Filipino Nursing Herald

After an extended period of time, I am finally able to write again on this blog. To those who've been generously clicking their way to this site from time to time, I offer you my gratitude and also, my apologies for not living up to your expectations and updating more often. Even after being on hiatus, this site still gets a couple of messages, mostly from people needing information about NCLEX test applications and job opportunities, and also from a few people who've stopped by just to say, they appreciate this site. To everyone, thank you for viewing this blog. I would say that I have been overwhelmed by work, whether online or offline, in these recent times. These are difficult times so we all have to our own share of work. The fun part about work though, is it ends everyday. Of course you start work again the next day, but it doesn't consume you 24 hours a day. I should have spent part of that free time writing here, but I have been having so much fun "having fun o...

The proposed immigration bill for nurses and physical therapist, or HR 5924, has been reported to be out of the subcommittee level in the US House of Representatives' Judicial Subcommittee. The bill is now up for full Judicial committee voting, likely in August, experts claim.

A new proposed legislation in the US. House of Representatives seeks to give up to 20,000 visas per year to nurses and physical therapists up to September 2011. The proposal, HR 5924 or the Emergency Nursing Supply Relief Act, would waive the quota for these two occupations, also known as Schedule A jobs, up to 2011 but a maximum of 20,000 visas can only be approved every year. Immediate family members of primary visa beneficiaries, however, would not be counted against the 20,000 yearly cap. Based on the new proposal, the US immigration department must make a decision on I-140 petitions within 30 days of receipt. Also being proposed is the allocation of a Grant Fee, where beneficiaries of the new visa allocations must pay $1,500 which will go to a fund to help US nursing schools. Visa applicants must also provide legal proof that they do not owe money that was used to finance their education in their home country, such as student loans, for example. Click here to see the full text of...

The quest for new nurse visas continues to be a steep uphill climb, while the U.S. is struggling out of a quagmire of a possible recession, brought about by the credit and housing crisis. Add to the mix the heated race for the presidency and you've got a very tough environment for legislators espousing immigration-related laws. We remain hopeful that something will be done this year before the presidential elections consume the entire US political landscape. Some of the good news that have come out recently include the advancement of the EB3 Visa to Jan. 1, 2005. We blogged about this a while back. Another good news coming in is a proposal from Sen. Kent Conrad to extend the J-1 waiver program for physicians serving in underserved areas. Aside from an extension, the bill also seeks a cap exemption for doctors. If this bill moves forward, many are hoping that an equivalent provision for nurse visas are included in the final version. At this time, we can only hope that efforts to en...

The U.S. Department of State has issued its March 2008 Visa Bulletin and, interestingly, the priority date for employment-based category three (EB3) has jumped from Nov. 2002 to Jan. 2005. This news should bring cheer to those whose priority dates fall under the new cut-off and put hope back in the hearts of those waiting for their priority dates to become current. Here's a link to the March 2008 Visa Bulletin .

Welcome 2008. A new year has arrived and the question on most foreign nurses' minds is about the immigration prospects for foreign nurses to the US. The past year showed very little progress for nursing immigration and this year, an election year in the US, promises very little for a comprehensive immigration reform in the country. Continue to have faith, however, that there could be good news for nurses hoping to migrate to the US. If there is something that can be done this year, it should happen in the first quarter when the entire US is not yet consumed with election-related issues. Immigration expert Carl Shusterman , in his monthly newsletter, says that he is hopeful a legislation to bridge the nursing shortage in the US would be passed early this year. "House leaders have indicated that a bill to recapture unused visas for registered nurses and physical therapists will be considered during the first quarter of this year," Shusterman said. Let us hope and pray that ...

With retrogression, hospitals in the US have temporarily suspended their sponsorship programs for foreign nurses. Some continue their recruitment efforts but the most they can do is file for the Petition for Alien Worker or I-140. When visas become available, look for US hospitals to start sponsoring foreign RN again. Here are a few hospitals in Southern California that have sponsored foreign RNs in the past: Saint John's Health Center - www.stjohns.org Good Samaritan Hospital - www.goodsamcareers.org Tenet California - teamtenet.com Enloe Medical Center - www.enloe.org Antelope Valley Hospital - www.avhospital.org White Memorial Hospital - www.whitememorial.com Just like other hospitals, these facilities have put their foreign recruitment efforts on hold, but look for them once there's some relief from retrogression. IMPORTANT NOTE: This posting should not be seen as an endorsement, rather it is for information purposes only. Please do your own research into these facilities f...

For those anticipating updates about retrogression, just continue to be patient. The US Congress is on break until Dec. 4. Today's the start of Thanksgiving in the US so everyone's on vacation mode at this time.

Kaiser Permanente is one of the biggest hospital staff employers in the US. They have headquarters in Oakland, California and are located in 9 states and in Washington, D.C. I've heard many good feedback about Kaiser and how they treat their employees well. But getting on board Kaiser is a difficult process if you don't have any hospital experience, particularly U.S. hospital experience. A hospital recruiter told me that Kaiser in South California does not sponsor foreign nurses, but Kaiser facilities in North California do. So, once visa retrogression is out, I would recommend those with years of experience to check out this potential employer.

