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.

I am graduating Nursing in dec 2009. I have student visa F1. How can I find thae hospitals willing to hire new grads and also to sponsor me for green card? Any ideas?

Thank you.

Please take the time to read about the retrogression that is currently in place and not expected to end anytime soon. If you qualify for the OPT, then you will get a document that will permit you to work for up to one year while still under the F-1 visa and it is called the EAD. It is not renewable and then there is going to be no way to be able to work full-time in the US.

Even if you find an employer willing to petition you, the fact remains that there are no visas available. So no I-485 can be filed. What degree are you actually going to be getting? ADN or the BSN.

Best of luck to you, I would focus on getting thru your studies first, and be closer to graduation. With things changing rather quickly, facilities that are even considering petitioning now may not be doing it next year. You are talking of not even graduating for at least 15 months.

Are you actually going to qualify for the OPT? You also need to be aware that no special consideration is given to those that have graduated from a school of nursing here in the US over those from out of the country.

Best of luck to you.

iloredana,

it'll be hard to find a hospital to petition you and dec 2009 is kinda critical because even if you could get one of the few remaining hospitals to sponsor you for an h1-c visa, i read somewhere on this board that they'll no longer be available at the end of 09 so by the time you'll take nclex, it'll be january and not be eligible.

just apply for OPT before you graduate and when you apply for OPT, make sure that you put the start date a little later after you graduate so you can allow yourself time to study for and pass the nclex. One of the things that hold people up for OPT is missing previous i-20's and in cases where people do pre-completion OPT, miscalculating the time left can delay processing because they'll send the documents back to you and you'll have to start all over again. But basically, applying for OPT isn't rocket science, it only allows a person to work in this country for a year so it's not a hard thing to get.

I wish you all the best.

H1-C visas require that the nurse possess a license for that specific state as well as a Visa Screen Certificate before they could even be submitted for it. Even though there are 14 facilities on the list, not all that are on it are currently employing nurses under that visa category. One also has to remember that there are only 500 visas under that status at any one time, and the requirement is also a BSN to even be considered for it as well.

The above poster never stated what degree that they are going for. The H1-C is also set to expire in 2010 and we do not see that they are going to be renewed, at least it is not expected at this point in time.

Hey everyone,

so If im getting my Associate degree in 2 years, which will be in 2010, there's no chance for me to apply for H1-C????!!! You have to have a BSN in order to be sponsored for a green card?

Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Hey everyone,

so If im getting my Associate degree in 2 years, which will be in 2010, there's no chance for me to apply for H1-C????!!! You have to have a BSN in order to be sponsored for a green card?

H1c is up for review in 2010 with nothing to indicate it will be approved. You can apply for GC with your ADN but if retrogression is still in progress then you will either have to stay as a student whilst going through the process or return home and go through the process. No one knows what will happen in the future but doubt retrogression will ever go away due to the high demand of visas

I spent countless number of hours reading the 91 pages of this discussion. I would like to thank suzzane and other moderators for being so patient and providing valuable information for same questions over and over again. We really appreciate your time and effort in giving us all those information.

I just passed NCLEX-RN and for a moment I was so happy I was crying but then it made no sense to me because of the situation we all are in. I am so hopeless and desperate that I've even thought of migrating to canada (I did do a good read on that forum too). Totally different story and doing it all over again!!!

Would this be a good time to apply for VSC? Or should I wait until I get hired? Even then, it would not make sense and $448 would be a waste of money if visas are not available by the time my OPT is over (Aug 2009). I am so tight on funds, and I am losing hope. For now, I want to get whatever job I can get and try to compensate for all the money I put into getting a BSN...my husband is on H1-B 3rd year and I am thinking of going on H4 once my OPT is over. Then probably pursue a master's degree, again this would not make any sense if visas are not going to be availabe...I dont know how it will work out then for H1B specialty for nurses...please kill me! SIGHHHHHHHHHH :cry:

I was thinking of calling some immigration lawyers this week but I guess I already know what they are going to tell me...

Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Congrats on passing NCLEX. There is no rush for your VSC. Just wondering if your hubby has any plans on getting his employer to support him for GC? Either way you do have a wait at the moment in front of you

HI there, I am an international nurse and need to take a med/surge class with clinicals , do you know where I can do that, please let me know.

Thanks

Hey everyone,

so If im getting my Associate degree in 2 years, which will be in 2010, there's no chance for me to apply for H1-C????!!! You have to have a BSN in order to be sponsored for a green card?

Both H1-B as well as the H1-C require that you have the BSN to even have a chance at the minimum requirements for them.

The only visa that is available for you is going to be the green card, but that is under a retrogression and we do not see that easing up anytime soon. You may qualify for the OPT for a year when you finish, but after that, there is going to be no way to remain in the US to work. You will have to continue as a full-time student to maintain your visa status.

Best of luck to you.

I spent countless number of hours reading the 91 pages of this discussion. I would like to thank suzzane and other moderators for being so patient and providing valuable information for same questions over and over again. We really appreciate your time and effort in giving us all those information.

I just passed NCLEX-RN and for a moment I was so happy I was crying but then it made no sense to me because of the situation we all are in. I am so hopeless and desperate that I've even thought of migrating to canada (I did do a good read on that forum too). Totally different story and doing it all over again!!!

Would this be a good time to apply for VSC? Or should I wait until I get hired? Even then, it would not make sense and $448 would be a waste of money if visas are not available by the time my OPT is over (Aug 2009). I am so tight on funds, and I am losing hope. For now, I want to get whatever job I can get and try to compensate for all the money I put into getting a BSN...my husband is on H1-B 3rd year and I am thinking of going on H4 once my OPT is over. Then probably pursue a master's degree, again this would not make any sense if visas are not going to be availabe...I dont know how it will work out then for H1B specialty for nurses...please kill me! SIGHHHHHHHHHH :cry:

I was thinking of calling some immigration lawyers this week but I guess I already know what they are going to tell me...

Glad to hear that you passed the NCLEX exam. And thank you for the lovely note as well.

There is not going to be anyway that visas are going to open up by next summer for the AOS, impossible for it to happen as there are 800,000 petitions that were submitted last summer for the I-485 and there are only 140,000 green cards total that are issued yearly.

As far as the MSN, it is also going to depend on what is your country of birth. For those from China and India, the wait for the EB-2 visa is also back five years from now or so as there are so many Masters' prepared professionals wanting the green card as well here from those two countries.

H1-B visas are quite limited as it is, and they are not offered all over. The bigger issue that I see in the future with them is that the employer is required to pay 100% of the costs of obtaining the visa and they are not permitted to have you pay for it or take the money from your pay later on; with the economy as bad as it is right now, and Americans having problems finding nursing jobs in many areas, it is going to be hard for them to be able to spend the funds for a foreign nurse for the visa. In order for them to even be able to submit someone for one, they have to provide proof that they were unable to hire an American nurse for that position.

I would hold off on the VSC at this time, since you trained in the US, they are ready in just a few weeks or so for you. But save the money for now.

Best of luck to you.

HI there, I am an international nurse and need to take a med/surge class with clinicals , do you know where I can do that, please let me know.

Thanks

I would check with some of the community colleges in your area. Did you actually get your credentials evaluated by a state BON or get the CES done and find out that you are needing hours? This is usually an area where one does not need to make up hours.

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