This evening the President of the United States delivered his first primetime address from the Oval Office to gain support from the American people to build a border wall along the U.S./Mexico border.
The President’s speech comes 17 days into a partial government shutdown that has left thousands of federal government employees without a paycheck.
The government shutdown has now entered its 13th day with no agreement in sight between the President and lawmakers to settle government funding for the President’s wall along the U.S./Mexico border.
Today, January 3, 2019, the President awoke to a newly convened House of Representatives, now controlled by the Democratic party. The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, is now seeking to pass legislation to re-open the government but will be unable to do so without support from the Republican-led Senate.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stated that the Senate would not vote to pass any legislation that did not concede to the President’s demands to fund the wall.
The President tweeted Wednesday evening his willingness to continue talks with Democrats “to pass a bill that secures our borders, supports the agents and officers on the ground, and keeps America safe.”
In this post, we discuss the different options available for foreign nurses to work in the United States.
First, let’s discuss licensure requirements.
Registered Nurse License Requirements by Examination Educated Outside the U.S.
All applicants who graduated from nursing schools outside the United States must have their transcripts evaluated in a course by course evaluation by one of the following Nursing Commission approved service providers:
*Please review the RN educational requirements of the state in which you wish to be licensed.
An English Proficiency test is required for all LPN and RN license applicants who received their nursing education out of the United States except for Canada (Quebec requires the English Proficiency test), United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and Virgin Islands.
You must take and pass either the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) www.toefl.com or International English Language Testing System (IELTS, academic version) www.ielts.org. This exam is required regardless of whether the program was taught in English.
Foreign nurses must take and pass the national licensure examination known as the NCLEX. Once the Nursing Commission approves your application you will need to register with Peasrsonvue at http://home.pearsonvue.com/ to take the national exam (NCLEX). Do not register for the NCLEX before the commission has approved your application. Once you register, our office will make you eligible on the Pearsonvue website. Pearsonvue will then email you the “authorization to test” (ATT). At that point you can schedule to take the NCLEX exam.
In this blog post, we answer one of your frequently asked questions: can I work while my adjustment of status application, Form I-485, is in process?
Form I-485 is an application that must be filed to register a foreign national’s permanent residence or adjustment of status. As part of the adjustment of status process, an applicant can also file Form I-765 Application for Employment Authorization, which is an application for a work permit. The I-485 and I-765, along with other forms, are typically filed concurrently. The I-765 application can also be filed separately, so long as the Form I-485 remains pending with USCIS.
Once Form I-765 Application for Employment Authorization is filed with USCIS, along with Form I-485, the applicant must wait for the application to be adjudicated. The amount of time that it takes for Form I-765 to be adjudicated depends on your service center.
Once Form I-765 is adjudicated, the application culminates in what is known as an “employment authorization card” or EAD, which is essentially a work permit.
The employment authorization card grants the foreign national the ability to work lawfully in the United States, obtain a social security number, open a bank account, and obtain a driver’s license.
Photo credit: Scott Kirkwood/NPCA
Today marks the fifth day of a partial government shutdown that began on Saturday. The government was forced into a shutdown after Democrats refused to concede $5 billion dollars to fund the President’s wall along the southwest border.
Since then, Democratic leaders in the House and Senate have not opened negotiations to appease the President. If a resolution is not reached before the end of December, it is highly unlikely that the President will receive the money demanded to fund the border wall. When the new House of Representatives convenes after the holidays, the Democrats will command a majority in the House of Representatives, making it more difficult for the President to obtain the necessary funding.
The government shutdown will affect various government entities including the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Labor.
Here’s how it will affect immigration:
EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program:
Without congressional authorization to continue the EB-5 Regional Center Program beyond December 21, 2018, USCIS will not accept new Forms I-924, Application for Regional Center Designation Under the Immigrant Investor Program. Any Form I-924 applications that are pending as of December 21, 2018, will be placed on hold until further notice.
Per the USCIS Website:
“We will continue to receive regional center-affiliated Forms I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur, and Forms I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, after the close of business on Dec. 22, 2018. As of Dec. 22, 2018, we will put unadjudicated regional center-affiliated Forms I-526 and I-485 (whether filed before or after the expiration date) on hold for an undetermined length of time.
All Forms I-829, Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status, filed before or after the expiration date, will not be affected by the expiration of the program.”
Form I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence is a form that must be filed by conditional permanent residents to remove their conditions and receive the ten-year permanent resident card.
Previously, USCIS was taking approximately 7 months to adjudicate the removal of conditions application and would issue receipt notices automatically extending conditional permanent residence for a period of 12 months while the I-751 application was in process.
As of June 11, 2018, USCIS began issuing receipt notices automatically extending conditional permanent resident status for a period of 18 months. This change was made because current processing times for Form I-751 have increased over the past year.
USCIS is now taking an average of 12 months to adjudicate the removal of conditions application, irrespective of whether the petition was filed jointly or as a waiver of the joint filing requirement.
This increase in processing times is owed to multiple factors including an increased workload, the burden on USCIS offices to review these applications, and the volume of applications received by the respective service centers.
