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..

janetmaniwan.

I will pray for your friend's daughter. What she is doing is illegal and I am afraid for her if she gets caught. I know so many people who have gotten caught in these type of situations and I feel so sorry for them.

She probably did not know better when she signed the papers as many agencies/ nursing homes do take advantage of people who are not up on the law.

I bet money she is being paid a ridiculously low wage! Suppose something bad happens to a patient in that NH! Gosh!

If she is trapped in a bad situation and cannot get out, please tell your friend NOT to tell folks about what her daughter is doing and to tell her daughter to not talk about this. There are many people who would turn her, especially in CA.

sorry guys. i think i am just desperate to go and find a job in the US right away. so could you pls advice me what to do. the LEGAL way? May i just ask you, if the the retrogression is lifted while i am still in the US, can i apply for a change of status, change my visa from tourist to working - find an employer & immigration lawyer? or is this still illegal?

I am not planning to work there illegally. I am just asking and clarifying some things because as far as we all know, there are many people who goes in the US as a tourist but entually work "under the table"

sorry guys. i think i am just desperate to go and find a job in the US right away. so could you pls advice me what to do. the LEGAL way? May i just ask you, if the the retrogression is lifted while i am still in the US, can i apply for a change of status, change my visa from tourist to working - find an employer & immigration lawyer? or is this still illegal?

I am not planning to work there illegally. I am just asking and clarifying some things because as far as we all know, there are many people who goes in the US as a tourist but entually work "under the table"

Adj. of Status (AOS) is a legal process but it can only be done if there are visas available (no retrogression). That's what we were trying to tell you. IF there is no retrogression you can do AOS and that is a legal process.

For nurses, you don't change status from tourist to working. Nurses change it to greencard or Legal Permanent Residence (LPR).

We were not telling you not to do AOS but we were telling you that it can't be filed during retrogression. That's the effect of retrogression - filing of AOS and EAD is put on hold as there are no visas to adjust status to.

What is illegal is 'working under the table' while still in tourist visa and since that no one is allowed to file AOS and EAD during retrogression then you can't work legally.

I recommend reading Suzanne's "Primer" and other stickies concerning immigration located above.

You also need the Visa Screen Certificate besides from passing the NCLEX.

Nothing can be filed as well w/o you passing the exam and this is w/ retro or not.

Know a lot of people who didn't apply for visa screen certificate and were forced to go back home because they couldn't provide one on time and need to go back to home to do all the paperworks from the Philippines.

Have you even applied for Initial licensure already to sit for NCLEX? Noticed that you were mentioning VT and NM so I am presumig that you're just about to apply for eligibility.

Also, just to add. EAD is just a temporary document (w/c is filed together w/ AOS) to legally permit you to work while waiting for your status to be adjusted and is good for 1 year. EAD is not another form of work visa and AOS is not an automatic thing either. There are still a lot of people who filed from last year whose AOS are still pending (because of retro) but are working just via EAD and some of those who filed AOS are not 100% sure that there petition to Adj. status will be approved. USCIS will still review their file and interview some of them, esp. those who filed in just less than 60 days of stay in the US. Those filing less than 60 days upon arrival in the US are strongly presumed to have immigration intent as their primary intent and has a high prob. that their request to adj. status will be denied that's why you will always be hearing people working the US for months or a year or so already but were forced to go back home. They will always say some excuses but that is one of the reason.

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.

just a thought... you mentioned that her tourist visa expired last dec. 15 right, but she is only on her 4th month there. i'm just curious... how many months was given to her by the homeland security upon her entry to the US, 'cause as far as i know - you don't necessarily have to follow the visa end date. upon your entry to the US they will determine how long you can stay in the US. usually they give tourists 6mos., so if she's just in her 4th mo. than she can still come back to the phils. and do things the legal way. i'm just telling you this, 'cause maybe you didn't want her to come back thinking that she's already staying there illegaly. BUT please check her passport first, for all I know they might've given her 3mos. or less to stay there... but like i've said usually they give you 6mos. to legally stay in the country as a tourist.

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.

Sorry, but your friend's daughter is practicing as a nurse in the US without a license and can get a jail sentence for that as well as never being able to work as an RN anywhere in the US for the rest of her life. CA BRN will not release her license without a SSN# and she cannot get one until she has a visa that she can legally work, and with an expired visa, she is only asking for trouble. In addition to immigration issues, she has now crossed the line with the CA BRN. Not a good thing.

She cannot get petitioned to work in the US, right now everything is on hold, so there is no way to get it submitted. Plus if her visa is overstayed, it could not be adjusted as it does not exist. Right now in Bakersfield, there are having immigration crackdowns, if she is in a car that gets pulled over for anything, she will be in San Pedro in immigration detention. And that is for months.................

