Any Filipino Nurse here that is currently working in Calif?? Work on tourist visa?

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I need your help. I am about to go to the US to take my Vermont NCLEX. If I pass that exam, i am planning to apply for endorsement in California and one I know that one of their requirements is the SSN. Can I apply for a SSN even if I only have a tourist visa? If yes, how am I going to do this? My next question is, is any hopital in California that accepts an applicant even if his status is just tourist? If yes, how am i going to do this? Pls clarify my 2 concerns. thank you so much..

I still have 6 yrs remaining in my visa so i think i would just take my chances there. I am very confident that the US Congress would pass the law granting additional visa for foreign RNs anytime soon. this is not a false hope. i am basing this on the fact that US lacks a lot of RN according to the news that I have just read.

I know that working on a tourist status is illegal. But, what if there is an employer who wants to petition me or there is an immigration lawyer that helps me change my status form tourist to working visa. Will that still be illegal? I don't thnik so.

Very wrong thought, your tourist visa is only good for the dates that are stamped on the I-94 when you arrive, never more than 180 days on a tourist visa. Your visa also does not permit automatic admission to the US, take a look at the visa.

And yes, US immigration has been a hold on all AOS and EAD petitions for nurses right now, so there is no way that anyone can file anything legally for you.

Does not matter who wants to employ you, but you will need to be in the US for five months before you could be working legally in the first place iuf there were visas available. Your choice as to what todo, but when you get deported, please do not ask for help here.

What you are wanting to do is 100% illegal and could vlock you from ever working in the US, first you would not have a SSN# and you would not have a license, those two things will get you permanently disbarred from the US.

Just something to think about.

Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.
I am very confident that the US Congress would pass the law granting additional vis a for foreign RNs anytime soon. this is not a false hope. i am basing this on the fact that US lacks a lot of RN according to the news that I have just read.

Your news is incorrect. There are plenty of licensed RNs in the USA, just not enough actually working as nurses here. There are actually more licensed capable nurses not working than the USA is short.

As far as trying to take "shortcuts"to working in the USA, please do not do that. Everyone that tries to skip the process, endangers the possibilities of others immigrating legitimately , and makes your countrymen look untrustworthy and dishonest. Do you really want to pass on the perception, that you are willing to break the law, yet somehow we are to trust your word that you will be an honorable resident/nurse?

Specializes in Medical-Surgical.

:yeahthat:

Your news is incorrect. There are plenty of licensed RNs in the USA, just not enough actually working as nurses here. There are actually more licensed capable nurses not working than the USA is short.

As far as trying to take "shortcuts"to working in the USA, please do not do that. Everyone that tries to skip the process, endangers the possibilities of others immigrating legitimately , and makes your countrymen look untrustworthy and dishonest. Do you really want to pass on the perception, that you are willing to break the law, yet somehow we are to trust your word that you will be an honorable resident/nurse?

What if I find a good immigration lawyer? Could he adjust my status? Does the retrogression apply for nurses only? If this is so, I wont apply as a nurse so i could still get my tourist visa adjusted to working.

Specializes in Palliative Care, NICU/NNP.
What if I find a good immigration lawyer? Could he adjust my status? Does the retrogression apply for nurses only? If this is so, I wont apply as a nurse so i could still get my tourist visa adjusted to working.

All the threads that are posted about how to work here and do it illegally, or numerous moderators explaining the situation to you and you then ask the above question makes me have a really bad feeling towards those of you not listening to what is told to you.

Different threads asking for where to make the most money, who will pay my way, who will sponsor me, how can I get around the law makes me think very little of you as professionals.

What if I find a good immigration lawyer? Could he adjust my status? Does the retrogression apply for nurses only? If this is so, I wont apply as a nurse so i could still get my tourist visa adjusted to working.

The immigration attorney can do nothing for you without an employer. That is needed to adjust your status. And right now all is on hold for nurses.

You need to have an employer in any case to adjust a visa, it is not just done because you want it. And be aware that with a temporary work permit in another area, you will not be paid the same as an American, nor will you be getting enough pay to live comfortably in CA. And to take a joa as an RN under the table will also get you deported.

They are seriously cracking down on that, the immigration detention facilites in CA are fully packed right now. And a temporary work permit gives you no special anything, break one law and you will be on a plane back home and never permitted to enter the US again. After spending four years going to school to become an RN, how could you face your family?

You have asked for out opinion and we have given it. You are free to do as you please with the information, but if you get picked up by an ICE agent, telling them that you did not know will not help you. They will tell you that it was your responsibility to know what you can do and not do. And that will be as they wave good bye to you and you will have thrown away any chance of ever working in the US, and that is for ever.

hello! i was interested to answer this post as i know of a friend's daughter who passed the Phil NLE 2006 and went to the Calif on a tourist visa last Oct2006 to take the NCLEX last Dec 18 and passed. My friend told me this week that her daughter has found an employer in one of the Nursing homes in Bakersfield, CA who petitioned her as a nurse on a working visa. I could not believe it for myself coz I know of the present situation regarding the retrogression and the fact that she is just 3 months after she arived in the US.

My friend even told me the employer will reimbursed her NCLEX fees and her plane fare. She was made to sign a two year contract. I just can't imagine how they got this offer since she does not yet have a SSN, therefore CA BRN will not issue the license.

What kind of working visa is she having? I will ask my friend the name of the facility that has petitioned her daughter so quickly.

