MARI 1

This message is for ENGLISH_NURSE.... I love the Oh....God... this is Painful....

THANK YOU.... I have read several of your posts over time... you have a great attitude and I know that where ever they send you the facility will have a very good nurse... stay postive and your dream will come true... promise.. It is taking a little longer but it will come.

This is a test... in patience.. I have spoken with two immigration attorney's and they at first thought the same as everyone else, however when they went back read the information over it is as Suzanne has posted... you need to as they say Read the fine print..... this is limited and those companies that have attorney's in house they will be at the INS offices with all the docs prepared and ready.. so this is very limited. Just keep working towards your goals, get prepared for when it does come. Given the climate for immigration right now in the USA, it is going to be a while longer still.. Immigration here is a process that takes time.. they have rules and they change them.. we all need to abide by them... so just get in line and work your way through.. its like working on a project, just keep at it and in the end you will appreciate and be satisfied that you did on your own and you earned it. Immigration to the USA requires, first and for most patience, determination, hard work... it is not easy. Just do it once and do it right... cheating the system will land you in jail or penalized it is not worth it. Thanks

Yes it is good news, however as Suzanne has mentioned it is important to keep in mind it is only a small hole in the wall....this is so that no one gets false hope that it is still going to happen overnight. For those of you waiting for so long there is and has been issues with processing your cases... immigration sets the rules, if the submissions are not completed correctly they are sent back... things must be according to how they want them. I have seen where a paralegal has submitted the doc's and made mistakes (not intentional but it did cause someone to wait much longer), some agencies hold off sending documents in so they can market the RN's and this gives them time. It is not often that immigration loses things but they did loose my file.. I would say I am not the norm. Things change like the need for a long form birth certificates that can take months to get. I think that we all need to look at being optimistic but not going out and purchasing a plane ticket and packing your bags. Balance in all things will save you all stress and worry. This is a small move forward and any movement is very welcomed.. just temper it with a little caution. I know Suzanne really cares about all of us and tries to provide us all with the best information to make your transition smoother... so patience all, it will come to pass and it will all be worth, especially if you do it right.. Never Ever Give Up!!! It is like studying for the exam it is painful, but oh how sweet it is when you have worked hard and then you pass... Good Luck to Everyone

Hello fellow Canadian... I have gone through the process.. the person that your wife spoke with was an immigration officer... they can refuse to allow you into the country. I am French speaking and if you have taken your nursing program in French you must do either IELTS or TOEFL. Some of the French speaking people I am sorry to say they are not bi -lingual... they level of English that they have would not get the by down here. It would be hard for them to understand and be understood. Here is a link to CGFNS: http://www.cgfns.org/sections/programs/vs/ this should explain everything.. the visa screen was brought in about 3 years ago and Canadians were given a year's grace period to complete it. I am very sorry that the HR person did not do their job properly. How did your wife get a license without a SSN did she use her Canadian SIN number???? just curious.. Please do not let her work without the Visa Screen Cert.. no matter what the hospital says... because she can be deported. she will take the blame not the hospital.. I love being here but we all must go through things to get all the paper work completed. If I can help just let me know.

