I am sure that many of you do not want to hear this. But it is the actual truth. There still is no special schedule for nurses, and the Schedule A is not included in the Visa Bulletin.
That the dates are current for the month of July does not state that it is over. There is a huge number of applicants waiting for the green card, in addition to nurses, and they have been waiting as well. Remember that most that came to the US under the H1-B visa, are also included with the EB-3 caseload. And many of their attorneys are much faster at getting things done. Example: When the window opened for petitions to be submitted in April for the October 2007 H1-B visas, there were more than a 150,000 submitted in less than one day. And they were gone.
Not trying to burst any bubble, but trying to be honest on this. There are only so many visas available per year, never unlimited number. And this Bulletin does not go into effect until July 1, 2007. And those dates are only for that month and if you notice there is also mention that if the visas get used up that are there, then the dates will not remain in effect all month.
For those of you that got stopped in the processing just before your interview, this will be very beneficial for you. If your DS-230 has been approved and accepted, then this can be beneficial to you. For those that are just starting the process, remember you at the mercy of your agency and attorney and how fast that they will do things. We have seen multiple posts over the years of mistakes made with petitions that delayed things for quite a period of time. There is also a considerable raise in immigration fees going into affect at the end of July that will delay things for some people as the agencies are going to be holding back on paying of fees.
Those that have been paying their own way will find that they may get thru faster.
So please, do not make final plans to leave for the US until you actually have an interview date given to you. We saw what happened last fall to quite a few of you here.
Until there is another Schedule in place for nurses, the retrogression will not be over. Just an open window in the scheme of things, but definitely not over. Look at what happened even last month when the dates were moved up for the PD, you did not see a significant movement of anything. When money is needed to be paid by the agencies, everything drops to a crawl.
good day to all inspite of the said retrogression! i sure do appreciate your inputs, most especially that of suzanne and lawrence. in fact, some of your comments are quite encouraging. i'm wondering... what if a 1-140 nurse applicant in his/her 2nd or 3rd packet, apply and work it out in , let's say, australia... is it true that the applicant will be 'blacklisted' even for us tourist visa? anyone?
The issue is that you have signed a contract with an employer to work in the US and they have more than likely paid the fees for you to get this far in the process. If you go to another country to work while you are waiting for the processing, and then the visa does become available. What are you going to do? Walk out of the contract in Australia?
Unless you go someplace under the assumption that you have a petition in processing with US immigration and are already under contract with an employer, and would need to leave when the visa was available; this can cause you great issues. And require you to pay a cancellation fee, as well as expenses paid out by the agency on your behalf.
If you want to go to Australia to work, then have your US contract cancelled.
Tourist visas are hard to get in the first place. What you wish to do does not get you blacklisted, but definitely would put you in a favorable light with your employers.
THanks for this info. COz i have a friend, she's planning to apply in New Zealand while waiting for the immigration process to be done for US. Processing time for New Zealand is about 4 months. And she wants to work there while waitin' for her visa in US. I guess it's not quite a good idea then...
She will be walking away from one of the contracts, and that is never a good thing. And it can be quite expensive for her to do, she will be required to reimburse the agency for the expenses incurred to far, and that means the attorney's fees as well as the petition fees, and what ever the agency wants her to pay.......................not good.
These are things that need to be considered before anyone signs a contract. Not one will get them instantaneously to the US. There is no such thing. If she wants to contact the agency and ask to be placed on hold for two years or whatever, that is one option. But otherwise, nothing else to help her out.
What does that mean? "immigration issue died down there in the last congress", and yet retrogression is not yet over? what I understand the isssue of the retrogression is over, and giving visa to those who qualified are already okey.
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
What does that mean? "immigration issue died down there in the last congress", and yet retrogression is not yet over? what I understand the isssue of the retrogression is over, and giving visa to those who qualified are already okey.
retrogression is not over, a certain amount of visas not already used had been recapped and july bulletin was given as current and then beginning of july it was revised and everyone was told NVC was not going to be accepting any filing. Suggest you have a good read in this thread plus there are a few other threads on the subject and mention what went off at the beginning of this month
Specializes in Critical Care Transport/Intensive Care/Management.
