Is it possible for Canadian LPN's to work in the US?

suebird3 · Apr 8, 2006

Hi! I moved your post to a Forum where it can get more exposure. Hope it helps.

Suebird

fergus51 · Apr 9, 2006

You could probably get lisenced, but the real problem would be immigration. You don't qualify for NAFTA as an LPN. Are you by any chance already an American citizen or about to marry one?

suzanne4, RN · Apr 9, 2006

If you are single and Canadian, NO. You can get a license, but you will not be able to get a visa that permits you to work. You need the RN after you name to qualify for immigration.

Only way around that is if you are married to an American, or a green card holder.

Sorry, but there is no other way.

Roy Fokker, BSN, RN · Apr 10, 2006

If you are single and Canadian, NO. You can get a license, but you will not be able to get a visa that permits you to work. You need the RN after you name to qualify for immigration.
Only way around that is if you are married to an American, or a green card holder.
Sorry, but there is no other way.

Even if you live close to the border and didn't reside in the US - just hopped over the border to work everyday? :eek:

Even then?

suzanne4, RN · Apr 10, 2006

The issue is getting a visa that will permit you to work. Canada is still a separate country, and you need to obtain a visa to work in the US.

The LPN license is considered by immigration to be a technical job, not the same as the RN in their eyes.

As a Canadian passport holder, the nurse that has an RN can get a NAFTA TN Visa, which means just having a letter from an employer and a Visa Screen Certificate in hand. And presto, they are issued a visa at the border. But you need a Visa Screen Certificate to do this, and it is not issued to LPNs, only the RNs.

It is much easier to live in the US, then get a visa to work in the US.

Tracy096 · Apr 10, 2006

Wow, thank you so much. This has been really helpful! I was really going in circles trying to find out this information! I guess it's illegal for me to just pick up and move to the U.S. though?! It's too bad it's so hard.

suzanne4, RN · Apr 10, 2006

Lining in the US is not the issue, working in the US legally is.

Tracy096 · Apr 18, 2006

Lining in the US is not the issue, working in the US legally is.

I wish I had enough money to move without working for a while! I'm assuming it would still take a long time to get a working visa even if I did qualify?! Oh my, maybe someday...

summer06 · Jun 27, 2007

I'm new here. And i was from the philippines. I'm Practical Nursing student, next year probably be done with my schooling and planning to take the NCLEX exam hopefully i passed it caused i want to work anywhere in US. Is it possible ? what are the requirements..

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jun 27, 2007

I'm new here. And i was from the philippines. I'm Practical Nursing student, next year probably be done with my schooling and planning to take the NCLEX exam hopefully i passed it caused i want to work anywhere in US. Is it possible ? what are the requirements..

Sorry, but it's not possible to work as a foreign-educated nurse in the U.S. without having earned a bachelor of science degree in nursing. If you completed your practical nursing in the Philippines, you will NOT be able to work in the U.S. with your education. You will need to be educated at the baccalaureate level (bachelor of science in nursing) in order to legally work over in the U.S. American work visas are not given to foreign LPN graduates, only RNs who have earned a BSN degree.

suzanne4, RN · Jun 27, 2007

The LPN programs in the Philippines permit you to sit for the NCLEX-PN exam, but that does not give you a visa to work in the US and that is the problem. Will not give you a visa to work in Canada either.

Please take the time to look at the postings on this very same topic on the Philippine Forum.