Permanent
Residence for Nurses - Immigrant Petition
The
following requirements are necessary for a
foreign nurse to be sponsored under the EB-3
(Green Card) category of the INA:
-
A nursing
Diploma
-
RN license
in home country
-
Holder of a
CGFNS certificate or a full unrestricted
license to practice professional nursing
in the state of intended employment
Immigration
Processing
Immigration
processing for foreign nurses involves the
Immigration and Naturalization Service
(INS), State Department National Visa Center
and the various Consular Offices abroad.
Visa Screen
Certificate
Section 343
(Health Care Worker Provision) of the
Illegal Immigration Reform & Immigrant
Responsibility Act of 1996 codified at INA
Section 212 (a)(5)(C) requires an alien
seeking to enter the United States for the
purpose of performing labor as a health care
worker (other than a physician), to present
a certification from the Commission on
Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS)
or an equivalent independent credentialing
organization approved by the Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS) verifying that:
-
The alien's
education, training, license, and
experience meet all the applicable
requirements for entry under the
employment-based preference category
specified in the petition and are
comparable with what the U.S.
health-care worker for the same type
-
The alien
is competent in oral and written English
as demonstrated by the passage of a
nationally recognized exam; and
-
The alien
passed a licensing examination which is
recognized by a majority of the states
licensing the profession in which the
alien intends to work (if such a license
licensing exam exists)
-
The
designated organizations are required to
certify not only regarding the
credentials of the alien, but also the
alien's English language competence as
measured by the approved standardized
test.
H-1C
Registered Nurses in Medically Underserved
Areas
The 1999
Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act
provides opportunity for certain hospitals
in medically underserved areas to employ up
to 500 nurses nationally in temporary H-1C
status. The hospital must obtain an
attestation from the U.S. Department of
Labor before submitting the H-1C petition to
the INS. To qualify to petition for H-1C
nurses, the hospital must show that it is
located in a federally designated health
Professional Shortage Area as of March 30,
1997 and have a minimum of 190 acute care
beds, have a minimum percentage of Medicare
and Medicaid patients.
H-1B
Specialty Occupation Status
Registered
nurses are not usually considered
professionals for purposes of obtaining H-1B
since hospitals and facilities routinely
hire nurses who lack a bachelor of science
in nursing degree. Hospitals or facilities
can still sponsor a nurse under the H-1B
statues provided it can show that the
position to be filled by the RN requires a
four-year college degree and complies with
the requirements under 8 USC s 1101(a)(32).
Focus must be on the tasks, demands, duties,
and actual requirements of position as
specified both by petitioner and industry
documents. The position must require
knowledge, both theoretical and applied,
which is almost exclusively obtained through
studies in institutions of higher learning.
Hospital's
Role As Part Of The Immigration Process
Hospitals
that are involved in the hiring of immigrant
nurses will play the following role:
-
Provide
detailed position criteria, including
job descriptions.
-
Provide
detailed company data including
financial statements.
-
Provide all
contractual information including
employee contracts
-
Provide all
documentation provided by Care Advantage in regards to immigration
processing, Care Advantage will
undertake responsibility of providing
all necessary documents to clients.
The hospital
will be of dealing with the Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS), State
Department National Visa Center and the
various Consular Offices, through Care
Advantage and its retained attorney.
Care
Advantage will provide the client with a
monthly update within a client specific
candidate tracking system, stating what
stage each candidate is at within the
immigration process.
Nurse's
Role As Part Of The Immigration Process
The nurse
will play an active role throughout the
immigration process with direct contact to
Care Advantage. They will provide the
following:
-
Resume
-
Diploma
-
Nurse
License
-
CGFNS
Certificate, if available
-
All
International Qualification
Certifications
-
Contact
information including telephone, e-mail
and mailing address
All tasks
required by the nurse will be communicated
by Care Advantage on an ongoing basis. |
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