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The Mumbai VB is here: http://mumbai.usconsulate.gov/cut_off_dates.html

Here's the eagerly awaited October 2008 VB. http://mumbai.usconsulate.gov/cut_off_dates.html

The September VB presents a very bleak outlook for Philippine nurses, more so with the coming October VB that predicts possible early exhaustion of visas due to heavy demand. This does not look good at all for those who pin their hopes on October bringing better news. The Mexico F2A and Employment Third preference cut-off dates are "unavailable" for both August and September, since those FY-2008 annual limits have been reached. The Visa Office had originally anticipated that this would be a temporary situation. Then with the start of the new fiscal year in October the cut-off dates would have returned to those which had applied during June. However, continued heavy demand in those categories may require the establishment of cut-off dates which are earlier than those which had applied in June. A formal decision determination of the October cut-off dates will not be possible until early September. http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_4328.html

This bill still has a very long way to go. Anything can still happen, so it's not wise to expect too much. The backlog should be cleared first and all those standing in line have to wait their turn, even if the bill is approved, if ever. That's only fair.

the saturation point has been reached: http://philstar.com/archives.php?aid=20080708159&type=2 demand for nurses abroad declining by sheila crisostomo wednesday, july 9, 2008 nursing experts yesterday said it is no longer the right time to enroll in nursing courses because of the declining demand for them in countries like the united states and the united kingdom. according to dr. leah samaco-paquiz, president of the philippine nursing association (pna), the demand for filipino nurses had “plateaued” in the us since 2006 because of “visa retrogression” there. “in the us, the quota for visas has been filled up resulting in delayed processing of visas, with current efforts focused on 2006 accepted applicants,” paquiz said in a press briefing. the uk, on the other hand, has adopted a labor policy that gives priority to homegrown health workers. “many licensed nurses are now underemployed or unemployed as a result of changes of policy in destination countries, the current situation of oversupply and quality problems, among others,” she added. thread edited to conform to us copyright law. suzanne4

global demand for nurses falling, says pna http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/news/view/20080708-147212/global-demand-for-nurses-falling-says-pna by katherine evangelista inquirer.net first posted 19:37:00 07/08/2008 manila, philippine -- (update) local demand for nurses has been stagnant as the need for their services consistently fall in the global labor market, the philippine nurses association (pna) said tuesday. for the last two years, there has been no increase in the domestic demand while global need for licensed nurses has been consistently decreasing since 2004, pna data shows. pna national president dr. leah primitiva samaco-paquiz attributed the current trend to policy changes in labor-importing countries and the “oversupply” of nurses amid deteriorating quality of graduates. paquiz cited visa retrogression in the united states while the united kingdom began relying again on local health workers. thread edited to conform with the tos of this site. entire articles cannot be cut and pasted. suaznne4

This is no reason for premature rejoicing. As the VB says, the movement will slow down or stop once the thousands of AOS applications pour in to claim those visas. The Retrogression is far from over.

You're all correct. This craze has really gotten out of hand. It is now a virtual rolling snowball, gathering momentum as parents with only the best interest for their children in mind push them into the nearest available nursing school. They don't know the true situation, and even if they did, they would still take the chance just to try to leave the country. This is the norm for us as a people: if a business is hot, everyone will imitate it, until profits diminish due to unbearable competition. Just look at the barbecue stands or the sari-sari stores in your neighborhood, that's just the way it is.

PRC has announced that 80,000 to 100,000 graduates will take the June 08 NLE. All are dreaming of going to the USA, to join the hundreds of thousands already stuck in the retrogression pipeline. No way all of those who want to go to the US will get there. The nursing demand may be ending already, and RP will have a glut of jobless nurses.

This is an excellent job opportunity for all PI nurses, now that the US market and demand for nurses has ended, probably for good. So, all Pinoy nurses should troop to KSA asap. Hooray!

Nobody is listening. The PI nursing students just keep piling up, most of them pushed by their parents and peers. The oversupply is already here, luckily, the call center industry can absorb most if not all of the new jobless nurses.

The January 2008 VB will most likely show more evidence that the Retrogression really marks the halt of nursing migration. And more nurses, in the thousands are graduating from th PI and all expect to go to the US, which is impossible.

Retrogression for nurses is very real. Nobody from the PI is going anywhere for a very long time. Retro will be here for many. many years.. No doubt about it.

That means no nurse from the PI is leaving for the USA anytime soon, like the next five years. And by that time, the US would have enough nurses it needs.

With more than 300,000 pending applications for AOS under EB3, the chances for a PI RN to leave the PI as an immigrant is zero for the next five years, or more if no Schedule A for nurses is created (the chances are very low). The PI RNs can kiss the great American Dream goodbye.

Maybe Australia is the better option, as there is no end in sight for the retrogression.

The average nurse carries a spouse and maybe 2-3 children, it's no wonder that the visas are used up so rapidly. The techworker H1B backlogs are the main thing that pushes nurses to an infinite visa limbo. It's time to do something else.

It is true that most if not all of the current crop of PI nursing students and their parents have the idea that their children will surely go to the USA. That is not the situation now. The US is now closed to PI nurses due to absence of visas. There will be a glut of jobless nursing graduates in the PI starting now. But nobody is listening, judging by the sheer number of students going into nursing. It's the only hot course now. And everybody will run into a brick wall.

The truth can be awfully hard, when your dreams are dashed. These are events over which no one in the PI has any control over. Best just accept that the US is now closed to PI nurses, probably for good and move on with your lives, the best you can. Things will happen when they will, and everybody can only wait what comes next, but the retrogression unfortunately is a permanent thing for nurses from the PI. No silver lining in this one.

With this definite end in migration to the US for PI RNs, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the Middle East are alternative work areas. Quite a lot of new graduates are floating around the joke (is it really a joke?) on marrying American citizens just to be able to get into the USA, now that the chances of going there for Philippine nurses via the work visa are virtually zero. This event was long in coming, but now it's finally here, the nursing demand for the US may finally be over for the hundreds of thousands of PI nurses. "All things, good or bad must come to an end."

With no end in sight, and a retrogression that stands at five years for nurses, this might be the end of nursing migration to the US for RNs from the Philippines. No bills are in sight, and hundreds of thousands of H1B workers are already in the US waiting for adjustment of status, competing with the scarce visas allocated to the Philippines. The future looks bleak, and the December VB will most likely show very little movement. The move toward other countries than the US only, could be a very wise decision for all PI nurses.

Looks like nobody is going ANYWHERE in 2007, nor in 2008 for that matter. The visa availability will be very slow, then suddenly becomes current near the end of the fiscal year. The H1b and those doing AOS in the USA will get most (if not all) of the visas, and after the mad scramble and endless speculations, it's back to retrogression heaven for nurses.

The December VB will probably not show much movement in the EB3 category.

There's no end in sight for the Retrogression. And most likely none from the coming VBs what with all the H1B applicants competing for the 10,000 annual allocation for the PI. Not much to hope there either. :trout:

Nothing much to look forward to there either. Previous VBs have shown movements mostly when the visas are about to be used up near the end of the fiscal year. And, most unfortunate of all, the H1B applicants for greencards are already waiting behind the door, ready to gobble up whatever visas are up for grabs. Nurses have no chances there, for them the visa flow is not in trickles, but in MICRODROPS. Looking at the monthly VB, anticipating what the Forrest Gump chocolate box holds for nurses is like looking at a MIRAGE. There are visas but not for nurses. :lol2: