Promin

Extension of H-1B status beyond 6-year limit is allowed in certain circumstances by law. http://www.murthy.com/news/n_h1bext.html Speaking about medical professionals I would like to mention that among employees at my hospital all the doctors and about 30 percent of the nurses are immigrants and we still have a lot of positions open. Some argued that migration of workers from one state to another will solve the problem. Please go to Massachusetts forum on this site and read about people who sit without job for a year and still are not willing to move somewhere else. Many of those who agrue with hater about "damn" immigrants taking "jobs taking away from Americans" simply don't understand how the process works. Please take your time and read questions in forms I-140 and ETA-9089 that are submitted by the employer petitioning for the foreign worker. You will see that the approval of the petition is impossible if the employer simply wants to substitute American workers with cheaper foreign labor.

So, what is your point? I watched Mr. Dobbs' show once and don't have any desire to watch it again. His style is a good example of how not to run she show. They were talking about this situation with H-1B visas and Indian companies last year and nothing has changed since then, so Mr Dobbs' new are not very fresh. Also it seems like he does not really understand why people stay beyond 6 years on H-1B visas and that it's totally legal and authorized by the U.S. Government. Could you explain how in your opinion this situation will Indian IT companies abusing H-1B visas is related to nursing?

What is "not true"? Anything may happen in the future. The current quotas has not been changed for over ten years and simply does not meet the requirement of businesses. Besides, because of the way USCIS works over 200,000 EB visa numbers had been wasted over the last ten years. In my opinion EB quota will increase in the the couple of years and there are some positive signs that that USCIS is serious about not wasting any more visa numbers in the future. And even if the current system will stay the same the EB3 for most countries will become current in the next 2-3 years anyway (for those who filed in July 07 and earlier except for India, China, Mexico, and Philippines).

I think that wait time of 5+ years is possible for people from India, China, Mexico, and Philippines. For all others I think it should not exceed 3 years. And the U.S. Government may increase the number of visas available in some near future too.

Even if one applied for employment as a new grad having an EAD valid for only a year there is no way to get hired unless they apply to the hospital that is really short of nurses. And as we know those ones are not the best to work for. So my whole point is that new grads on OPT are really screwed no matter how much OPT they have left. I would not take that risk telling my employer that my EAD is not renewable if I really wanted that job. On the other hand side I probably would not apply as a new grad if I had less then 6 month of the OPT left. And again, that is why it's important to request the start date of the OPT to be postponed as much as possible and to take some good NCLEX review course to maximize chances to pass it from the first attempt.

Actually, the second sentence of the first post says which means the author has passed NCLEX already. I agree that applying for a job as new grad for the couple of months make no sense. That's why it's important to request the International school advisor to put the OPT start date in the SEVIS as "last day of the classes+59 days".

CPT is not OPT. CPT is considered to be a part of curriculum and has nothing to do with OPT. Since Summerbummer21 has a license already (s)he can work under CPT at the hospital affiliated with the school. The international school advisor authorizes CPT by making changes to SEVIS and printing out the new I-20. No need for approval from USCIS. Full-time CPT should not exceed 12 month or one will become ineligible for OPT. Part-time CPT can be of any duration and does not affect OPT.

When one applies for OPT with USCIS the start day of OPT can be postponed up to 59 days after completion of studies because there is a 60-day grace period during which one can change status, change schools or apply for OPT. For example in one graduates on Dec. 31, 2008, then 60 days grace period applies to them through March 2, 2009. So the advisor can request the OPT start date is SEVIS as March 1, 2009 although a person graduated on Dec. 31, 2008. This will buy some time to pass NCLEX and obtain a license. Now the employer will ask for the proof of employment authorization before hiring a person. But if they make a copy of the EAD and ask no questions that means they are OK with that and the applicant is not required to explain how OPT works if people from HR don't ask about it. We all know that if the new grad mention that he/she has only one year of employment authorization which is not renewable they will never get hired. Before retrogression hospitals were hiring people on OPT because they could petition for permanent residency for them right away. Not the case anymore as we all know. In other works "Don't trouble troubles 'till trouble troubles you".

Actually, nobody is required to say anything about duration of their EAD unless asked. New nurses require 3-4 month of orientation and nobody will hire them on OPT considering the retrogression. So when one applies for OPT it's better to request the start date at the last day of the grace period to have one full year of employment authorization after obtaining the license. Again, a person on OPT is not obligated to talk about it unless asked directly.

Summerbummer21 I understand that if frustrating, but why did you apply for this job if you had just one month of OPT left? How come that you wasted most of your OPT? Now, let me suggest something, talk to your International student advisor about CPT (curriculum practical training). This is how it works. Your school probably has clinical sites for their students. According to the law http://www.ice.gov/sevis/regs/8cfr214_2f.htm So basically the nursing department has to make up an assignment for you that requires you to work at the hospital as a nurse. You must get a credit for this assignment. This is one of the way for you to work legally as a student. You should not exceed one year of full-time CPT as you will become ineligible for OPT after completion of the course.

Actually, you would be surprised if you knew that cost of living in Boston is comparable to that in San Francisco, only salaries in Boston are twice lower then in SF and no fixed nurse-to-patient ratios.

If you live in Arizona maybe you should consider California. If may area hospitals always hire new grads.

I have a friend who worked in Illinois and escaped from there to California. Besides low pay rate Illinois can also offer 8 to 9 patients per nurse which makes nurses run like crazy w/o even being able to go to pee.

The same story here. After searching and applying in Mass for 3 month, just moved to Cali and got two job offers the next day! My hospital start new grads at $34/hour.

First of all I'm not imagining, this is the reality. Second, if hospitals lobby for more schedule A visas that means they need those workers. The reason they need them is because they cost less. This is capitalism. Welcome to America!