I am new member here and i would like to get some information about getting RN license in CA,USA. Before that i must say that there are lots of forums on internet about nursing but i found this one very useful.Thanks all in advance.
I am a registered nurse from Pune,India. I have completed my Diploma in nursing in 2002. Then i worked for 6 years in hospitals in India, mainly in the ICU(Intensive care unit) departments. Now i am persuading Bachelor's degree in India which is 2 year course and i have already completed one year of it. I would be finishing this course by Nov 2009. I would like to work as RN in CA, USA. My husband works there and i already have got H4 Visa.
From going through the forum posts i came to know that rules,requirements of different boards keep changing and different cases have different answers so i decided to compile complete list of my Q here and post to get MOST up to date information about the question involved.
The main objective is to minimize time i waste after finishing my Bsc course in Nov 2009 but before i start job in CA, USA as RN.
1: What all exams do i need to appear for ?
I know CA does not require CGFNS. Also My nursing diploma was not with english medium but my current BSC Nursing course (2 year course after Diploma) is completely in English. But i guess Nurses from India need to give English lagnuage exams. So i think NCLEX + IELTS are the only exams i need to give. Correct me if i am wrong. Also is TOEFL/TSE exam accepted instead of IELTS ? If yes which one is easier and quick one to finish ?
2: What are all the steps involved in passing NCLEX exam ?
From some of the posts i got the idea that , I need to get my education certification verified from CSE even though i will not appear of CGFNS ? If yes what is the procedure for this ? And how much time it would take normally ? Can this process be started from india even though i plan to appear for NCLEX in USA and not in INDIA. Also i would like to go through any process only after i get my Bachelor's degree but it is going to take time i would like to start the verification process as early as possible. So in that case can i start with my Diploma certificates now and later on get Bachelor related certificates verfied? Will this speed up anything ?
3: How long before i sign up for the tests do i need to get the verification done ? If i read correctly so far , NCLEX exam can be given throught the year. SO how much waiting period is there for exam registration normally. Or is it like i can even register today and appear for exam tomorrow ?
if this depends upon where i would appear it would be CA, USA.
4: What are all the Visa types that Nurses from India can have to work here as RN , legally. I have h4 but i know i can not work here with that. Can you list all of them. And is it posssible for my h4 to get converted
to any of them ? i know this question better be asked to immigration attorney but what your experiences suggest ?
5: How easy is it to get the JOB once you are in US and cleared all the exams and in some cases got the required visa.( I know most of the times employer only will be sponsering visa.) How much time normally it takes to find the job considering i will have 3 + 2 years of Nursing education and 6 years of work experience. I would like to get the answers to these queestions mostly in contexts related to me. Like nurses from India or from other non english speaking counries, for jobs in CA, USA etc. I understand answer varies case by case but still what past experinences suggest with respect to this ?
6: What does this retrogression thing mean ? How does it affect my chances of getting job in CA, USA with valid visa.Preferably Green card. From some pointers i could collect that this is case when no. of applicants are more than visas available. But somewhere i also read that Nursing profession has been included in some 'special' category in USA where they quickly get visa. Will somebody please provide details about this issue. Mainly in the context of Indian nurses. What is current status ? When nurses are going to start getting valid visas next time ? Is it only done once in year ? Or the process is going on throught the year ?
7: In each of the valid visas to work as RN in CA, USA, how much time the processing normally takes to get them after NCLEX exam has been cleared ? Can one start job before its done and if one is already in USA ?
8: How to prepare for NCLEX-RN exam if you have studied Nursing from India. From forum posts i found Saunders/kaplan/suzane books widely used. is there anything else i should be considering. Also from what i read Saunders is good for contents while kaplan/suzane is good for Q & A. Is this correct. Mainly syllabus for Indian nursign and US nursing is bit different so i do not know which books among these three really fills gap between Indian nursing and US nursing education ? How much time Indian nurse normally has to prepare before she passes the exam ? I read somewhere for International nurse passing rate is around 50 %. Is there any corresponding figure for Indian nurses ?
9: Does the material for exam change drastically each year ? Reason i am asking these question is , is it ok to buy old books for NCLEX RN preparation ? Or one should always get new one ?
10: I have mainly worked in ICU(Intensive care unit )in India but is it possible to get jobs in other departments once you come to USA. Or all the experience that i hold (6 years) will be void in that case ?
Thanks and eagerly waiting for answers to above questions.
Since the topic of this thread is how to get to the US to work as a nurse, several posts have been deleted as off-topic. If you would like to discuss another topic, please start a new thread. Thank you.
Where in last 4-5 lines it mentions different case when Nurse is in US, she can start working even after getting i765 . I485 will still come after years but that should not be problem as far as working is concerned. So i can be here on H4 , clear exams, get license and apply for 'Adjustment of status' and this should allow me to work here within next year or two rht ?
Can anybody let me know if there is anything wrong in this information ?
--Nurse
I have some experience of the I-485;Yes adjustment of status will afford you a annual [sometimes every two years] temporary work permit pending the adjustment of status and ultimately the green card;however it is depended on either an american citizen spousal dependence,company sponsorship,family sponsorship and things of that nature when you are in the country legally.
Not outside the us legally !
And the forms cost a fortune,expect on average a cost of 180 dollars to process each form.
And furthermore since 9'11 2001, a foreign women as opposed to a foreign man will under american spousal support acquire a green card much speedier .