Does not matter that the facility is short, what they are doing is 100% illegal, and in normal instances, it is the fastest area to lose a license in and if this facility has no care for her situation, then if a problem occurs, she is going to take the blame for it.

Please show this thread to your friend, or they will be visiting their daughter in a US jail.

She cannot work without a SSN#. Period. ITIN# does not permit someone to work. If you want, have her contact me here, before she gets deported or goes to jail. Her visa cannot be adjusted even if there were green cards available, and if there were, the nurse must be in the US for three months before a petition can even be submitted.......and she has not been here that long and it is five months before they can begin to work legally. She has already broken every law that there is.

just a thought... you mentioned that her tourist visa expired last dec. 15 right, but she is only on her 4th month there. i'm just curious... how many months was given to her by the homeland security upon her entry to the US, 'cause as far as i know - you don't necessarily have to follow the visa end date. upon your entry to the US they will determine how long you can stay in the US. usually they give tourists 6mos., so if she's just in her 4th mo. than she can still come back to the phils. and do things the legal way. i'm just telling you this, 'cause maybe you didn't want her to come back thinking that she's already staying there illegaly. BUT please check her passport first, for all I know they might've given her 3mos. or less to stay there... but like i've said usually they give you 6mos. to legally stay in the country as a tourist.

yes, she was given the usual 6mos at the airport immigration in LA. I am well aware of that since I have come to visit my sisters in LA every summer time ever since they migrated there and the usual stamp on my I094 card is 6 mos stay although we only stay there for 3-6 weeks the most.

back to my friend's daughter, her 5-year multiple entry visa was due to expire last Dec 15, 2006, that's why she intended to just stay there in the hope of finally getting a nursing job and obtaining an immigrant visa .

But things turned up the other way due to the present retrogression. Maybe when I meet my friend I will advise him to let her daughter to find an employer there in the US who can petition her while she goes back to the Phils and wait for the GC petition because she can't get also her visascreen since she was a June 2006 NLE passer.

thanks suzanne for your very sound advice. yes, I'll show this to my friend and tell him what's the proper and legal way to work as a nurse in the US.

Thanks!

Specializes in Medical-Surgical.

. I am just asking and clarifying some things because as far as we all know, there are many people who goes in the US as a tourist but entually work "under the table"

Yes, and for the rest of their lives, they are always looking behind their shoulders. At the same time, using fake SSN or real SNN of other persons in order to work, apply loans, etc contributing to the other increasing crime which is identity theft.

Specializes in Medical-Surgical.
yes, she was given the usual 6mos at the airport immigration in LA. I am well aware of that since I have come to visit my sisters in LA every summer time ever since they migrated there and the usual stamp on my I094 card is 6 mos stay although we only stay there for 3-6 weeks the most.

back to my friend's daughter, her 5-year multiple entry visa was due to expire last Dec 15, 2006, that's why she intended to just stay there in the hope of finally getting a nursing job and obtaining an immigrant visa .

But things turned up the other way due to the present retrogression. Maybe when I meet my friend I will advise him to let her daughter to find an employer there in the US who can petition her while she goes back to the Phils and wait for the GC petition because she can't get also her visascreen since she was a June 2006 NLE passer.

Since she overstayed, I think there is a 3 or 10 year banned for her, but it is better than having to live undocumented in the US.

Specializes in Medical-Surgical.
If she is trapped in a bad situation and cannot get out, please tell your friend NOT to tell folks about what her daughter is doing and to tell her daughter to not talk about this. There are many people who would turn her, especially in CA.

There is a $500 reward for reporting to immigration authorities.

yes, she was given the usual 6mos at the airport immigration in LA. I am well aware of that since I have come to visit my sisters in LA every summer time ever since they migrated there and the usual stamp on my I094 card is 6 mos stay although we only stay there for 3-6 weeks the most.

back to my friend's daughter, her 5-year multiple entry visa was due to expire last Dec 15, 2006, that's why she intended to just stay there in the hope of finally getting a nursing job and obtaining an immigrant visa .

But things turned up the other way due to the present retrogression. Maybe when I meet my friend I will advise him to let her daughter to find an employer there in the US who can petition her while she goes back to the Phils and wait for the GC petition because she can't get also her visascreen since she was a June 2006 NLE passer.

Then there is no way that she can get a visa to work in the US at the moment. And she needs to leave the country here as soon as possible. If she gets caught with what she is doing now, she will never be able to work in the US as an RN, anywhere. She is currently practising without a license and that is punishable by a jail term on top of everything else.

No visa with the retrogression, and no visa if the I-94 is expired. She has no choice but to leave the US.

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