Is the US already accepting foreign nurses?

dream'n, BSN, RN · Aug 30, 2015

I don't know the policies regarding this, but honestly I hope the US government is not importing foreign nurses at this time. We have a surplus of US nurses that can't find work right now in our country.

JustBeachyNurse, LPN · Aug 30, 2015

Not really. Same for Canada. Highly impacted areas such as CA & NY have up to 40% unemployment rate for nurses. There is no incentive for an employer to sponsor a new grad overseas applicant when there are dozens of US educated citizens & permanent residents locally trained applying for a job. It's extremely unlikely but not impossible. Nothing like it was 5-10 or more years ago.

Combine that with the challenges overseas educated nurses face when applying for a U.S. license (look at the nurse registration forum under world).

The current wait for an employment based visa for someone born in the Philippines (from the time the sponsorship application is accepted by USCIS) is over a decade. What employer is going to hold a job for 10+ years for a new grad? The other visa often sought requires a BSN and 5-10 years specialized experience and the employer must bear all costs.

Ultimately when it comes to nursing it is always recommended to train as a nurse in the country where you wish to live and work.

PinayUSA · Aug 30, 2015

I don't know the policies regarding this but honestly I hope the US government is not importing foreign nurses at this time. We have a surplus of US nurses that can't find work right now in our country.[/quote']
They are still importing nurses, I say blame on it on the employers for not hiring US citizens...

PinayUSA · Aug 30, 2015

Because it was in the news 2-3 years ago here in the Philippines that the US no longer accepts foreign nurses. I don't know if it's still the same thing now because I don't know where to get nurse news lol.
I'm thinking of studying Nursing soon so I want to know about this beforehand. Thank you.

I would look into IT study, that is where US is importing all the workers now of days. Pays better than nursing in USA.

Silverdragon102, BSN · Aug 30, 2015

Please only do nursing because it is what you want to do and not because you want to move to another country

JustBeachyNurse, LPN · Aug 30, 2015

I would look into IT study, that is where US is importing all the workers now of days. Pays better than nursing in USA.

Make certain it's the specialty in demand. There is little need for video game IT professionals and certain language programmers for example. IT security is high demand worldwide, whether healthcare or financial sector

trinitymaster · Aug 30, 2015

Please only do nursing because it is what you want to do and not because you want to move to another country

90% of Phillipino Nursing graduates are employed outside of their country. The USA once used them literally as slave labor. They would come over as indentured servants forced to work years for a company at half the market rate. There was a major suit brought about in Texas over the wage deflation caused by these nurses who were taken advantage of by the companies that "sponsored" them.