More information about H1B for nurses

[lawrence01]

1) nurses in the philippines hear that they can get visas to the u.s.a. without the visascreen certificate, the cgfns exam or a state license. for the sum of $7000 to $10,000 u.s. dollars, they apply for and receive h-1b visas, which allow them to enter the usa for three years. with the retrogression of immigrant visas, this method of entering the usa will be even more popular. generally, an r.n. does not qualify for an h-1b visa because professional nurse is not a specialty occupation.

how closely does the consular officer look at the h-1bs being issued to applicants who have bsn degrees when the job requires a bsn degree but the job is not for a professional or registered nurse? i regularly see nurses who entered on h-1b visas, began working as a nurse immediately and never worked as a "patient educator", "rehabilitation specialist", or other of the 17 job descriptions i have seen which qualified the nurse for an h-1b visa. i do not do these visas because i think they are fraudulent but there are so many issued that it makes me wonder.

the niv chief offered that, we do not issue h1b visas to nurses unless they have a visascreen certificate, and appropriate state licensing. we return petitions to dhs when we find that nurses are attempting to obtain h1bs calling themselves "research assistants", "health care administrators", and the other specialized and creative job descriptions seen on petitions when in fact they are generalist registered nurses.

*reference: http://www.ilw.com/articles/2005,0203-boecker.shtm

2) the h1b professional category is used for "specialty occupations," positions for which a bachelor's (or higher) degree, or the equivalent, is the minimum requirement for entry into the professional position.

while registered [nurses (rns) are generally considered to be professionals, rns have had difficulty in qualifying for the h-1b status because most rn positions do not necessarily require a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent.

generally most rns are qualified to work based on having merely completed an associate (2 year) degree program or a hospital diploma program. only for certain specialized types of nursing, for example intensive care, is the bachelor's degree the minimum requirement. however, most rn positions apparently do not require a bachelor's degree as the minimum for working in the field.

*reference:

www.murthy.com

3) previous thread regarding what happened on the recent h1b filing in april, 2007, see:

https://allnurses.com/forums/f75/h1b-visa-216128.html

4) other previous references about h1b that can be found in our int'l forum:

https://allnurses.com/forums/f75/can-hospital-sponsor-nurse-educator-h1b-214407.html

5) memos and other documents from uscis regarding h1b for nurses:

http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/nursememo_112702.pdf

http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/eib19.pdf

*decided to make a thread about it for accessibility and to update everyone esp. since many are still being told to undergo these visas and some not knowing fully that it is actually fraudulent to mis-represent that one is a specialist just to be able to file for h1b and basically a lottery process now (read what happened last april, 2007). that's what happened last april and it would be the same for next april since it will be the same amount of visas (65,000) that would be made available. you can only file for it only every april of the year as well and once exhausted (exhausted in just 1 day last april, 2007) you can't file for it until next year again.

[suzanne4, RN]

And any type of temporary visa to work in the US as an RN, even in any capacity, requires the Visa Screen Certificate be submitted right along with the petition.

This is the same requirement for those that are attempting to get approval under the H1-C; as well as the treaty visas from Mexico, Canada, and Australia. Immigration will not even look at the visa until the VSC is submitted.

We keep seeing people post about their agency is going to submit them under the H1-B, and that they have not passed the English exams or even have taken the NCLEX exam. Please be aware that the agency is bringing you to the US as unskilled labor, and falsifying documents like that can get you deported for ten years. Especially when trying to do something in the health care field.

Pleae be extremely careful when trying to take a shortvcut to get to the US, and this goes for those programs where they bring you here on the F-1 and tell you that you can work right away. In fact, you cannot. Most are doing things illegally, and if you get caught, you are forced out of the US for ten years.

[Nuieve]

Just to make sure I don't miss anything, do your posts mean there's actually a way for an ordinary RN to get a work visa?

[lawrence01]

Just to make sure I don't miss anything, do your posts mean there's actually a way for an ordinary RN to get a work visa?

Yes, but as you read the 1st reference thoroughly some lawyers mis-represent their clients to be "Patient Educators", "Rehabilitation Specialists", "RESEARCH ASSISTANTS", "HEALTH CARE ADMINISTRATORS, etc... but in reality are just generalist nurses and it is considered fraud. That is why majority of lawyers such as the author of my 1st reference do not do the H1Bs for nurses and it is extremely to difficult for a nurse to get an H1B from the start. Add in the fact that applying for H1B now is like going for a lottery (read the 3rd reference to know why). It is the H1B that is being used by the IT workers coming from India and there are thousands of them, more so that the 65,000 H1B visas allocated per year is used up only after a day of filing (April, 2007). Odds of being rejected is higher than being accepted and if by luck or chance one's application is accepted, it is not automatic that the applicant's application will be approved as when they see that it is for a nurse the officers usually returns it as they already suspect that it may be fraudulent (see the 1st reference).

So, as you see H1B is only for specialist nurses and even real specialist nurses may not anymore even file for one since H1B is so limited compared to the sheer number of applicants and esp. on what happened last April, 2007.

Not a wise choice for someone that can go to green card directly. The IT workers have no choice, that's the only way for them to go to US initially. Once in the US on H1B, they can decide to adjust it to being a green card holder but I tell you if they can go directly for green card that will be their preference.