I agree with Suzanne, It is not the government... usually the agencies use para legals and then an attorney would sign off on the documents. This leaves it open for more mistakes... and if you take a look at previous postings this has happened many times over. Then the other issue is the attorney must also be reading all the requirements on a regular basis... to make sure they are submitting all the correct information and documents in the correct format. An example would be that immigration now asks for the long form birth certificates not the short form they want to check parentage and history...(for security reasons) I had mine returned to me because of this. It took four months to get the long form from Canada. Canada is backlogged right now, because we all now need a passport to travel to the USA (this was not a requirement previous to Sept 11) We must all abide by the requirements that the USA puts in place. We want to come and live here and work here so we must all follow the rules. Some agencies are good (just remember always they are making money for placing you ) and many just like to hold back paperwork, many will petition you just to get you locked down and then market you like any other commodity to various hospitals. So if they delay the process they can bring people in as they need them. However they are not going to tell you that.. they will put the blame out there anywhere but on themselves. There are people here right now that are sitting in apts waiting four and five months to start work because some agency has not got a contract to place them and they won't release them from the contracts. They are caught between a rock and a hard place because they are not earning money but they are spending their own money to live. This is wrong of the agency but most people are afraid to report them.. So I feel that Suzanne is trying to tell you the whole story not just what someone wants to hear... truth is painful sometimes, but you all need to know everthing, not just part of it.. We have seen many horror stories and I truly the purprose of this website is to provide you all with the correct information so that you can make educated and informed decisions about future. Suzanned sincerely cares and just wants your transition here to the USA as smooth as possible.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU can't be petitioned if your not an RN.... there are no visas for LVN's Go to the international forum and read what happens to people caught working here without permission. You are the same as everyone else that is illegal... they don't care if your a doctor.. you need to be petitoned It is like sneaking into your neighbor's home..... Think about it.... you try an open window, or make a bigger hole in a screen, check the back door to see if it is open... and sneak in... WHY not use the front door the way it was meant to be used... walk up the sidewalk and knock, present yourself and be invited in.... Anything less is considered breaking and entering. Follow the rules and be invited in, anything less is a crime Take a look at where they will keep you... yes a federal prison, you will wear prison jumpsuits...and be treated like a criminal. Why because you could not wait and do it the right way. You need to return home and get an RN license. Do it the right way... you already did not tell the truth when you came for a visit and then tried to get a job... Sorry, but you need to return home and do the right research and get an RN degree and then follow the rules, like all of the other RN's here. There is no easy way, just hard work and planning will get you to your goal.. You need to listen to the advice being given to you here...if you don't and try to take a short cut you will end up in prison

The USA and Canada are lands of immigrants and they have and continue to accept more people than anywhere else in the world. The rules will change at different times to accommodate the economy and what the country can bear. No one here is against families.. however blaming it on greed and evilness is way out of line. Just because the make rules and laws that you don't agree with does not make someone evil or greedy... If you believe that why would you want to come to the USA or North America... I would say that owning as many pairs of shoes as one of your previous leaders did while there is extreme poverty in their country is greedy... How about the corruption that goes on over there... by the way it is all over the world. So please do not make out that it is worse here, it is not!!! That is my personal opinion. The USA has a right to make its own rules a a sovereign nation. Yes in order to come here you will need to abide by them. It is wrong to make that kind of generalized statement. Just how many Philippinos are there in the USA???? I am sure this number would not reflect a policy of not allowing them to come to the USA. However just maybe the USA would like to allow other countries to have the same opportunity your country men have been afforded. How much money is sent back to the Philippines???? The climate for immigration for anyone right now is not good... there have been too many issues over the last few years and they are overhauling the immigration policy here. So there are many things put forth, however there is no concensus at this time.

Your comments above are not what this particular thread is about... However I will answer what you have written here... They do not want any temporary workers at all.. NO.... NO... and NO again... they do not want any temporary workers coming it. Reason being... they want a permanent staff that can legally stay in the country. It takes foreign nurses at least 6 months to adjust to the cultural and work differences. Some even take longer to get through the orientation periods(especially if they have not worked in their own country). Hospitals invest a lot of time and money into training their RN's they do not want to pay for temporary staff that will need to go home. Think it through would pay for relocation, sign on bonuses etc for temporary worker.. No.... The hospitals are not going to do this and then send the employee home. Hospitals do not want to be in the business of immigration, they do not want to hire two or more people for the HR departments to handle all the paperwork involved with that, it is too costly for them. Yes there are people that work doing travel nursing... but if you ask any of them... coming to the USA and working travel right away is just insanity for anyone and next to impossible to do a good job. You need at the very least 1 year on the job to work in travel.

