visa screen certificate

suzanne4, RN · Jan 23, 2005

Dear Suzanne4,
We are really happy that you guys are replying back to my post. We are very much gifted that some people we did not even know have time to guide us in our quest for better opportunities away from our country.
We quess we have to really slowdown a little bit. About those English examinations. We are planning to take IELTS examinations this coming April. Right now we are reviewing for the June local board examination and we are enrolled at Kaplan for NCLEX review. Would you suggest IELTS or TOEFL for Visa Screen Certificate?
Again, thank you guys for the reply. You are all angels to us.
John and Mariel

Right now I recommend the IELTS series. It is only one charge, about $125 US and you get everything done in one day. With the TOEFL, you pay $125 and get TOEFL plus TWE on the same day. You need to pay an additional $125 for the TSE part and there has been about a 90 day wait in the past for it.

ETS, which does the TOEFL exam is in the process of revamping their entire program. It will be one exam but not available until around September, 2005. I do not know what the fee is going to be for it.

Right now, for what I have been hearing from my students and others, the IELTS has a much easier speaking section as you are actually tested by a human and not a tape recorder listening to a tape.

Hope that this helps.............. :balloons:

carvanaragon · Jan 23, 2005

dear john and mariel,

my e mail add is [email protected]. i come from baguio.

i just took ielts yesterday at san diego, california. it was not really very difficult as was presented to me. the only portion which was a little nakakaloka was the reading part but it was ok though. it cost me 140 US $. i met at the exam center 2 filipino mdrns, a derma from manila, a pediatrician (FEU grad) from nueva ecija. we all had the same experience. relatively the ielts exam was not that tough. suzanne is right take the ielts, it is cheaper and the interview is conducted by a person and not a recorded one.

i did not apply through an agency. i did all the stuff myself with the help of my very supportive husband who was so willing to drive me wherever i need to go. i dont drive here as i dont have a drivers license yet. i did a lot of reading especially the USCIS policies. Suzanne was a great help to me as she guided me all the way. She is really very helpfull i wish to meet her someday and personally give her my thanks.

i had the help of a lady lawyer here too who is a bicolana. she is a very smart and cool lawyer. she works really fast. she did all the paperworks and represented me to the USCIS.

you can start filing for your application for nclex examinations once your transcripts are available.

you can email me anytime. get the email address of suzanne too. she is very knowledgeable about the processes. i am only limited to the process i had undergone but i will tell you everything i know and everything i did. goodluck to your upcoming exams.

vangie

suzanne4, RN · Jan 23, 2005

dear john and mariel,
my e mail add is [email protected]. i come from baguio.
i just took ielts yesterday at san diego, california. it was not really very difficult as was presented to me. the only portion which was a little nakakaloka was the reading part but it was ok though. it cost me 140 US $. i met at the exam center 2 filipino mdrns, a derma from manila, a pediatrician (FEU grad) from nueva ecija. we all had the same experience. relatively the ielts exam was not that tough. suzanne is right take the ielts, it is cheaper and the interview is conducted by a person and not a recorded one.
i did not apply through an agency. i did all the stuff myself with the help of my very supportive husband who was so willing to drive me wherever i need to go. i dont drive here as i dont have a drivers license yet. i did a lot of reading especially the USCIS policies. Suzanne was a great help to me as she guided me all the way. She is really very helpfull i wish to meet her someday and personally give her my thanks.
i had the help of a lady lawyer here too who is a bicolana. she is a very smart and cool lawyer. she works really fast. she did all the paperworks and represented me to the USCIS.
you can start filing for your application for nclex examinations once your transcripts are available.
you can email me anytime. get the email address of suzanne too. she is very knowledgeable about the processes. i am only limited to the process i had undergone but i will tell you everything i know and everything i did. goodluck to your upcoming exams.
vangie

Thanks Vangie for the nice note. :balloons:

dunebug · Jan 23, 2005

Guys, I hate to be the bringer of bad news. Around mid-December last year, the State Department issued a visa bulletin announcing the retrogression of priority dates for Employment-Based Priority 3 visas or EB3, under which category nurses belong. According to said bulletin, starting Jan 1, 2005 the prioirty dates will be moved back to Jan. 1, 2002. Simply put, the USCIS will only process petitions submitted on or before Jan. 1, 2002. That's the reason why there was a mad rush for filing petitions before the end of the year.

