3rd-year BSN student in Canada looking ahead to USA

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Hello Allnurses!

I've been browsing your forum for years now and am hoping to get some feedback on my current path.

I am a 3rd-year BSN student in Canada, and, assuming all goes well, I will be graduating in April 2022, and presumably writing the NCLEX within a couple of months afterward. Let's assume that I pass it, haha.

Since well before I started on the path to nursing, my dream and goal has been to move and practice in the USA, specifically Nevada, even more specifically, northern Nevada. A big factor in my decision to enter nursing was the relative ease with which an RN can find work and sponsorship in the USA. I should mention that I am forty years old and quite sure of my path at this point - this is not a whim for me.

I understand that it is relatively easy for a licensed RN to acquire a TN-1 work visa, but that is not what I'm aiming for. I want a green card. I understand that if a nurse enters the US on a TN-1, it's agreed to be a temporary thing with an intent to return to Canada, and that if you decide to apply for a green card, that shows that perhaps your stated intention was false, and casts doubt on your honesty or credibility. I want to go permanently, not for three years with an intent to return, or to extend my stay a year at a time. I want to go and never look back.

As mentioned, I'm older than your average new grad, and I'm sure of my path. Green card or bust. I want to go as soon as possible after graduating. I would go the day I pass the NCLEX if possible.

As the end of my BSN program is now just over a year away, what I want to ask this community are the following questions:

- Is there anything I can start doing now to get this process started? Most of the research I've done indicates that there's very little I can do until I have the degree and have passed the licensing exam - but it's entirely possible I've missed something.

- Would there be any benefit at this point in reaching out to immigration lawyers, staffing agencies, travel nursing agencies, or potential employers in the state I want to work in?

- Am I crazy for even thinking this is possible? Will any potential employer touch a foreign new grad looking for green card sponsorship? I'm hoping that my age might work in my favour here - I'm not looking to roam the earth and change jobs every couple of years; if I found an employer willing to sponsor me, I'd have no issue signing up for a long-term contract or something along that line. Essentially, I want to go to Nevada and work there until the day I retire. If I really can't even start the application process until I've passed the NCLEX, then I would definitely start working here in Canada and at least be able to build up some experience while the process unfolds.

Part of the reason I'm here today asking for advice is because I am at the point where I have to choose where I want to go for my third-year and fourth-year practicum placements. My dream has always been to work in the OR, which is an option for the fourth-year placement only. The caveat is that if the hospital here grants you one of their OR spots in fourth-year, they ask you to sign  a contract stating you'll work for them for 18 months after graduating (makes it worth their while training you). Now I don't particularly want to stay in Canada for that long after graduating, but, if I can't even start the green card process until I pass the NCLEX, then it seems (from my research) that I'll likely be waiting at least that long anyway. In which case, I would absolutely go for one of the OR placements next year. I assume having this specialty experience under my belt would also make me a more attractive candidate for an employer to sponsor.

Alternatively, if I am able to start this process sooner, and could realistically expect to head off to the US within a few months after passing the NCLEX, then I would choose a different final practicum (post-Surgical floor, most likely), as I don't want to be faced with being under contract with a hospital that's been good to me vs having a job waiting for me in Nevada with an employer who's just put in a lot of work on my behalf to get me there ASAP. The non-specialty placements at my local hospital don't come with the same 18-month obligation that they attach to the OR and a few others.

If you've made it this far, I sincerely thank you. And if you have any advice for me, I thank you even more. I hope I've explained myself clearly enough. I am a point in the BSN program where I am having to make some big, far-reaching decisions, and things are starting to get very "real." My utmost gratitude to anyone who can offer some feedback.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Many Canadian nurses move from TN to immigrant visa so nothing to worry about there. There is nothing you can do to start the process until you graduate.

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you can look into agencies that hire for green cards. They typically look for filipino nurses. You will have to sign a contract with them for 2-3 years at a particular hospital though

 

 

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Specializes in Post Partum/Antepartum.

Hello All,

I also am a Canadian RN, I am looking for help with all the paperwork to be able to obtain an ATT to write the NCLEX exam.  I have looked at a couple of travel nursing agencies all of which have told me that they do not do the process of helping with all the paperwork.  Would anyone know of any agency that is able to help me along in this journey?  Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks, 

Julie 

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

You need to start by applying to a state for initial license by exam but if passed NCLEX for Canada then arrange for results to be forwarded 

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Specializes in Post Partum/Antepartum.

I never did NCLEX Canada.  I’m from Quebec and when I did my exam it was not NCLEX at that time.  I have applied to a board of nursing but all the paper work is overwhelming.  Was looking for any nursing agency that handles all the paperwork.  

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
16 hours ago, Juwhittaker said:

I never did NCLEX Canada.  I’m from Quebec and when I did my exam it was not NCLEX at that time.  I have applied to a board of nursing but all the paper work is overwhelming.  Was looking for any nursing agency that handles all the paperwork.  

I don’t think there are agencies that do paperwork. The agencies I have seen or dealt with still requires you to obtain various documents 

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Specializes in Post Partum/Antepartum.

Yes that is what I’m finding.  Has anyone ever heard of apply ready?  They apparently help with all the paperwork.  Just wondering if they are legit and if anyone has had experience with them.  

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If you Look in the immigration thread I have posted my journey from TN to Green Card 

Good luck if you have any questions just ask 

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Specializes in Pediatrics.
On 3/7/2021 at 10:43 PM, Juwhittaker said:

I never did NCLEX Canada.  I’m from Quebec and when I did my exam it was not NCLEX at that time.  I have applied to a board of nursing but all the paper work is overwhelming.  Was looking for any nursing agency that handles all the paperwork.  

Were you able to get some advice and progress?

I am a US citizen studying nursing in Quebec, Canada, going into my third and final year for the RN.

The program is different here than elsewhere in North America. In order for my "RN" status to be transferred to any other Provence or the States, I would need to complete an additional 2-3 years at a local University and complete the BSN, for a total of 5-6 years of schooling, for something that elsewhere is usually 4 years. Then I would still need to do the NCLEX-RN afterwards.

I am looking for a way to shorten that, and get back home as soon as possible, by either finding a US school to transfer my credits to and completing the BSN or any other method that I might not know of.

I am originally from MN, but am thinking of moving to TX.

Any help in which direction to move would help.

Thank you!

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