Work Visa for Foreign Nurses: Is there such a thing?

suzanne4, RN · Mar 2, 2008

You also need to hold an actual license for Maryland as well as a Visa Screen Certificate for them to even consider you for the visa. They cannot submit anything without this being done and in hand.

astroboy · Mar 3, 2008

What about the L1 visa? Is it possible for a foreign educated like me to go to US with that VIsa? i hold a NM license. they say the sponsor is in Texas....could you please enlighten me with this?

I would want to go there but with retrogression, I know it will take me 5 or more years. my idea is to grab any visa available say...a working visa or this L1 visa and then before it expires, to adjust for a new status while I'm there and hopefully in two year's time ( this is the duration of the contract with L1 visa ) I can already find an employer to sponsor me for the immigrant visa.

I haven't signed with any agencies and just trying to weigh things and consequences.

suzanne4, RN · Mar 3, 2008

What about the L1 visa? Is it possible for a foreign educated like me to go to US with that VIsa? i hold a NM license. they say the sponsor is in Texas....could you please enlighten me with this?
I would want to go there but with retrogression, I know it will take me 5 or more years. my idea is to grab any visa available say...a working visa or this L1 visa and then before it expires, to adjust for a new status while I'm there and hopefully in two year's time ( this is the duration of the contract with L1 visa ) I can already find an employer to sponsor me for the immigrant visa.
I haven't signed with any agencies and just trying to weigh things and consequences.

L1 will not work for nurses, it is for other professions in the first place. Just had mentioned it to state how things have changed for spouses.

Texas is the H1-C in a few hospitals. But again, we do not expect visas to open up in two years so you will have to leave the US. There are no shortcuts to working in the US.

Adn there are no visas that are there for you to grab.

Silverdragon102, BSN · Mar 3, 2008

L1 you need to be a manager and it is usually an internal transfer so company already has US offices

The United States L1 visa is a non-immigrant visa which allows companies operating both in the US and abroad to transfer certain classes of employee from its foreign operations to the USA operations for up to seven years. The employee must have worked for a subsidiary, parent, affiliate or branch office of your US company outside of the US for at least one year out of the last three years.

http://www.workpermit.com/us/us_l1.htm

CCC_RN · Jun 5, 2008

i am registered nurse from the philippines and i already passed the nclex exam. i still do not have any hospital experience yet but i do hold a bachelors degree. i have contacted a nursing home in california which is willing to do direct hiring using h-1b visa. although i am willing to get hospital experience first, accordng to them, they do not require it, i just have to have my own lawyer to do the paperworks. can anyone pls tell me if this is something that i should run away from or take into consideration?? am i really qualified for an h-1b visa??

suzanne4, RN · Jun 5, 2008

Sorry, but nursing homes do not qualify for H1-B visas in most cases and you need to be aware that the next time that they could even submit for you is next year in April, and it is going to be a very slim chance of you even getting it. It is by the lottery system and only 65,000 for the entire US.

And most jobs in nursing homes do not even qualify for the H1-B as they do not require that degree as entry level for jobs there.

Does not matter what they tell you, they do not issue visas and it does not matter what the attorneys tell you, they get paid just for completing the paperwork, most could care less if it gets approved or not.

I would stay away from it and the other fact that you need to be aware of is that many nursing homes are actually unionized and the unions do not permit temporary visas, especially in CA.

plumbabe · Jun 6, 2008

I have a pending immigrant petition, actually my PD is August 2006, my doc are with the NVC already. After 2 years of waiting because of this retrogression, I explored other means of going to the US. Someone from a Florida Hospital was recruiting nurses for clitical care under H1B visa. I tried asking about it. Got feedbacks that there are some nurses approved and actually had their visas already. Now, my questions, Should i take the plunge and go to US with H1B visa? What will happen with my Immigrant petition then? Can I actually change my status when I arrive in the US? Or should I stay here in my country and just wait for my immigrant visa? Moderators please advise me on this.

suzanne4, RN · Jun 6, 2008

Chances are that you are being petitioned by another employer for the green card, and if you come to the US with another company, then they have the right to cancel out your petition. It is not transferable to a new employer and you start from the beginning again.

There are no visas currently available so even coming to the US will not permit you to adjust your status to anything else. And be aware that if the visa gets cancelled for any reason, you will have only 30 days to leave the US and will not be able to remain here.

And do not forget the cancellation fee that will need to be paid to the employer that started the petitioning process for you.

