Nursing In Spain?

is it possible to be able to work in spain as a nurse even though one has a pending US Immigrant visa application? How long is the contract there in Spain? I doubt if i will ever be issued a US visa yet in the coming months...or even years *vomits*

Filipino nurses working in Spain...pls share any info's.

If you have a pending petition in the US, then it means that you are being petitioned by an employer and would not necessarily be available when your visa came thru. That is not something that you want to do, the agency or employer would have every right to fine you, meaning a large cancellation fee for the funds that they spent on you.

If you have signed a contract with an employer, you are legally bound to it, and if you decide that you do want to work someplace else instead, then you need to notify them to cancel your petition.

You need to pass the Spanish exam that the country has to prove your skills as being 100% fluent. Then you need to pass their nursing exam as welll for licensure.

Even though there is a letter between the two countries, Spain is still under the EU and as such priority goes to nurses that hold EU passports first. Chances are that you would be working in the role of the caregiver in someone's home, like what was going on in Canada, or what has been set up for Japan, not in the role of the RN in a hospital setting.

Things are not always as they seem. Suggest that you look into it closely before signing on the dotted line. There is much more to it that you need to be aware. And the time in the role of the caregiver is not counted as RN experience when later applying for a job. So you need to consider that as well.

It is also not going to be as easy or quick as you may think you still need to go thru their immigration process for whatever job, and that is not known as being fast.

Dear Suzanne:

Thank you very much for that reply. You are really a great person with your always-ready-advises to us Filipino nurses. You are a wonderful gift to us!

Suzanne, are you saying that I should not push through with this plan? I am a US registered nurse and just like the hundred of thousands caught in this retro thing, I am desperate to find an alternative country to work as a nurse (or even caregiver at this point in time).

I have chosen Spain because I can speak the Spanish language (not very fluent though) but I am currently studying the Spanish language to be fluent.

Suzanne, are there links that you would recommend in order for me to get a nursing license in Spain? or the application forms where I can download and apply online.

By the way, my priority date is July 2007. Far far ahead right??

Thank you Suzanne and God bless you!

Paul

There is a thread at the top of the International Forum giving links to the other countries equivalents of the BON with their contact numbers etc. Your spanish is going to need to be fluent before you can start to do anything, and I mean quite fluent, just as easy for you as speaking English as you are going now. That alone is not going to be easy at all, and you need to make sure that you are preparing with the spanish that is spoken in Spain, and not what is used in Mexico, South America, or the islands south of the US. It is quite a different spanish in Espana.

USCIS is currently working on 2001/2002.

Suggest that you look at some other countries where you do not need to go thru all of these procedures to be able to work there, and do a two year contract there to get experience. Remember that even with the job offer, there is no guarantee that you will get the green card for the US, no matter what the agency has promised. Only the US government makes the final decision, no one else.

Do you have an idea how much one(nurse) makes it in Spain? I hope they also have pretty decent price tag on that kind of job.

Sorry, but the job pay there is not what you think that it would be to start off, and it will be difficult to get a job as an actual RN in a facility. The agreement that PI has with Spain, is more in the role of the caregiver in someone's home, just like they have with Japan and what we see happening in Canada.

The pay in Canada for the care-giver is just about $8 per hour, where the RN role is three times that. EU RN jobs first must go to the citizens of the European Union after the citizens of Spain, so very hard to get a permit to work there, other than as a caregiver, essentially a maid. Not something that you would aspire to with a four year degree in nursing. Your country has a tendency to enter into these agreements that do nothing to help the nurse in the role of nursing, even look at Japan. The Japanese government will not license a Japaneses national that did their training in the US or another country such as Thailand, so why in the world are they going to grant an actual nursing license to a foreigner to their country, just is not going to happen. Your government is wishing to send you there as caregivers or maids, and nothing more.