever the agency gives? very disappointed and frustrated. Thanks again very much for all your help.
Sorry, but prevailing wage and what someone takes home per month are two very different things. Salaries are higher in NY as a starting pay, new grads in NYC are in the $65,000 range. And you never go by the prevailing wage of a state, that differs signigicantly even in NYC from other parts of NY.
If there are no visas available, it does not matter is someone petitions you; the issue is that you cannot remain in the US if the US government is not accepting the I-485 petition. And if you wish to work in AZ, you do not go thru an agency where you are, but one from there. But if hospitals are not willing to hire, why in the world would they use an agency and pay them a fee of about $10,000? It makes no sense at all. Just because an agency signs you, it does not mean that a hospital is going to accept you.
We are just telling you how things are at this time and what we expect to be going on for sometime, it is up to you to decide what you are going to do with the information. But remember that you were the one that came here and stated that the agency offered you 1/2 of what they were paying Americans, and that turned out not to be the case at all, was it?
The final issue is that there are no visas and we do not expect things to open up for sometime, meaning that if you do not continue on as a student to keep your F-1 status, when the OPT is finished, you will be unable to remain in the US. You actually will have only 60 days from the final day of the OPT.
If there are no visas available, then no one can file anything that can keep you in the US when your training period is over. Highly recommend that you spend sometime reading on this forum and find out exactly what is going on with the retrogression.
I have been reading the forum and other sites almost every night for the past 7 months. I do understand the process and everything you explain, but maybe the way i wrote it is not clear. i do understand that the prevailing wage is different than what i am taking home, but i am just saying that the agency pays lower than a hospital would pay. sorry for the confusion.
hi suzzane, am currently in the lpn programme, will be graduating by dec 2008, i need to get a job, work for sometime and continue my education later, am interested in the lpn-bsn programme, but is it possible to get a sponsor as an lpn graduate
I have been reading the forum and other sites almost every night for the past 7 months. I do understand the process and everything you explain, but maybe the way i wrote it is not clear. i do understand that the prevailing wage is different than what i am taking home, but i am just saying that the agency pays lower than a hospital would pay. sorry for the confusion.
Sorry, but there are agencies that are paid by the facility and you are then an employee of the facility and that is the type of agency that you should be using. And as a new grad, it is usually hard to get placed by an agency when you are there employee other than in a nursing home. That is something that you need to be aware of as well, but I am sure that the agency did not tell you that.
I am only going by what you wrote, nothing that I am assuming.
I would take the time and do a Google or Yahoo search for the areas that you are interested in and then pull up a hospital list for that area and then contact them. That is the same thing that the agency does as well.
But you are going to need to do some of the research on this, and it is not going to be easy, whether thru an agency or as a direct hire.
Agencies can offer all that they want, but if they do not have shifts for you, then you do not get paid, and the receiving hospital is the one that ultimately pays.
hi suzzane, am currently in the lpn programme, will be graduating by dec 2008, i need to get a job, work for sometime and continue my education later, am interested in the lpn-bsn programme, but is it possible to get a sponsor as an lpn graduate
None whatsoever, there are no visas for the LPN in the US. If you are directly continuing on with your schooling, you may qualify for the OPT, but that depends on your school to begin with and if they offer it. But as an LPN just going into a facility, there just are not any visas for the LPN. We do not have a shortage of them in the US.
Be aware that if you continue on for the BSN, there is not a way to work thru that entire program, not going to happen with a student visa.
! my third plan is to just get a job regardless of weather i can be sponsored and after my OPT expires, i will go back to school, the problem with that is i don't have the money to do that. my last option is to still get a job, then after my opt expires, i could go to another country, but then i know it is easier said than done. i know i am being very negative here, but there is nothing positive about the situation right now. i am very stressed out!
mrmac-cheeso
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Hey Spring2002, which school are you graduating in? nAre you based in the city? What are your plans after graduation?:nuke: