Torsten

So sorry to hear that, Wendy. What is your hospitals reaction on this issue?

The latest processing dates from USCIS Texas show a very significant progress (they jumped from January to April 2004 within just a few weeks)!

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:balloons: Best New Year wishes to all of you, too! Thank's for your helpful replies, suzanne4 and RNkiwi. Given your problems, I wonder what's still ahead for me. I can really relate to your frustration, RNkiwi. It feels like being on an emotional rollercoaster at times. I guess, when we look back in a few years though, we will be able to smile and say, it was all worth it. Actually, you don't seem to be very far away from receiving your greencard. The process at the NVC is up and running, that's good news!

Yes, I noticed that, they've started processing my petition and I was notified that the processing time of my case would be shorter than first estimated. Did you find out about your notice of approval by USCIS case status online, RNkiwi? I just wonder, if that kind of information can also be retrieved from the USCIS internet account I've created? Sorry, I have no idea, if they do...but maybe you found about that by now?

Thank you for posting this Wendy, sounds encouraging! Hope everything will go smoothly for you from this point!

Congratulations ! I myself have been waiting for the approval of my petition for 11 months now (Texas), still hoping for the best...

Hi nurseneris I'm a German nurse, but currently residing in Switzerland. I have passed NCLEX-RN in 2002 and have found an employer in Florida, who petitioned for a greencard on my behalf. At this time, I'm waiting for the USCIS processing being finished. I've posted this in another thread before. There is some more information from other nurses in the same thread. Maybe it is of some help to you: https://allnurses.com/forums/showpost.php?p=854798&postcount=2 Are you asking for my educational background and experiences or in general? I've provided some information concerning the treatment of nurses in Germany in a previous post I mentioned above. Could you be a little bit more specific about nursing issues? I'm not sure how to answer that question... Educational requirements: you need at least finish 10 years of school (primary/secondary) before starting an apprenticeship to become a nurse in Germany. Nursing schools and hospitals are affiliated, students get a lot of practical experience that way. They don't pay for their education, but get paid an equivalent of up to 600 Dollars a month. Within 3 years nurses get at least 2100 hours of theoretical and 2500 hours of practical instruction. The following is a link to a German Nurses Association called DBfK. The content isn't really up to date regarding the hours of theoretical/practical instruction during the apprenticeship, but you still get some good info on German nursing in general. http://www.dbfk.de/englishnew.htm Hope this is helpful to you!

I'll give them all the time in the world, as long as I end up with my immigrant visa!

Does visapro.com provide any different information from the USCIS case status online? My petition was filed early in January 2004 with the Texas Service Center. I expect the processing to take at least another 6 months. It seems to me, there hasn't been much processing done on I-140 Schedule-A petitions within the past 2 months in Texas. Looks like they're trying to reduce the backlog on all other I-140s first, before moving on with Schedule-A's.

Does visapro.com provide any different information from the USCIS case status online? My petition was filed early in January 2004 with the Texas Service Center. I expect the processing to take at least another 6 months. It seems to me, there hasn't been much processing done on I-140 Schedule-A petitions within the past 2 months in Texas. Looks like they're trying to reduce the backlog on all other I-140s first, before moving on with Schedule-A's.

During my ADN coursework in Germany I had rotations in almost every department of my teaching hospital. ICU was staffed very well, patient-nurse ratio then (1998) was about 2 to 3 patients per RN, day and night. Medical-surgical floors were staffed ridiculously low, in the morning usually 4 to 5 RN's (including the managing nurse, no additonal staff besides nursing students) for up 35 patients. In the afternoon 2 to 3 RN's for the same number of patients, at night just one RN (!). I work in a psychiatric hospital in Switzerland now. Staffing is generally better than in Germany, but they're starting to cut costs as well now in their healthcare system and that means fewer RN's on the floors among other measures taken to reduce spending.

Germany's healthcare system is under enormous pressure, going through radical changes over the course of the past years. Downsizing, especially of nursing staff, has increased the nurses workload dramatically. I studied nursing in Germany (ADN) and left for Switzerland right after graduation. There are a lot of fine, highly skilled RN's working in Germany, but their hard work isn't really appreciated by the public, leave alone compensated for financially. A well paying position should allow you to earn 25.000 Euro before taxes, depending on your age and skills. Take 40% off (taxes and social security) and you'll have your estimated net income. It is always sadening for me to hear, how the situation in German hospitals seems to get worse year after year, as I stay in touch with fellow graduates of my nursing class who still work in Germany. If you decide to move to Germany, which in certain parts is a very nice country offering good quality of life, check the cost of living and make sure, you can sustain yourself from your income before signing up. A lot of RN's have great difficulties making a halfway decent living in urban areas like Munich from their income.