My Response to your comments above are: I am really quite surprised that you make those comments!!!! I have come to the USA from Canada and I would not make that type of statement. The "locals" AMERICANS are not jealous of foreign nurses, this is a country of immigrants from all over the world. The nurses that come with experience after orientation usually get up to speed in a reasonable amount of time. However there are many that find it difficult, most need to start in med/surg and get some experience before they can deal with places like ICU or ER... many of the new grads without clinical experience come and need more time added on to their orientations... I have heard this over and over again from RN's, HR, RN floor supervisors. So I would think that it would bother a nurse here, if they were getting the same pay and having to train someone for months longer than it should take. Your statement about the foreign nurses climbing up the ladder is another one that is not accurate. Any nurse that works and gets required courses completed and last but not least wants to be promoted (some people are happy being a good nurse and don't want the titles) has that opportunity in the USA. I can't say that all American hospitals are the same, however I can say everywhere I have been they promote based on merit that is earned. Is that the same where you are from???? I also do know that if one comes to another country with an attitude that they are better and know more than anyone else, life will be a lot harder here than it needs to be. I would say the best advice I can provide you with is to wait until you live here to make statements about how Americans think and feel, also humility goes a long way. You must also learn to be assertive, not aggressive. The people I have met here in the USA have been wonderful, kind and welcoming to me. I have traveled to many places in this world and I never walked in thinking I am better than those who live there in each country I have been to. I respect people, their traditions, culture and language. The USA and Canada are both lands of immigrants, so there is much to learn when you get here.. you will meet and work with many foreign nurses, from all over the world. They for the most part, will be judging you on your work performance, not on what they have been told Philippino's are like. You might work with someone from Africa, Canada, Europe and many other places. Those people could be patients or co-workers. Each and everyone of us brings something valuable to the table. The most important lesson is to learn to respect others. As far as having a BSN...the basic requirement, I have met and worked with many Americans that have MSN, Nurse Practitioner and even PHD in nursing... so please no one is threatened by a BSN. The quality and level of the diploma nurses here in the USA is higher than other countries. They all take continueing education courses. The whole purpose of having that education is to provide the best quality of care to your patients. The patients don't ask if you have a degree if you treat them badly or well. The patients are not worried about you climbing any ladder, they need you to do your job and be there for them. I am planning on going to the Philippines later this year an I would never make those kind of comments without even visiting your country first and even afterwards. I have heard many horror stories... but I reserve judgement until I see it with my own eyes. I will not go there with the expectation that life in the Philippines is based on the standards that are available here in North America. There is good and bad no matter where you are in the world... The best thing one can do is surround yourself with good people, keep your eyes and ears open... but be slow to make remarks until you know the whole story. Having been on vacation in the USA does not make anyone an expert. Please keep an open mind, be willing to learn in all situations. Life is a journey and not a destination. Every day we are on this planet it is a day of learning new things.

This is just basic information gathering on the part of OGP ... they are just keeping in touch with people so they don't loose contact with their RN's. There will be many people decide to change their minds and life issues come up. There are so many stories out there based on people speculating on when this retrogression will end, no one knows, and it will take as Suzanne said at least 90 days to get things ready to go after the announcements are made. OGP is just making efforts to keep in touch and keep their records up date.. that is all they are doing. I am no big fan of OGP too. Just go back and see what has happened to people in the past and keep in mind many of the agencies are having a hard time right now. So I would really be cautious on who you sign with. If they behaved badly towards their RN's when things were good what will they do now???

Do not lie.... There are some things that don't really count ie misdemeanor. If he was a juvenile they do take that into consideration. However felony convictions ? they really come down hard on. The other issue is anything to do with drugs is bad... they won't even listen if drugs are involved. You would need to check with your attorney. Under no circumstances lie....

Asking question after you have signed is not a good thing... the contract being signed means you agree to what was written in it.. that is all they are reponsible for... they must have had a penalty clause if you cancel... so no matter what is said now your on the hook.... To everyone else, please do searches online about the company your dealing with, the hospital they are sending you to and check the demographics for the cities, crime stats etc... this has to be verified BEFORE you put your signature on the contract.... Check, Check and Check again BEFORE signing.. if it is not in writing on the contract they are not obligate to do it...

The curriculum in the Philippines is not equivalent to the USA (they try to meet the US requirements, but there are schools that don't have what the USA requires. That is why an evaluation is needed when coming to the USA to work) It is different, each country, province or state they all have their own requirements. When going to work there you must abide by their requirements.

You need to follow Canadian rules, just like the USA you must be registered to work in the country.