RN with H4 visa want to gain experience

[kokomoGirl]

Hi. I am a foreign trained nurse who is here in Indiana USA for almost two years now under H4 (dependent) visa through my husband who is a physical therapist. I took and passed NCLEX -RN before I left my country. Does anybody know if volunteer nurses are accepted in any facility or institution here in USA? I really want to gain experience while waiting for retrogression to be lifted. I have an option to go back home and gain experience there but I do not want to be away from my husband for a very long time.

Any advise for me is very much welcomed also. Thank you in advance.

[suzanne4, RN]

We do not have volunteer nurses in any hospital in the US. It is not acceptable practise here.

Other issue is that we do not expect the green card petitioning under the AOS to open up for another five years plus. If your husband is here under the H1-B, then the maximum time is six years total with one extension.

Which country were you born in? That makes a difference as well.

[kokomoGirl]

Im from the Philippines. My husband's company already started the petition for immigrant visa. Im not so sure of the priority date though. Somewhere in the last quarter of 2007. Is the priority date the approval of 1-140? or the Labor Certificate? Like most of the people here who have similar status as mine, I feel so frustrated and I feel like my hands are so tightly tied at the back that i cant do nothing but wait. I am at the point of thinking of pursuing my physical therapy career. I'm a graduate of BSPT before I took nursing. I figured, if I do that, I get a better chance of getting H1B as PT. Am I correct? I wish to hear your input on this. I just want to have something going with my life right now. Thanks and more power!

[suzanne4, RN]

Priority date of last quarter of 2007 and he will be waiting. The only open window was June/July of 2007 and there were more than 800,000 petitions for the I-485 that were submitted then. That is why I keep stating that it is going to be more than five years before things open up for the Adjustment of Status. Until the US is accepting of the I-485 once again, then nothing is going to move forward for years for you.

The priority date is when the I-140 was received by US immigration, nothing more than that. Most definitely not approval and has nothing to do with the labor certification as well.

Physical therapy licensure in the US now requires the Master's degree as a minimum level for most jobs.

Bigger question for you is why you did not seek an employer when you first arrived here and then you could have been submitted when the open window showed up unexpectantly 18 months ago? It would have been easy for you to do at that time, and much easier for the nurse to get the process started then.