There is however a silver lining. Although the processing times have increased for the I-751, USCIS recently announced that under certain circumstances an I-751 applicant may not be scheduled to appear for an in-person interview.
Senate Introduces Bill to Grant TPS to Venezuelans
The Senate has introduced a bipartisan bill that would allow Venezuelans to seek temporary protected status (TPS) in the United States.
The bill is spearheaded by Bob Menendez of New Jersey, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, and Marco Rubio of Florida.
According to the United Nations, more than 3 million Venezuelans have fled their country to escape the dire economic crisis. Venezuelans are struggling to afford basic necessities such as food and toiletries due to the astronomic inflation rate plaguing the country.
The United Nations has called on nations like the United States to take in Venezuelan refugees, given the strain placed on South American countries who have few resources to provide for incoming refugees.
The bill is not expected to advance until the new year, but it is the first step in making Venezuela’s government accountable for the economic crisis and providing relief to Venezuelan nationals.
Asylum requests are currently at an all-time high for Venezuelan nationals.
I-539 Workload Transfer
USCIS has announced the transfer of Form I-539 Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status for F, M, J, or B nonimmigrants from the Vermont Service center to the Texas Service Center, Nebraska Service Center, California Service Center, and Potomac Service Center.
On November 30, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy memorandum that provides guidance to USCIS officers on waiving the interview requirement for Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence.
This memo went into effect on December 10 and applies to all Form I-751 petitions received on or after December 10, 2018. This policy memorandum revises and replaces the June 24, 2005 memorandum, “Revised Interview Waiver Criteria for Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence.”
Generally, a conditional permanent residence must attend an in-person interview with USCIS, before the I-751 petition is approved, but in some instances an immigration officer may decide to waive the interview requirement. The new policy memorandum outlines under what circumstances an immigration officer may consider granting an interview waiver.
The purpose of the interview is to provide USCIS with an opportunity to verify information contained the petition or application, as well as an opportunity to discover new information that may be relevant to the adjudication or determine the credibility of the applicant seeking to remove their conditions.
The House Proposes to Extend the E-3 Program to Irish Nationals
On November 20, 2018, the House of Representatives introduced H.R. 7164, a bill proposing to add Ireland to the E-3 nonimmigrant visa program. Currently, the E-3 visa program is available to American employers seeking to hire Australian nationals to perform services in a specialty occupation for a temporary period of time.
The E-3 visa program functions much like the H-1B program. The program is governed by the same labor certification standards that apply to the H-1B visa program, and much of the same evidence is required. The E-3 visa classification is numerically limited, with a maximum of 10,500 visas available annually for Australian nationals.
The E-2 treaty investor visa allows foreign nationals to make an investment in an existing or new business venture in the United States.
Advantages
There are no numerical limitations on the number of E-2 visas that can be issued, and there is no set minimum level of investment required, however the level of investment that should be made in the business venture should be sufficient to justify the presence of the foreign national in the United States. Although the E-2 visa is granted for an initial two-year period, the investor may qualify to extend their stay in two-year increments, with no outer limit on the total period of the foreign national’s stay.
Disadvantages
Not all foreign nationals are eligible to apply for the E-2 treaty investor visa. To qualify, you must be a foreign national from a treaty country that participates in a treaty of friendship, commerce, navigation or similar agreement with the United States. See below for qualifying countries:
| Albania | Czech Republic | Kosovo | Romania |
| Argentina | Denmark | Kyrgyzstan | Serbia |
| Armenia | Ecuador | Latvia | Senegal |
| Australia | Egypt | Liberia | Singapore |
| Austria | Estonia | Lithuania | Slovak Republic |
| Azerbaijan | Ethiopia | Luxembourg | Slovenia |
| Bahrain | Finland | Macedonia | Spain |
| Bangladesh | France | Mexico | Sri Lanka |
| Belgium | Georgia | Moldova | Suriname |
| Bolivia | Germany | Mongolia | Sweden |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Grenada | Montenegro | Switzerland |
| Bulgaria | Honduras | Morocco | Thailand |
| Cameroon | Iran | The Netherlands | Togo |
| Canada | Ireland | Norway | Trinidad and Tobago |
| Chile | Italy | Oman | Tunisia |
| China (Taiwan) | Jamaica | Pakistan | Turkey |
| Colombia | Japan | Panama | Ukraine |
| Congo (Brazzaville and Kinshasa) | Jordan | Paraguay | United Kingdom |
| Costa Rica | Kazakhstan | Philippines | Yugoslavia |
| Croatia | South Korea | Poland |
Another disadvantage is that the E-2 visa is a temporary non-immigrant visa type. This means that the E-2 visa does not create a pathway to permanent residency. In addition, making an investment in a small business venture is risky. Most small businesses fail. Investors seeking to establish a new business in the United States must be prepared to face challenges, obstacles, and potential losses. If the investment will be made by a company, at least 50% of owners in the qualifying country must maintain the nationality of a treaty trader country if they are not lawful permanent residents.
Visa Lawyer Blog