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Hey Esme12 totally agree. Ridiculous responses but inflammatory topic I suppose. I hate arguments about immigration! I wonder if ppl realise how hard it is to become a citizen of a country which is not your birth country! Here in the UK, foreigners are tested on British history, culture, geography law, etc, etc....all good and well but your average British person doesn't know a tiny fraction of the answers so why should a foreigner know???? Why do we judge people from other countries so harshly??? This 'us versus them' mentality it's crazy...personally I dislike ALL lazy, disrespectful people with a bad work ethic and no interest in contributing to their community, whether they're 'locals' or 'foreigners.' Perhaps we should have a system where people only get to live where they want to live based on merit, not birth-right....just sayin!!!

Please take care everyone when posting! Love2readRN I totally empathise with your plight but you've gotta expect some anger when you post things like that about being the only nurse in the world affected by the shutdown, come on. Listen I am in the same boat actually so you are not the only one. My visa is on hold too and I'm pretty down but the shutdown will not last forever. We just have to grit our teeth like everyone else and wait until they get their sh!t together, which surely will be within the next 2 weeks tops. The immigration issue, ouch it's nasty. I work with a lot of overseas nurses. Some of them went through a lot to get here (UK) and they seem to genuinely like it here. BUT...there are a lot of overseas RNs who don't seem to particularly like Britain and are constantly going on and on about how fantastic it is 'back home' and any chance they get they're back home for a visit. I often wonder why on earth they uprooted themselves to come to the UK, it seems a lot are either financially motivated or just took any job they could cos their fantastic home country couldn't offer them employment. But I can only speak for myself.....although you seem pretty passionate too.....I absolutely love the States. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I envy those born in America who do not have to go through the hell I am going through just to live and work there. I know a lot of Americans are very proud to be Americans, but I've equally met many who do not appreciate what they have - I wish they had to leave America for a while and not know if they could ever return, I bet they would appreciate the place a lot more! But that sentiment can also be applied to the UK. Do I deserve to be able to live and work in Britain freely just because Iwas born there? Because frankly I hate many aspects of living in this country. I am desperate to get away from here. But what about John Doe on the other side of the world who loves Britain and desperately want to live here and make his home here, and is struggling with ludicrous immigration issues and may not ever get here? Do I 'deserve' to be here more than him? I ponder on these issues a lot. Going through an immigration process makes you quite philosophical.percyRN you do not need to get a lawyer. If you definitely meet the criteria for a H1b visa, be determined and focused and SEND YOUR RESUME OUT TO EVERY HOSPITAL in the area you want to work. If you tick all the boxes, hopefully someone will consider sponsoring you, especially if it is a more rural/undesirable area where they do not have tons of applicants. Good luck!

I know you've already made your mind up but I just read your post and wanted to throw my 2 cents in. I generally find that those who discourage you from working in the OR are the ones who have the least, or no experience at all, of the actual OR. Standing in the corner for an hour watching your patient have a lap chole during the 'patient journey' does not consitute in any way as actual OR nursing experience. As a student nurse the majority of your clinical rotations are spent in non-critical care areas, and in my experience when they do their critical care rotations they get assigned to the ER or the ICU. Hence, the OR has this ridiculous reputation that you will lose all of your skills based on no evidence whatsoever. I would argue that actually it is the cream of the crop that end up in the OR. It is generally classified as the most specialized area of nursing practice without advanced certification and requires skills that you will never learn on a Care of the Elderly ward or the outpatient clinic. The skills you will use in those places are generic, run-of-the-mill nursing interventions that basically we can all do. As great as that is, the skills you will learn in the OR are skills that most other nusres will never attain. So, you could theoretically do their job with your eyes shut, but they could not do your job without additional training. Which is why they are very quick to dismiss it. It's called an inferiority complex. The surgical patient comes into the hospital for the sole purpose of having surgery, and you are there to take care of them at their most vulnerable. The ward nurse will wipe their brow and tickle their chin before and after the event, but you are there for them during the actual surgery. it is exciting, complex, challenging and the ones who try and put you off are the ones who would not be capable of doing it. I wouldn't want to do anything else!

Thanks. I'm a non-USA nurse so I am not familiar with the terminology. What does 'with-holding' mean. What am I holding back lol. It's a tad frustrating as it is difficult to communicate to others something we are extremely familiar with, so I am having a bit of a struggle getting explicit information. I know very well that all of us find it hard to put something accross, whether it's directions or translating something, without a vague assumption that the other party 'kinda knows' the answer to what they are asking. Like, we'll say "go past Main and take a left at the Saltgrass and you'll see the body shop right there next to the ------ that you're looking for." Assuming that the person asking for directions knows what a Saltgrass and a body shop is, and talking to them like they're an idiot if they fess up that they don't know what you're talking about! I literally know nothing and am very pro-active but I am not getting satisfactory results from my endeavours & homework, haha. I've looked on so many websites and they all literally say different things. Here in the UK, our taxation system is MUCH simpler than in the USA. Everyone who earns less than about £10,000 is completely exempt from tax. Those who earn above that, up to about £35,000 pays 22% tax. Above that its' 40% tax. For all of us. It seems a lot more annoyingly complicated in the States! If someone in the UK said to me, "I'll be earning £25,000 per year - how much tax will I be paying?" I'd say, "22%." Evidently, it's not that clear-cut in America! Sheesh...

