Please use this
questionnaire if you are a healthcare organization seeking to sponsor a
foreign-born registered nurse. Please fill out the form and then e-mail it to
our office, and thencall our office at
(919) 844-6610 to schedule a free legal consultation with Attorney Jennifer
Chun.
INFORMATION
ABOUT YOUR HEALTHCARE FACILITY
Name of
Facility:
Address
Number and
Street:
City:
State:
Zip:
Contact
Information:
Name:
Title:
Address (if different from above):
Number and
Street:
City:
State:
Zip:
Phone:
Fax:
E-mail:
Person
Authorized To Sign INS Documents (if different from above):
Name:
Title:
Address (if different from above):
Number and
Street:
City:
State:
Zip:
Phone:
Fax:
E-mail:
web address
Describe Facility's Type of Business:
Federal Tax
Identification Number:
Year
established:
Number of
Employees:
Gross Annual
Income:
Net Annual
Income:
Number and
Department of Nurses needed
Job Description
of Nursing positions available
Please send us
Company Brochure / Information Kit and Recently filed tax returns and/or
Financial Statements
a. A diploma from a nursing school in her country;
b. An RN license in her country; and
c. A full and unrestricted license
to practice professional nursing in the state of intended employment, or a
certification that she has passed the examination given by the Commission on
Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS).
2. RNs are listed as shortage, or
Schedule A¡±, occupations. An employer who wishes to immigrate an RN is exempt
from having to submit an application for alien labor certification to the
Department of Labor or to a State Employment Security Agency.
An employer submits an immigrant visa
petition (Form I-140) to the office of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS): Typically, the INS
will approve the visa petition in two to three months.
3. The INS sends the approved visa petition to the National Visa
Center (NVC). The NVC forwards a packet to attorney containing biographical
information forms to be completed by her and a list of documents, which must be presented at her
interview for permanent residence.
4. The attorney, sends the signed and completed forms to the U.S. consulate
where the nurse will have her interview for permanent residence. At this
interview, the nurse must present various documents including the following:
a. Application for Immigrant Visa
b. Police Clearance
c. Birth Certificate
d. Marriage Certificate, if any
e. Divorce or Death Certificate of Spouse, if any
f. Valid Passport
g. Medical Examination
h. Photographs
i. Recent job offer letter (or employment contract)
j. Financial information regarding employer
k. Government filing fee
l. VisaScreen Certificate
Generally, the process of obtaining
permanent residence may take 12 months.
If the RN is in the United States, the
nurse may be able to start working for the employer more expeditiously than if
she resides abroad:
If RN is in the U.S., she may take the
state licensing examination (officially known as the National Council
Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses or NCLEX-RN). http://www.ncsbn.org
The employer must submit an immigrant visa
petition(Form I-140) to the appropriate INS Service Center on behalf of
the nurse.
Upon approval of her visa petition, assuming
her priority date is current, the RN and her family members (spouse and
unmarried children under 21 years of age) may apply for adjustment of
status(I-485) to permanent residence in the U.S. Simultaneously, they may
apply for employment authorization documents(EAD), and possibly, travel
authorization documents (¡°advance parole¡±). EAD will be issued within 3
months, which she can start working.
H-1A: It
was created by the Immigration Nursing Relief Act of 1989 (INRA) and expired on
1995.
H-1B: Many companies' H-1B visa petitions have
been denied based on the fact that even though the nurse may possess a
bachelor's degree, the job (regular staff nurse) does not require a bachelor's
degree.
According to current INS
regulations, nursing is not a "specialty occupation" and does not
require a bachelor's degree. Therefore a Registered Nurse is not
qualified for the H-1B visa category. In cases of supervisory or
management positions, or in subspecialty areas, the bachelor's degree may,
indeed be required and the position may therefore, qualify, if the petitioning
hospital or employer can verify / confirm the bachelor degree requirement to
the satisfaction of INS.
H1C:It was created by Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act of 1999
(NRDAA) and valid until June 13, 2005. The period of admission for H-1C
nonimmigrant aliens is 3 years and cannot extend stay.
Trade NAFTA Work
Permits
Nurses who are
citizens of Canada are exempt from visa requirements. They may work in the U.S.
in Trade NAFTA (¡°TN¡±) status if:
1. They have an
offer of employment from a U.S. employer for a period not to exceed one-year
2.
They are licensed in
Canada and in the state of intended employment;
3. They have a proof of
Canadian citizenship
RN status may be
renewed on a yearly basis either by having the nurse reenter the U.S. with the
documents listed above, or by requesting an extension of TN status to the INS.
The VisaScreen requirement is waived for all
nonimmigrant nurses.
The INS regulations provide that the
only organization authorized to issue VisaScreen certificates to RNs is the Commission on Graduates of
Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS). The CGFNS is located at 3600 Market Street,
Philadelphia, PA, 19104-2651; telephone: (215) 349-8767; fax: (215) 349-0026;
e-mail: support@cgfns.org
Passing scores for
RNs are as follows: TOEFL Paper-Based 540; TOEFL Computer-Based 207; Test of
Written English (TWE) 4.0; Test of Spoken English (TSE) 50.
For information
about taking the TOEFL, TWE and TSE exams contact:
http://www.ncsbn.org