Retrogression!!!

What I find particularly odd on this thread, that there are quite a few posting here about what the US needs to do so that they can come and work here; howver, their own countries do not permit foreign trained nurses to get licensed and get work visas for there.

And as well as others trying to make the rules or regulaions of what the US should or should not be doing so that they can work here. I find that quite odd to say the very least.

The US has never had an open door policy for any profession and do not expect to ever see it in nursing or any other profession. Things have never been done that way, nor will they ever.

And if take note of the bill that is before the House, that contains the provision for the 20,000 visas for each of three years, that also includes Physical Therapists as well, not just nurses as a start; but that is only one part of the three part bill, the other two parts are specific to American nurses, training them and retaining them. So once again, anything done now, is still never going to be a never ending supply. Just is not going to happen.

And as long as the demand for visas far exceeds the number that are available per year, there is going to be a retrogression. You may see another name for it, but it is still going to be the same. A period of time when there are no visas issued for nurses. But be aware that it gets quite a few American nurses upset when they see foreign nurses demanding that a visa be created for them since they know that working in the US was their calling since they can remember. Sorry, but that does not affect most over here and actually only turns them off.

Being permitted to work in the US is a privilege, it is by no means a right if you have passed the exams and even have an employer to petition you. Not all are going to be able to get visas. and for those of you that have never had a local license or work experience as a paid RN; your chances of getting one of the coveted visas is going to get slimmer and slimmer. If one truly wishes to be a nurse, it does not matter where they practice, but that they have experience. So you may wish to look at other countries to get the actual experience of being an RN; and not working in a role that was beneath your training as that will not count as current experience either in terms of getting a job.

For those you that do not have approval on the I-140 and have the DS-230 already requested by the US government and in the stages of being processed; you do not have a chance at one of these visas that are expected to be released. Until one has a completed file, they will not be considered and the number with completed files already far exceeds this number already if you add up all from all countries.

Also, in addition to everything Suzanne just said, please be aware that, as a result of the 9/11 attacks and the kinds of abuses Suzanne notes (among other things), there is a lot of public opposition in the US to the idea of immigration in general these days. Whether it is good or bad, right or wrong, that's how a lot of people feel, and our elected representatives are well aware of that ... I agree with Suzanne that it's likely that the visa situation will get worse rather than better.