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Immigration Options for Registered Nurses
By Paschal Obinna Nwokocha
Attorney at Law
There are several options for nurses and agencies that recruit nurses for United States companies, including hospital and long term care facilities. Some options allow for temporary work visa in the United States while others allow a nurse and her to obtain permanent residency in the United States. Deciding on which option to explores requires careful legal analysis and practical consideration offered by experienced legal counsel.
At Paschal Nwokocha Law Offices, LLC., we have helped long-term care facilities, nurses, international recruitment agencies and hospitals in the legal migration to the United States of foreign-trained registered nurses and their families. We have represented numerous clients around the world.
IMMIGRANT VISA
"Schedule A" Labor Certification
Nurses can come to the United States as immigrant; that is, they can obtain “green card” or permanent residency status in the United States. They can also migrate with their spouses and children under 21 years. The United State Department of Labor has “pre-certified” the position of Registered Nurses, meaning that a nurse doesn’t have to go through the labor certification process.
For a nurse to qualify under this, the nurse has certificate from the Commission of Graduate of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) or unrestricted license to practice in a state in the United States. The nurse must also pass oral and written English competency exam.
NON-IMMIGRANT VISAS
H-1C
Under the 1999 Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act, congress created the H-1C visa for nurses to work in shortage areas. This, however, is a non-immigrant visa, which means that the nurse can only work for a short time in the United States; it does not lead to permanent residency. According to the Department of Labor, only 14 hospitals in the United States are qualified to file for petition under this visa category.
H1-B
Registered Nurses are allowed to petition under H-1B visa, since the expiration of the H-1A category. H-1B, however, a minimum of bachelor’s degree. Therefore, the best registered nurse candidate for this visa category is 4-year registered.
TN Visa
TN visas were created under North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It allows Canadians and Mexicans professional to come to the United States to work for one year at a time, with no limit to number of extensions.
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