On my part, I have passed the NCLEX and was issued by CA BRN the license last Dec. 13, 2006 since I have a SSN since 1988. I am a B1/B2 visa holder but i will go the long process of being petitioned by an employer while I am here in the Phils. so the whole family can be petitioned in one time.

sorry for making this long.

Forgot to add in one very serious note: If your friend's daughter is working in the role of an RN but does not have a SSN#, and therefore a license to work as an RN in the US, she would also be considered working without a license, and that makes her subject to jail time, as well. And never being permitted to work in any state as an RN.

It is three months that they need to be in the US before a petition can even be submitted, and it could not be done until she had actually passed the NCLEX exam. So nothing has been done from that standpoint as the US government also has a freeze on that for all nurses. She is in an area that has frequent raids to the illegal population in that area, if any problem occurs at the facility, she will be taking the blame for it. Definitely not a smart move.

You can not work legally in the USA without a SSN.... that is part of the reason why they won't provide you with the RN license without the SSN. You must have employment authorization to get your SSN. None of the BON's are not going to give people licenses when they are not allowed to work.

You must not try to do this any other way than the legal way. As a professional RN you must have integrity and be honest in all that you do. If you are caught working illegally they just pick you up and take you to immigration. They will check to see what your status is, that just takes a few minutes (they are highly computerize now). If you get stopped for a traffic ticket and don't have a license, they will ask you questions and will run your name in the system. If you do anything and you end up interacting with the police they will check you out and you will be put in detention. If your here on a tourist visa, yes you will be deported if you overstay. You can't be adjusted if you over stay your visa. While they are waiting for documents you will be in immigration detention which is "prison" Some are even attached to federal prisions. There are people from all over there many have not been immunized and they are large rooms with bunk beds. Many do not shower or care about what happens to themselves. Many are very angry they were caught and they are going back to their home countries. You will be sent home and you might just pick up some illness in the process or get hurt. There are criminals in there. WHY... would you risk your future and be banned from working here. It is not worth it. You can try to find a hospital that is willing hire you when visa's are released. The catch is you will need to go home and come back.

Please listen to Suzanne and don't try to take short cuts or work illegally.

Immigration is doing sweeps and they are deporting many people and they will not listen to anything... They follow the rules and that is it... no stories you are expected to know what you can and can not do. They will not feel sorry or help you... they will follow the rules.

People that hire illegal immigrants will be nice when they tell you about the job, but they will not go to jail for hiring you. You will be the one held responsible for anything that goes wrong. If something happens to a patient and your working without a license, you could be charged criminally. DON't DO IT !!!!

It is not worth it, take your time and do it right. That way you have nothing to hide or worry about.

PS...

You are not allowed to work on a tourist visa... at all, there are no temporary employment visas.

Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

I think it is sad that you are not listening to all good advice given to you about not doing things illegally. At the end of the day you are making it harder for us that go through all the legal channels. Yes we would all love to go over straight away to work and live but we all understand that there is a proper way to do this which gives us a GC instead of another type of visa which would mean lose job leave the country. I feel honored to get this far

Forgot to add in one very serious note: If your friend's daughter is working in the role of an RN but does not have a SSN#, and therefore a license to work as an RN in the US, she would also be considered working without a license, and that makes her subject to jail time, as well. And never being permitted to work in any state as an RN.

It is three months that they need to be in the US before a petition can even be submitted, and it could not be done until she had actually passed the NCLEX exam. So nothing has been done from that standpoint as the US government also has a freeze on that for all nurses. She is in an area that has frequent raids to the illegal population in that area, if any problem occurs at the facility, she will be taking the blame for it. Definitely not a smart move.

yes, i believe in the legal way of doing things to work as a nurse in the US that's why, even if I have a tourist visa, I will still apply for immigrant visa as a nurse via petition while i am here in the phils.

i just can't advice my friend to just let her daughter go back home in the meantime coz his daughter has already passed the NCLEX RN last dec 18 and her tourist visa has already expired last Dec 15. she is on her 4th month in the US today.

Since everthing is on hold, she does not have authorization to work , no SSN and CA BRN did not issue her the license. But my friend feels this is the wisest thing to stay and work in the US. Her daughter is just being required to get a TIN in the meantime and she has started work last tuesday as a nurse (passing meds)in Bakersfield, CA. maybe the facility is really in dire need of nurses even without experience since she just graduated last april 2006.

I hope they can read this forum so they may be enlightened. thanks so much suzanne for your valuable effort to make nursing a very resectable profession.

yes, i believe in the legal way of doing things to work as a nurse in the US that's why, even if I have a tourist visa, I will still apply for immigrant visa as a nurse via petition while i am here in the phils.

i just can't advice my friend to just let her daughter go back home in the meantime coz his daughter has already passed the NCLEX RN last dec 18 and her tourist visa has already expired last Dec 15. she is on her 4th month in the US today.

Since everthing is on hold, she does not have authorization to work , no SSN and CA BRN did not issue her the license. But my friend feels this is the wisest thing to stay and work in the US. Her daughter is just being required to get a TIN in the meantime and she has started work last tuesday as a nurse (passing meds)in Bakersfield, CA. maybe the facility is really in dire need of nurses even without experience since she just graduated last april 2006.

I hope they can read this forum so they may be enlightened. thanks so much suzanne for your valuable effort to make nursing a very resectable profession.

It's very scary that your friend lets her daughter do that, esp. that now we know that she was out of status already before she even got the NCLEX results and in Bakersfield to boot.

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