Hey everyone. I have a few questions regarding possibly immigrating to the US from Canada. I have about 4 years RN experience,mostly mental health, and am planning on moving to the US (likely Florida) in the next few months. I am a dual UK.Canadian citizen, and have lived in the US when I was younger for 4 years. My plan is to apply for licensing in Florida, write my NCLEX, get a TN visa, then apply for jobs. If I liked it there, I was going to see if I could get my employer to sponsor an HB-1 visa and live there for a very long time.
I was wondering if this process is possible, or if I need to wait for my TN visa to expire? I was also wondering if my TN visa would count for me establashing residency? I am seriously considering going back to school in the next five years, and I chose Florida because it has tons of options in the fields that I am looking (Nurse Practitioner or Clinical Psychologist) and relatively affordable tuition once your state residency has been established.
Have any Canadians done this on here? I am also curious as to how taxes work, such as do I stop paying Canadian taxes (in addition to US) after I have an HB-1 visa? Thanks in advanced for any info!
Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.
You can't just show up and ask to shadow a nurse, it's most often a step in the interview process for a candidate strongly being considered. Many facilities only consider online applications as HR is often off site and won't consider walk in applicants Of note Florida notoriously has some of the lowest wages paid to new and experienced nurses regardless of specialty.
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
TN has to be applied for by person at the border. For Florida you have to apply to CGFNS or other acceptable agency. On average process takes 4 months. Then submit application to BON For TN you will also need visa screen certificate which CGFNS issue once you have passed NCLEX and they usually require a copy of your transcripts so may be easier to use CGFNS and get CES report as they can use same documents for VSC.
US SSN can not be applied for until you have you TN work visa
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Also check US visa bulletin EB3, this is the category nurses generally come under, and see that wait for GC cane take a couple of years so you will need to maintain TN work visa
- You need SSN in order to have FL nursing license issued
- If you had a SSN previously it is yours for life. Find out if you have one as that could impact your process significantly.
- There is no employer that will apply for a GC for you within 3-6 months - after you have a GC, you can leave them and work anywhere so there's no advantage to them.
- Pass NCLEX and get license within 1-2 weeks? Haha - not quite that fast!!
- You may not accept a position (or at least can't sign anything) while on tourist visa.
You'd probably be better off, if you have reasonable means, of applying for a masters program directly and then applying for job/GC once you have a masters degree and a job that qualifies you for EB2 greencard instead of EB3
I am also a Canadian nurse trying to work in the US. After I applied to the Washington state BON for licensure, I had to have my credentials evaluated by CGFNS (which took 6 months) before I could apply to write the NCLEX. Once I wrote the NCLEX, I did get my license in the mail within 2 weeks (maybe Washington is faster than other states?). As for applying for a green card, you can't do this on a TN visa, as it implies intent to stay permanently (which goes against the 'temporary' aspect of the TN). However, if you can get your employer to sponsor you for a H1B visa after you get a TN, then you can start the green card process (but it takes a long time, as they only give out a certain number of H1Bs a year).
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
You can start immigration process when working with a TN visa. We have had a few members do it this way. The TN makes it easier for the Canadian to work in the US whilst going through the process
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. So if I graduate as a new nurse in Canada and wish to work in the states, I cannot 
(( ?
JustBeachyNurse, LPN
13,957 Posts
Not really realistic. Especially if you use tourist status to rend property long term or search for employment.