And I know exactly the thread that you are speaking about and we still have not seen anything from the facility, only from an immigration attorney. There are several nurses here that have actually been petitioned by that facility and I find it hard to imagine that they were never informed of the H1-B even being available for them. There are a few that are working there now as well as others that are still waiting for the green card. And they were never informed about the H1-B by HR at that hospital either.

Things just do not add up to me. Before you should do anything, you need to contact the employer that has petitioned you.

plumbabe · Jun 6, 2008

Yes, My immigrant petitioner is from Pennsylvania and the H1B from Florida. Different Company. Their immigrant lawyer said that I can always just change petitioner after one year. True?

Your last paragraph suzanne confuses me. How come they are recruiting a lot of nurses for H1B now about a 100 perhaps. Seems like they are so confident that H1B visas will be issued.

I already talked with my immigrant petitioner already. They say just to wait for my PD to be current. But at the end of the day, It is still my decision. It's hard, coz I really don't want to mess up with immigration later on.

suzanne4, RN · Jun 6, 2008

You cannot change the petitioner if the initial petitioner cancels your documents and they would have every right to do so since you would no longer be available for them.

And you can only change petitioners if you were submitted thru the AOS process and it has been more than six months for approval on the I-485, so the attorney is giving you wrong information at best as well.

As I said before, the nurses that were brought over on the green card for that same facility have never had the H1-B dangled in front of them and there are some that are waiting for the green card for that same facility. Find it hard to believe that HR would not have mentioned it to them.

You need to be aware that if you sign with another company and are then expected to fulfill the terms of that contract, what are you going to do if your PD becomes current?

You mentioned speaking with the attorney, who gave you incorrect information by the way, or have you actually spoken with a manager at the employer for the green card. That is what you need to do and not have any middlemen involved as they are the only ones that can authorize anything for you, not even the attorney can do that.

Petitioners are never changed once they are submitted, it requires that things be submitted from the start all over again. And if someone is needing to hire 100 nurses or even 200, then that says something about their staffing. Getting that many newbies into the system and where are the old timers going to be with all of their experience?

plumbabe · Jun 7, 2008

Suzanne, thanks so much for these information.

Im really confused now, a big part of me just wants to wait for my immigrant visa but for how long. Their offer with H1B is just so tempting. One of my friends had interview with the embassy last week and given H1B visa, twas so fast, she just applied last april 2008.

I have talked with my green card petitioner, even their CEO. He told me just to wait for my immigrant visa. Nothing beats IV. H1B is just temporary. You never know what will happen in the US with H1B. True. But then he might be saying this for me not to leave. Maybe there are ways of changing H1B to immigrant during my 3 years stay as HIB. Afterall every H1B went this path to immigrant.

Have you heard about H1B for critical care? The ones they are hiring are those with special skills.

I don't want to mention the hospital and the people that I have talked to, maybe you know them. Guess I just have to pm you.

Thanks suzzane

suzanne4, RN · Jun 7, 2008

Suzanne, thanks so much for these information.
Im really confused now, a big part of me just wants to wait for my immigrant visa but for how long. Their offer with H1B is just so tempting. One of my friends had interview with the embassy last week and given H1B visa, twas so fast, she just applied last april 2008.
I have talked with my green card petitioner, even their CEO. He told me just to wait for my immigrant visa. Nothing beats IV. H1B is just temporary. You never know what will happen in the US with H1B. True. But then he might be saying this for me not to leave. Maybe there are ways of changing H1B to immigrant during my 3 years stay as HIB. Afterall every H1B went this path to immigrant.
Have you heard about H1B for critical care? The ones they are hiring are those with special skills.
I don't want to mention the hospital and the people that I have talked to, maybe you know them. Guess I just have to pm you.
Thanks suzzane

The issue is that if you sign a contract with the new facility and I believe that they are for two or three years, what happens if the green card would become available for you? You are going to be backing out of one of the signed contracts and you will get a cancellation fee. This is the point that I am trying to make to you.

If you go with the new employer, your PD date then will be cancelled as it is not endorsed or transferred to a new employer with the CP processing ever. And if there are no visas available now, which there are not, then there will not be any way for you to adjust your visa.

That is the reason for the 800,000 petitions last summer, as it could not be done for several years for many. With that number, you are looking at about five years for a chance at a green card. Being in the US with another visa will not be a benefit at all to you in terms of getting the green card.