RN GREEN CARDEither the RN green card visa or H-1B visa is rewarded for having been successful in the board exam. And both the RN green card and H-1B visas entitle the RN and dependents to relocate to USA. There are two types of working visas that RN recruiting agencies/employers usually petition for their foreign trained nurses, and these are: 1. The H-1B Visa. The H-B1 visa is a working but non-immigrant visa. It allows U.S. employers to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations such as registered nursing. Unlike the immigrant visa (green card), H-1B has so many disadvantages including the following; • Duration of stay is 3years, but can be extended to a maximum of 6years. • The H-1B visa holder’s dependents (spouse and children under 21 i.e. holders of H4 visa) can school, but they cannot work and are not eligible for social security number (SSN). • And last but not the least, the RN is only permitted to work for the petitioning employer,that is to say if the RN loses his/her job, he/she has to leave the country. Due to the above disadvantages with regard to the H-B1 visa, most recruiting agencies prefer the Green card visa to H-B1. 2. Green card (Immigrant Visa) In addition to the RN license,other documents that you will need in the processing of your RN green card visa are: • Evidence of a US based employer who will sponsor your green card. This comes in the form of RN job offer and notarized letter from this employer. You present the notarized letter at the embassy at the time of your visa interview. In case you are doing this program all by yourself, you may need an RN travel company at this time. The agency will become necessary to you because of the above requirement. Or you must directly contact a hospital which will be willing to sponsor your visa. Very few hospitals will do that and it is not easy to find and convince one. • The next requirement is a VSC (visa screen certificate). You also present this at the embassy at the time of your visa interview. It is one important document for the occupational visa acquisition. To obtain this, your agency submits an application to ICHP (international commission on healthcare professions), a division of CGFNS. Accompanying this application are transcripts for your RN training program (to be sent in directly by your school), high school education diploma/certificate and verification of your registered nursing licenses (for US RN & first RN).These are also sent directly to ICHP by the licensing authority. And the last document for the VSC is a proof of you having passed an English proficiency test (IELTS/TOEFL, etc). The English proficiency test is waived for registered nurses who meet the exemption criteria. Having obtained the above documents, your agency begins the process of acquiring a green card for you and your beneficiaries. Your beneficiaries here comprise of a spouse and biological/legally adopted children under age 21. The immigration team of your agency will advise on all needed documents for each applicant/beneficiary. The next step is where your employer/agency (usually with the green card application and supporting documents) petitions an office of USCIS (United States citizenship and immigration service) for an occupational visa for you. Upon approval of this petition, USCIS notifies you and forwards your file to NVC (national visa center). Your agency/employer, on your behalf, communicates directly with the institutions involved in this exercise. This is because you have appointed your employer who is also the petitioner as your “choice of agent”.
But you are regularly updated on the day-to–day activity of the RN green card/visa processing. Click here to learn of how RN monitors the progress of his/her Immigrant Visa. The duration for approval of a petition varies from one USCIS office to another, and sometimes depends on the time of the year and workload on that office. It can take few months to a year or more. Having gotten your petition approved, you then submit visa fees in bankers draft for yourself and each family member through your agency. The agency forwards the fees to NVC on your behalf. A nurse recruiting agency will usually not pay for your visa fees.
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To read more about USA Visa and Immigration, click on ForeignBorn
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