I have two german girlfriends who got their green cards in a matter of months of entering the country whilst a male friend from england[can you imagine] who had been married to a american citizen still had'nt recieved his after 11 years.
And he is still waiting for his adjustment of status,Which is why many applicants give up on this route.
Rumours that women were more unlikely to be a threat to sercurity abound but who knows with the extreme nature of the american INS system.
This is utterly unlikely, but it makes one wonder.
And I'm not suggesting that you seek out an american citizen.
But women,believe me, have got their green cards much more hastily than the poor guys.
So if you should happen to be in love with an american citizen and you are a women, then it is not always a man's world when seeking this route.
Oh yes one last thing, you can't leave the country whilst waiting for adjustment of status,unless they, ''at their discretion'' allow you parole/reentry permit, to go and attend the family funeral even.
And even then ,when returning you might find your i-485 has been rejected whilst out of the country , then you will be usually barred at the airport immi when you hand them your permit, even with a reentry permit or a parole pass.
So this route has its limitations.
In your case,I would imagine that you still have to obtain sponsorship from an employer; but since yo will have your newly acquired license, that should be made a lot easier for you.
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
I have some experience of the I-485;Yes adjustment of status will afford you a annual [sometimes every two years] temporary work permit pending the adjustment of status and ultimately the green card;however it is depended on either an american citizen spousal dependence,company sponsorship,family sponsorship and things of that nature when you are in the country legally.
Not outside the us legally !
And the forms cost a fortune,expect on average a cost of 180 dollars to process each form.
And furthermore since 9'11 2001, a foreign women as opposed to a foreign man will under american spousal support acquire a green card much speedier .
I have two german girlfriends who got their green cards in a matter of months of entering the country whilst a male friend from england[can you imagine] who had been married to a american citizen still had'nt recieved his after 11 years.
And he is still waiting for his adjustment of status,Which is why many applicants give up on this route.
Rumours that women were more unlikely to be a threat to sercurity abound but who knows with the extreme nature of the american INS system.
This is utterly unlikely, but it makes one wonder.
And I'm not suggesting that you seek out an american citizen.
But women,believe me, have got their green cards much more hastily than the poor guys.
So if you should happen to be in love with an american citizen and you are a women, then it is not always a man's world when seeking this route.
Oh yes one last thing, you can't leave the country whilst waiting for adjustment of status,unless they, ''at their discretion'' allow you parole/reentry permit, to go and attend the family funeral even.
And even then ,when returning you might find your i-485 has been rejected whilst out of the country , then you will be usually barred at the airport immi when you hand them your permit, even with a reentry permit or a parole pass.
So this route has its limitations.
In your case,I would imagine that you still have to obtain sponsorship from an employer; but since yo will have your newly acquired license, that should be made a lot easier for you.
I hope this has been of some benefit to you.
As employer based (hers will be because her husband is already in the US with a H1b visa) visas have to be current to be able to AOS and file 485.
I also find it hard to believe that someone is waiting 11 years for a GC as you mention in your post
As employer based (hers will be because her husband is already in the US with a H1b visa) visas have to be current to be able to AOS and file 485.
I also find it hard to believe that someone is waiting 11 years for a GC as you mention in your post
I do Aplogise he has been in the usa 11 yrs,and been waiting for his green card over 5 years.
His marriage is now in jeopardy he tells me, as are many in his predicament,and already I have it on record that many americans spouses just give up going through with this constant testing,astronomocal costs, and mind games by the INS excercising their policy of testing these marirages for reasons associated with the idea all marriages to ameicans are suspect.
I understand the grounds for their double checking, but as usual the american INS go to far on this in my view.
I had to testify for friends when the husband was applying for a green card. I had to take a day off and work and testify about their relationship and personal questions. I thought they had stopped that practice.
I think the point Silverdragon was making, was status could one have to allow one to the stay in the USA for 5 years.
As employer based (hers will be because her husband is already in the US with a H1b visa) visas have to be current to be able to AOS and file 485.
I also find it hard to believe that someone is waiting 11 years for a GC as you mention in your post
I don't find it hard to believe. There are civil rights organizations which have been fighting in court because of this exact scenario happening to people of certain ethnicities and nationalities. I personally know of a man who is an engineer in his native country but is stuck jobless and nearly homeless after more than 9 years of working to get his green card in the USA.
Oh, and he can't return home either since it's been blown up there is nothing to return to.
Nice, eh?
Anyway, there are dozens upon dozens of stories like his and some of them involve medical professionals which would be an excellent service to our country right now if they could just get to work.
I had to testify for friends when the husband was applying for a green card. I had to take a day off and work and testify about their relationship and personal questions. I thought they had stopped that practice.
I think the point Silverdragon was making, was status could one have to allow one to the stay in the USA for 5 years.
He already had a authorized work permit;and they just kept renewing it as part of their testing process.
His poor wife had to renew all the financial nonsense responsibilites with it and she was made aware everytime of the consequences if he should be unemployed etc.
Or any fee:confused::banghead:s she would be subject to,constantly, not just once.
How many women have I spoken to who got their green cards within a year.
traumaRUs, MSN, APRN
87 Articles; 21,287 Posts
Since the topic of this thread is how to get to the US to work as a nurse, several posts have been deleted as off-topic. If you would like to discuss another topic, please start a new thread. Thank you.