Hi all... Could anyone give me an idea how much is generally taken from an RNs salary per month in Texas? I know TX has no state tax. My annual salary will be $65,000 per annum. I am finding it pretty hard to do any planning for my budget when I do start working in TX as people are quite secretive about this info. I am not interested in how much money people have in their bank accounts and I am not overly focused on money but I would like to know roughly how much money I will be coming out with each month so I can make some plans and get organised. The job offer was a couple of days ago and when I spoke to the HR staff on the phone I did ask about this and she said she would 'put something together for me' and let me know. In the meantime though I would be very grateful if anyone could give me some idea, I have been on all of the tax calculation websites but I don't find them to be helpful - they all give different answers so I don't know which one to believe! Thanks guys xx

Gingers' Mom, for some reason I didn't see your last response to this thread ^ until today, thank you it's very helpful. My husband has had an American Express credit card here in the UK for a couple of years, he is quite convinced that this will count towards a credit history once we arrive in the States, is he right? I have been offered the job at the hospital I have been alluding to and I asked the recruiter directly how much I could expect to pay in taxes per month on average and she said she would 'put something together and get back to me.' (Salary $65,000 pa). So I'm none the wiser, haha. I would like to figure out what kind of brackets I need to work within to plan for a rental property (we won't be able to get a mortgage straight away), i.e will we be able to afford to rent a $1,300 per month apartment or do I need to look at properties under $1,000, etc. I guess i will just have to wait until my recruiter gets back to me won't I.

Well I have a 3-4 week wait to ensure my visa has been approved (I'm a non-USA nurse) but the recruiter sees no reason why it would be rejected as I meet all the criteria. So as soon as the visa is cleared I can hnd my notice in my current job and finally come to the US of A!!! At last!!! I have been working towards this for a long, long time I am absolutely ecstatic my hard work nd determination has paid off. x

OMG been offered a job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo! Happy tears x

Wow....months later? I will have pulled out every hair in my head by then haha. Thanks so much for your advice it really helps. I am going to wait until either tomorrow evening or Friday morning and call them both if I still haven't heard anything. The interviews were 2 weeks ago. I am relieved to hear that it isn't considered too aggressive or inappropriate to contact them.

Thanks. It is TOTALLY excruciating. I still haven't heard anything I will call em on Friday if there's still no word. Good luck with your job.x

No I just used the normal service the quick service costs double the $$. It took a couple of months, they already had the documentation they required from the CES report. They mostly used the same information

You seem a bit vague, where overseas precisely? Is it definitely the USA you are aiming for? Because if you just generally want to go ''overseas' you would be well advised to go to Australia/NZ instead the process is much simpler and visas are easier to acquire. Unless you are 100% committed and determined to go to America it will either never happen or it will take you years and years. It's not impossible but it's very difficult and you have to be extremely motivated and willing to do A LOT of donkey work. Signing up to agencies will entail even more expense and longer waits, I believe. But if you've absolutely got your heart set on the States....it can be done...good luck. You need a H1b or EB/2 visa. To be elidgible for these, you need a BSN, a CES report and possibly to take the exam, from CGFNS, an ATT from your BON, take and pass the NCLEX-RN, get a VisaScreen letter from CGFNS and get certification in your area of speciality, which entails taking another exam and will result in you then being a 'Certified ----- Nurse' (pediatric/emergency room/whatever). This process took me about 3 years. In addition, to qualify for an EB visa you must have at least 5 years experience. THEN, you can start sending out your resume.

Thanks.....I got an email on Friday from one hospital saying they are still interested in me and are 'looking into things' with a view to making an offer. Talk about suspense!!! At least they're still interested though so I'm keeping everything crossed!! I emailed the other one and asked for a application status update....not heard back from them yet.....I will just have to be patient won't I.

I don't meet the criteria for a EB2/3 as I only have 4 years expereince not 5. So I am going through the H1b route. As I said in my original post I already have my CES repoort and VisaScreen certificate from CGFNS. But thanks for your reply anyway x

Hi all.....I am aware that this question has been asked before but I am going crazy here and need some advice. Please! I had two interviews last week (Wed & Thurs) and haven't heard from either of them yet. One of them said 'I really like what I am hearing, let me meet with such-and-such (another manager presumably) and I will speak with you soon.' The other one, I asked directly when I could expect to hear back from them and she said, next week. I said, please will you contact me either way and she said yes, definitely. But....nothing! And both hospitals lead me to believe they were quite anxious to fill the position and had been advertising the post for some time without much interest from applicants so presumably they are not interviewing tons of other people which would explain a long wait....unless that's just something recruiters say to 'keep you hanging on' when in fact they have no intention of contacting you for several weeks after your interview? I feel like I am going mad checking my e-mails every chance I get, what is the appropriate time to contact them and request feedback or is that a total no-go? I know people have different experiences and some believe 'what will be will be' but perhaps there is a recruiter out there who can enlighten us as to what the proper etiquette is in this situation. After a week is it deemed overly aggressive to contact HR to ask when to expect a response? Or does it show a pro-active attitude? I wish they would be honest and not say they would get back soon but then fail to get back "soon" after all; it's kind of cruel and I have pretty much convinced myself they are not interested even though the interviews seemed to go really well. What should I do? Please help, I am getting really down about this. thanks x