The effect of this retrogression on your case is additional waiting time of 3 years on top of the normal processing time. On the other hand, we really need a lot of new nurses here in the US so a lot of groups are lobbying in congress to pass legislation that will provide a remedy to this shortage problem.

Petitions for immigrant status (I-140) are still being accepted by the USCIS, but they don't accept petitions for change of status (I-485) and petition for temporary work authorization (I-765) until the visas become available again. That means even if you come here on a tourist visa and pass the NCLEX-RN, you still cannot change your status or work legally. Everything the others said about the Visa Screen is correct.

I've been following these things because they're everything my Philippino friends ever talk about lately. Sorry..

Dear Carvanaragon,
Congratulations! That is really fast. We hope we can duplicate what you guys have done. From where are you? We are from Parañaque. We really want to communicate from you guys. What's your e_mail address? Mine is [email protected]. We need people like you to enlighten us from time to time. Lots of people give us ideas, but their's are not verified and misleading. We only need informations that are correct and verified to guide us. During those processing you undergone, have you ever use an agency to help you? What agency did you use? Would you suggest one?
Thanks and again congratulations.
John and Mariel

suzanne4, RN · Jan 24, 2005

Guys, I hate to be the bringer of bad news. Around mid-December last year, the State Department issued a visa bulletin announcing the retrogression of priority dates for Employment-Based Priority 3 visas or EB3, under which category nurses belong. According to said bulletin, starting Jan 1, 2005 the prioirty dates will be moved back to Jan. 1, 2002. Simply put, the USCIS will only process petitions submitted on or before Jan. 1, 2002. That's the reason why there was a mad rush for filing petitions before the end of the year.
The effect of this retrogression on your case is additional waiting time of 3 years on top of the normal processing time. On the other hand, we really need a lot of new nurses here in the US so a lot of groups are lobbying in congress to pass legislation that will provide a remedy to this shortage problem.
Petitions for immigrant status (I-140) are still being accepted by the USCIS, but they don't accept petitions for change of status (I-485) and petition for temporary work authorization (I-765) until the visas become available again. That means even if you come here on a tourist visa and pass the NCLEX-RN, you still cannot change your status or work legally. Everything the others said about the Visa Screen is correct.
I've been following these things because they're everything my Philippino friends ever talk about lately. Sorry..

Depends on the attorney and where they will be working as far as change in status.

The law went into effect very quickly and it can also be changed very quickly. Everyone is still encouraged to keep getting all of their things done and they will be ready for whenever they can come over.

carvanaragon · Jan 24, 2005

things had been said and done. we really do hope that legislations will be passed to loosen retrogression issues. while we are waiting for the things to be done if there will be, international nurses are advised to go on to accomplish all needed documents hopefully by the time their documents are complete, the processing time will already be current or remedies sought. with regards to our case, i know my papers are moving since i monitored on line that my check payments had already been encashed. i had already received notices (for I-140, I-485, I-765, I-131, and I-184) from USCIS with their working numbers on them. i was already sent a notice of schedule for fingerprinting at the department of justice from the USCIS. as a matter of policy, the USCIS would return application forms and payments for applications they would not process.

Guys, I hate to be the bringer of bad news. Around mid-December last year, the State Department issued a visa bulletin announcing the retrogression of priority dates for Employment-Based Priority 3 visas or EB3, under which category nurses belong. According to said bulletin, starting Jan 1, 2005 the prioirty dates will be moved back to Jan. 1, 2002. Simply put, the USCIS will only process petitions submitted on or before Jan. 1, 2002. That's the reason why there was a mad rush for filing petitions before the end of the year.
The effect of this retrogression on your case is additional waiting time of 3 years on top of the normal processing time. On the other hand, we really need a lot of new nurses here in the US so a lot of groups are lobbying in congress to pass legislation that will provide a remedy to this shortage problem.
Petitions for immigrant status (I-140) are still being accepted by the USCIS, but they don't accept petitions for change of status (I-485) and petition for temporary work authorization (I-765) until the visas become available again. That means even if you come here on a tourist visa and pass the NCLEX-RN, you still cannot change your status or work legally. Everything the others said about the Visa Screen is correct.
I've been following these things because they're everything my Philippino friends ever talk about lately. Sorry..

dunebug · Jan 24, 2005

What does this mean?

Depends on the attorney and where they will be working as far as change in status.