Since the last push for new Schedule A visa allocations was stymied by US legislators, there's been no news of other similar proposals being pushed forward yet. At least, not that we know of. A lot of things happen in Capitol Hill and it's impossible to keep track of all of them. I guess the general sentiment in the US is that the big immigration issues will be addressed only after the presidential elections in Nov. next year. The issue is mostly focused on what America will do with its large population of undocumented immigrants. The issues affecting people in the employment-based categories like the technology workers, nurses and PTs are collateral damage, so to speak. The US Congress is currently rushing to finish about 10 spending bills or budget bills and just like the last Schedule A visa push, we're all hoping another proposal will be attached to one of these bills. Hopefully another visa proposal will be introduced without restrictive provisions such as the $3,500 a...

A US House and Senate conference committee has approved the Labor-HHS-Education budget bill that combines the proposed budgets for Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. The bill will be presented and voted on by Nov. 5. We're still trying to confirm if the proposed recapture of 61,000 Schedule A visas made it through. Update: There's news that the proposed recapture of visas for Schedule A occupations did not survive the conference committee.

The US budget appropriations bill where the proposed re-allocation of Schedule A visas is tacked on to is currently being deliberated on in a conference committee involving both the US House of Reps. and the US Senate. Here are some links that provide updates on the progress of the bill: US Senate Appropriations Committee US House of Representatives Apprpriations Committee You can also search Google News for the latest updates. Just google "Labor, Health, Education Appropriations bill"

The proposed 61,000 visas for Schedule A workers in the US is caught in the middle of maelstorm involving Democrat lawmakers and President Bush. Read the latest news from the Washington Post about the state of US appropriation bills, one of which includes the proposed new visas for foreign nurses.

We've written before that President Bush has threatened to veto the appropriations bill where the proposal to recapture 61,000 visas for nurses & PTs is attached. To understand why the White House and the US Congress is at a standoff on this issue, go through some of the statements released by Sen. Robert Byrd, chairman of the Senate Appropriations committee, to learn some history about the matter. Read this statement to start your research.

Here's a link to the full text of Amendment 3449 as submitted to the US Senate. Full text of Amendment 3449.

On Tuesday, the US Senate approved by unanimous voice vote to include Amendment 3449 to the budget appropriations bill of the Departments of Labor, Health & Human Services, and Education. Amendment 3449, introduced by Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, seeks to give 61,000 visas for nurses, physical therapists and their immediate families. Nurses and PTs are part of the Schedule A classification, which states that these occupations are shortage jobs in the US. The approval of the amendment in the Senate is a major victory. The Senate was recently the battleground for the controversial immigration reform bill which was voted down. The appropriations bill will now face a Senate-House conference for the final phase of the legislative process in Congress. If the bill gets through, it will be submitted to President Bush for final review and approval. At both levels, the bill faces very tough challenges. If the bill makes it past the joint conference, the President could still veto the bill ...

The US Senate approved a proposal to attach the Bridge amendment to the Labor Health and Human Services appropriations bill. The amendment would open up as much as 61,000 visas for nurses and their immediate families. This is very good news indeed. There is still a long way to go, but this is a major step forward for all foreign nurses. There is a threat that President Bush might veto this bill if it passes the conference. Bush' displeasure with the bill is not directed against the bridge amendment, instead his attention is focused on other provisions of the bill, particularly with regard to the size of the proposed budget under the bill. Read the full story from Hammond Law's blog .

Over the past week, two amendments were offered in the US Senate that would recapture unused visas for Schedule A applicants, particularly foreign nurses, and their families. Hammond Law Group, in its Web site , said these amendments could be tackled as early as this week. The first amendment seeks to recapture 61,000 unused visa. This amendment is being attached to the Labor Health and Human Services appropriations bill co-sponsored by Sen. Schumer and Sen. Hutchison. The second amendment seeks to recapture visas not just for Schedule A workers and their family members but also for other Employment-based visa applicants. We hope these amendments get approval and their parent bills later being signed into law.

The failed push for an immigration reform law in the U.S. Senate cast a gloomy shadow over other immigration-related legislation, including the Strive Act, which seeks to give, among others, visas to foreign nurses to work and live in the U.S. Since many legislators have declined to touch the topic of immigration, it's good news indeed that one of the influential newspapers, the Wall Street Journal, in the U.S. have adopted the cause to enable the entry of foreign nurses as a short-term solution to the growing nursing shortage crisis. Here's a link to an editorial published on Sept. 12 in the WSJ. The link is from a post in the Hammond Law Group blog .

The U.S. Congress, particularly the House of Representatives has revived the debates on immigration issues in the U.S. through the STRIVE Act. The Subcommittee on Immigration held its hearing on the proposed bill last Sept. 6. I've been trying to find out if anything significant came out from that first hearing, but have found little news so far. It's still too early to tell what will come out of this new effort to put in place a new US immigration law but I'll keep this site updated on news about the proposal when they become available. Some links to stories: Heartbeatnews.com Statesman Journal OC Register