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!

It's an interesting discussion here. A lot of wishful thinking from both sides. I think there are enough Americans who want to become nurses, but just like it was mentioned hundreds of times here there are not enough clinical instructors to teach them. And the reason why is because they are not paid enough. I think that retrogression will be lifted for the one simple reason - hospitals need cheap labor and they have a powerful lobby in Senate. I live in Central Valley, CA and I see a lot of frustration from the students who are unable to get into the nursing program here. At the same time there is a real shortage of nurses in Central Valley too. Fixing the problem requires the appropriate mechanism first of all and until such mechanism exists available spots will be covered by foreign nurses.

I live in California Central Valley were the cost of living and climate is comparable with that in Texas. The pay rate at my hospital starts at $35.25 plus $5 diff. for working nights. Overtime is available during the winter (it's time and a half of course). We have 5:1 ratios on Med/surg and 4:1 ratios on Med/Tele. They pay up to $3000 for relocation. It take about 3 hrs to fly from Dallas to San Francisco and about 1.5 hours to drive from San Francisco (or Oakland/San Jose/Sacramento) to here (or 30 min to flight). I know some Texans who work 6 days here, then they have 8 days off and they go back to Texas. This way they can afford very good house in a reach Dallas suburb. Yosemite National Park is only 80 miles away, San Francisco is 100 miles away. It takes only one day to get California RN license if you do it right. You may live here for a year and then go back to Texas. With money. PM me if interested.

I would like to hear some comment about cost of living vs pay rate. Can nurses in Australia afford to buy a decent house? How much do you spend for the food, transportation?

Angie O'Plasty, I did not address my post to you but let me tell you something. Moving was "not an option" for me either. But I reconsidered and re-adjusted my "options" of sitting and waiting for nothing to moving to a different place. Moving to a new place may have a lot of challenges. But I decided to try it rather then just to sit and wait. But some people are just afraid of changes and they can't admit to it or they don't want to change anything in their lives because it's more comfortable enough to keep it the way it is. They justify the inability or unwillingness to make decisions by having "circumstances" and therefore prefer to wait for a miracle.

It seems like nurses don't get paid much in RI either. I've heard that the pay rate in NYC in pretty good. But the patient load may be quite high as well.

Tinytessa31, how do you like it in RI? What's the average pay rate for nurses? What's the cost of living? How far are you from Boston?

She can not find the job because the ratios are not right. If Mass had ratios like Cali does, all the new grads had no problem getting a job. The best bet in this situation is to consider getting a first experience in a different state.

Silverdragon do you work as a nurse in Canada? How do you like the country overall compare to UK?

You should not compare Massachusetts and California. California has established nurse-to-patient ratios and therefore require more nurses per 1000of population. Compare 6 patient per nurse and 5 patient per nurse on general med/surg in Mass and California respectively. Nurses are overloaded and underpaid significantly in Massachusetts.

Because you waited this long you lost: a. about 60K b. a year of experience c. you did not meet new interesting people and places I really encourage all new grads not to be afraid to move somewhere else for a year or so. There are a lot of places in this country where nurses are in demand and the pay rate is better too.