noticed that there are old threads resurfacing on the immigration from the uk to the usa, so thought that with all the newbies on the site and us oldies who have done it all and are now settled, will start all over again. some of the information has changed so much because of the retrogression and the state of the american economy, the disasters in the areas where you might have been going, and of course the new president that they are going to have. also, theres some of us who have completed the agency thing or come on our own, and we all have different experiences. its really difficult to translate the differences between some things but will try to help, as will madwife, betty boop, silverdragon, rgn1, sue, letina etc, etc
you would have to prove your education to be employed by the universities, but they dont pay very well, so they are always looking for nursing lecturers. with an msn you cann teach the bsn and rn-bsn courses. as for the green card, dont know what your position would be as regards being sponsored, maybe even a university would sponsor you, at least you wil be over here and able to work and gain experience.
I would imagine a college who frequently have internationals over would offer employment but not sponsor a green card , since there is politics in a college or university where despite all your experience you would have to start at the bottom of the teaching scale.
You need to put together a CV, go for many rounds of interviews, present a guest lecture to the faculty, and be prepared to get paid 1/3 to 1/2 of what a nurse makes ( this is would be around $40K). It would also be a benefit if you have published your nursing research.
Nursing instructors ( the nurses who supervise the students get paid a bit more but these positions are not the ones that are in shortage).
I need to clarfiy to teach nursing you need a Masters in Science in Nursing, not just a Masters.
To be honest, I'd be just as happy to get a RN position with an employer willing to sponsor me. It might semm like a waste of a Masters, but being able to settle and put down roots is is the most important thing to me.
i am new here (first post) so please bear with me. i am very interested on this thread as i am about to prepare the move to the usa myself.
but it seems i did not have so many difficulties, or perhaps i am not as well informed as i should be. so any comment and/or advice would be really welcome.
i have applied with the california board of nursing, spoke with my university, nursing and midwifery council and a few month later i got the letter to be eligible for the nclex.
after some time now i am preparing to sit the nclex in august . starting to have nightmares/panic! have been thinking to start the visascreen at this time too.
am i right that with the nclex passed (i hope) i could start to look for an employer?
Hi Peter. New here also. I'm sure there are people who will advise far better than me, so don't take my advice as gospel.
Back in 2000 my husband and I went to the States through an agency, who got us Green Cards, hence how I have my NCLEX. We returned to Scotland, amongst other things because of a family illness.
Long story short, we now wish to return, and our Green Cards are no longer valid (had it checked out). My NCLEX is still ok, and I managed to get the NY Nursing Board to reactivate my licence, so its ok for the next 3 years.
The BIG problem seems to be a thing called Retrogression, which simply put means there are hardly any Green Cards being issued to overseas nurses, and there is a massive backlog. The way things are, I believe it could be up to a 6 year wait to get over at the moment, unless things change. Factor in that there are a lot of US RN's currently out of work, and the prospects aren't great (sorry to be a damp squid here).
This seems to be the current situation from the research i've done, but as I say, there are far more knowledgable people on here to advise.
Nonetheless, this is why we're trying to speed the process up a little, and why I was wondering if there are any hopes it would be quicker(or possible)to do things better from within the US?
Specializes in Dialysis, Nephrology & Cosmetic Surgery.
Peter, you can have someone sponsor you without having passed your NCLEX, at least they can offer you sponsorship on the basis you pass your NCLEX, no papers can be filed until then. To apply for you visa screen you need to have your NCLEX as they want proof of this as part of the screen.
If the US is the only place you are concidering (others have had a change of heart and have settled in Canada and seem very happy) then I would encourage you to continue with your NCLEX.
The problem you will find is that there may be very few hospitals looking overseas at this present time. It will be more difficult if you are set on a specific region in the US as from what I read here there are shortages is some areas and other areas have many nurses finding it difficult to find a job.
Wishing you well with your NCLEX and your search for a sponsor.
I take it you didnt return to the US on a yearly basis? I believe that is all you need to do to keep green card current. It is true things have hit us hard here with the financial problems the hospitals are having along with the rest of the businesses in the US. No raises (not unexpected) no new jobs, no promotion or movement. It will change but not before I believe it will get worse, I can forsee that the government will have to step in and help the failing hospitals or our healthcare is going to be affected badly-I am already seeing cracks at our hospital
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Maintaining a green card means more than just visiting the US annually. It is a resident card therefore needs residency maintained, much easier to get a remit permit but I believe they are only valid for 2 years. If residency isn't maintained it could be classed as abandonment and GC removed.
If you go on a E2 visa then yes there are opportunities on you working as you get permission as a spouse but even if you get a petitioner for GC you will join the queue of retrogression and if anything should happen to E2 and you haven't got AOS or GC then you will have to leave the US. AOS can only happen if visa category is current.
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Peter, please be aware that with California they will not give you a license without a SSN and that you can not get until in the US and a valid work permit. Currently looking at several years wait with retrogression and many nurses including UK nurses are affected. I was but now living in Canada and loving it.
California will destroy your file after 3 years if you do not provide this SSN or you have asked for an extension, may want to consider once passed NCLEX and before 3 years are up on applying to another state to safeguard your NCLEX results. You do have a long wait ahead of you and I am not saying give up but just be prepared for a long wait
You can look for a employer now but many would prefer to see a pass in NCLEX before offering you a job. I would wait until you know things are moving forward with your visa before applying for VSC as it expires in 5 years and you may be waiting longer. Takes on average 4 months to get so once you know things are moving in regards your PD then you could apply for it. We usually post what is happening with the visa bulletin in the International forum when it comes out every month but will not see anything for the next few months as they have already said there will be no movement until the new year starts in October.
To be honest, I'd be just as happy to get a RN position with an employer willing to sponsor me. It might semm like a waste of a Masters, but being able to settle and put down roots is is the most important thing to me.
The trouble is there are more RNs than positions at this time, hospitals are looking to reduce costs there is an administrative cost of bringing a RN on staff. There is a shortage of MSN prepared nurses, that is why I thought a college or university would spend the extra expense looking to employ you. Also colleges and universities have a culture to expose students to different experiences to broaden the educational experience of their students.
If you have permission to work in the US a hospital does not have to sponsor you, only process the paper work which can be a hassle if the clerk in HR does not have the expertise to process the the forms. My point is, a hospital would have the choice of hiring a US nurse with less experience and easy to process paper work which do you think the hospital will handle?
pjliz, where is your husband's business going to be? because obviously that is where you will have to look for employment. and that will depend on whether a hospital will help you get a green card, places with plenty of nurses and especially new grads would not be interested in helping you, but then there are places for experienced nurses although not a lot. back to the university, i dont know enough about it, but our last lecturer on the rn-bsn, was an rn with a masters in education, so would be worth finding out what they would accept. clinical instructors for the adn course, only have to be bsn's.
alexk,silverdragon & cariad, thank you very much, you have already answered several points for me.
am i right in thinking, that the general opinion is that i should be looking at the teaching route, through colleges, rather than the hospital/rn route for gc sponsorship?
either way, will retrogression still be the main stumbling block, and cause years worth of delays before being granted?
is there a way to find the names of teaching colleges etc? sw florida is where we hope to locate to btw.
thanks again for everything so far, there is just so much to take in to try and persue the best route.
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cariad
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you would have to prove your education to be employed by the universities, but they dont pay very well, so they are always looking for nursing lecturers. with an msn you cann teach the bsn and rn-bsn courses. as for the green card, dont know what your position would be as regards being sponsored, maybe even a university would sponsor you, at least you wil be over here and able to work and gain experience.