timeline on retrogression?

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Thank you (suzanne) for the previous answer to my inquiry, May I know how long does this retrogression last I am a US RN with CGFNS IELTS and visa screen certificate, I also have a employer petitioning for me at california, my petition has just been filed at the uscis this month, thank you.

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If you are being petitioned, then it means that you do not have a SSN#, and therefore are not considered a US RN as there has not been a license issued to you. Just wanted to get that cleared up from the start. And you do not mention that you have written the NCLEX exam, so if that is the case, then definitely, do not call yourself a US RN. CGFNS does not give a license and is only a weeding out exam.

You are looking at five years plus for a chance at a green card. We do not expect the retrogression to end anytime soon if you understand why it is in existance in the first place. Demand far exceeds supply. And with the number of graduates that are now coming out of your country and no jobs there, it is going to be quite difficult to get the green card in the future. There are only about 10,000 year for those from your country. And there are many that are waiting in the pipeline with already approval on everything for the visa.

You are looking at months for the approval on the I-140, and then everything will stand still for you. Would highly recommend going to another country and get actual experience as a paid RN if you are not doing that already. We are expecting the US government to require experience just as all of the other countries are doing now. And the earliest fort even having a chance is over five years at this time, but expect it to be much longer by the time that things possibly come around for you. Other issue is that you do not even know if the employer will have a position for you that far down the line and then all of your waiting would be cancelled out as well and you would need to start over again. Getting an employer at this time is not really a good idea in my book, if you are from your country, or the other PIC countries; wait is going to be longer than most employers will be willing to wait.

Please take the time to do some reading on this forum about what is going on at this time. I also moved your thread to the International Forum since it has nothing to do with working in your country, per the red banner at the top of that sub-forum.

Thanks for your understanding.

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Dear Suzanne4,

I, too have already passsed the CA-NCLEX RN, IELTS, and I also have a Visacsreen certificate. I also have an employer who petitioned me last July 2007. My case is now approved in the USCIS. I'm also working as an ICU nurse for 1 year now. Is there a way I could get hold of my license without my SSN? Is it possible for me to get endorsed to another state who does not require an SSN so I could have my license? Im worried that my NCLEX would expire.

I have also applied to New Zealand. Unfortunately, I got denied by the Nursing Council of New Zealand. They say that my qualifications is not at par with NZ education. I do not know what deficiencies are they referring to (because there are other nurses who graduated from my school - University of Perpetual Help Rizal who are already licensed nurses in NZ) but I have already filed an appeal and submitted additional documents to prove that I have a completed a 4 year BS Nursing degree. Im still waiting for their reply.

I have a friend who was approved in South Whales in Australia but got denied in NZ. So I decided to file an application to Victoria and Western Australlia. My documents are still being reviewed and I'm still waiting for the approval letter so I could take the Bridging course. Do you have any feedback on these two states? The bridging course in Victoria is very expensive (A$8,000++) so I also tried applying to WA where bridging course costs only around A$880 and will run for only 10 weeks. How different is the career opportunities between these two states?

I hope you could enlighten me. Thanks in advance

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There is no way for you to endorse to another state as you do not have a license issued to you. You will have to apply for licensure via the examination process to another state and then have the BRN forward your passing results to the new state. But you will need to meet the other requirements for the new state, and I do not suggest doing a thing until you are into the last year of the validity of your letter. Otherwise you will be paying more fees and for licenses that will expire in the new state as well.

Much has already been written on this topic, just do a search for the threads on it.

There is no way to get the license issued without the SSN#, just not going to happen and they are actually getting much tighter on this requirement as well.

Not all training in your country meets the requirements for all of the states in the US as well as other countries. Some programs in the US are not accepted in other states here as well. That is why each and every person is reviewed on their own credentials. And just because one from your school got approved, it does not mean that all had the exact same coursework, there can be variations on classes at times.

You file is at a halt with the US government at this time and nothing further will be done with it until visas are current. As far as state in Australia to recommend, they each have different requirements and you need to decide where you want to be; they are also quite different just like the states in the US.

There are some other threads discussing the different requirements and the differences among the states in Oz, you may wish to do a search for those as well.

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thank you suzanne for the information, yes it realy is hard finding a nursing job in the Philippines because many of us are chasing the elusive american dream, by the way i have my US nursing license, I have passed my nclex and my license is registered at vermont, do california recognized vermont license? thank you again for being patient with us as we do not have much information regarding the visa retrogression.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
thank you suzanne for the information, yes it realy is hard finding a nursing job in the Philippines because many of us are chasing the elusive american dream, by the way i have my US nursing license, I have passed my nclex and my license is registered at vermont, do california recognized vermont license? thank you again for being patient with us as we do not have much information regarding the visa retrogression.

Each BON has their own requirements and if a foreign trained nurse they may still require you to go through the process as if applying for initial licensure. Ca do their own evaluation and may still require it, saying that even if you have a license in another state Ca will not issue a license without SSN when trying to endorse

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CA will permit you to endorse, however, they will only grant you a temporary license valid for 180 days and it is not renewable. You would need the SSN# to be able to get the permanent license.

So not any valid reason to endorse now to there or even consider it at this time.

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thank you suzanne for the information, yes it realy is hard finding a nursing job in the Philippines because many of us are chasing the elusive american dream, by the way i have my US nursing license, I have passed my nclex and my license is registered at vermont, do california recognized vermont license? thank you again for being patient with us as we do not have much information regarding the visa retrogression.

There is actually much information that is already posted concerning the retrogression. Highly recommend a good read on this forum for information that you need to be aware of.

I understand that jobs are almost impossible to get in your country, but you are going to need to get experience some place. You are looking at more than five years for a chance at the US at this time and we expect that time frame to get longer and not shorter, and also expecting the US government to require experience as well. I would look at going to another country to get actual paid experience as an RN if you wish to have the best chances of getting here down the road.

Best of luck to you.

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Thank you for the advice

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You are quite welcome.

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hi suzanne,

i need your advice, would you recommend me going to another country and work as an RN, even I am currently working now as a nurse? considering my pd is may 2006. or will i wait here until i get my immigrant visa? thanxs a lot!

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That is a hard one to call, but do you actually have approval on the DS-230? Having a PD date from 2006 alone really does not tell me enough? Do you actually have complete approval on everything and are just waiting for a visa?

If you are working in a paid job, then I would probably recommend that you remain right where you are, but that is also dependent on where your file is and at what stage of completion.

Also depends on your employer that you signed with in the US as well, and what their conditions are in your contract.

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