THanks for this info. COz i have a friend, she's planning to apply in New Zealand while waiting for the immigration process to be done for US. Processing time for New Zealand is about 4 months. And she wants to work there while waitin' for her visa in US. I guess it's not quite a good idea then...
My personal experience:
I applied for my US Visa in 2001, then in 2002 I left my country to work in UK. I've been here for 5 years now and within that period I had 2 missed interview appointments.
My US employer was still happy to keep me and asked if I was still interested to work in the US, after a lot of thought, I said yes and took NCLEX in London last year. I was appointed an interview date at the Phil US Embassy in Dec 2006 which I missed. I had to ask for a case transfer because of my current location, it took several letters and months of waiting before I was finally given an interview date ..... I was fortunate to have been appointed one this month and I'm definitely not going to miss it this time
I wish to thank you Suzanne for your wise advise and guidance ... you have always been right.
hi! huge thanks to you... i was planning to go w/ her to new zealand but with what you and suzanne had mentioned, i definitely had changed my mind.. and i'll my friend too about what you guys had shared! thanks!!
What does that mean? "immigration issue died down there in the last congress", and yet retrogression is not yet over? what I understand the isssue of the retrogression is over, and giving visa to those who qualified are already okey.
The retrogression has never been over for nurses. It started last October 31, 2006 and then the Schedule A was removed with the February Bulletin. The only thing being done right now is that some nurses that were completely thru the process before the retrogression kicked in are now getting their interviews, but they had approval already on everything. Just were waiting for an interview. And this is from recapped visas under the EB-3 category. Not specific for nurses.
Hi Ms. Suzzane, I'd like to ask regarding our (mine&my husbands ds form) - DS230, which was submitted a couple of days ago. Case filed Jan. 2006, I-140 has been approved last May 30, 2007. What are we going to expect next? Is there a chance for us to be scheduled for an interview this year? What are the possibilities?. Thank you for your time. Hope to hear from you soon. God bless!
Hi ms TLC...good for you that you already have your I-140 approval.. It's really sour for me that I have not received anything yet.I 've completed all the requirements though last september '06, I felt so heartbroken while my other co-nurses here already have their approval..My agency told me that their immigration lawyer had it submitted already and that there is no error in it & if there was then they would have been informed..
hi bellesima a., i received the approval notice 10 months from the date of rcpt. don't worry may be you will have your notice of approval soon. Let's continue to pray. God bless us all!
Hi Ms. Suzzane or anybody who has an idea 'bout this....
I'd like to ask regarding our (mine&my husbands ds form) - DS230, which was submitted a couple of days ago. Case filed Jan. 2006, I-140 has been approved last May 30, 2007. What are we going to expect next? Is there a chance for us to be scheduled for an interview this year? What are the possibilities?. Thank you for your time. Hope to hear from you soon. God bless!
Hi ms TLC...good for you that you already have your I-140 approval.. It's really sour for me that I have not received anything yet.I 've completed all the requirements though last september '06, I felt so heartbroken while my other co-nurses here already have their approval..My agency told me that their immigration lawyer had it submitted already and that there is no error in it & if there was then they would have been informed..
suzanne4, RN
26,410 Posts
The issue is that you have signed a contract with an employer to work in the US and they have more than likely paid the fees for you to get this far in the process. If you go to another country to work while you are waiting for the processing, and then the visa does become available. What are you going to do? Walk out of the contract in Australia?
Unless you go someplace under the assumption that you have a petition in processing with US immigration and are already under contract with an employer, and would need to leave when the visa was available; this can cause you great issues. And require you to pay a cancellation fee, as well as expenses paid out by the agency on your behalf.
If you want to go to Australia to work, then have your US contract cancelled.
Tourist visas are hard to get in the first place. What you wish to do does not get you blacklisted, but definitely would put you in a favorable light with your employers.