CHICAGO, IL, May 12 (MARKET WIRE) --
In keeping with its vision to advance regulatory excellence worldwide, the National Council of State Boards 
of Nursing (NCSBN(R)) (www.ncsbn.org) announces the signing of a "Memorandum of Understanding" between 
itself and the following organizations: An Bord Altranais; College of Nurses of Ontario; College of 
Registered Nurses of British Columbia; Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia; Nursing Council of
New Zealand; Nursing & Midwifery Council - United Kingdom; and Singapore Nursing Board on May 5, 2011.

The impetus for this collaboration arose out of an acknowledgement that nursing regulatory bodies across
the world face many of the same challenges; are charged with the similar mission of protecting the 
public's health, safety and welfare; and have a desire to share best practices. The unique relationship 
between these organizations provides the opportunity for them to learn from, share with, and assist each other
with individual and mutual goals. The unique relationship between these organizations provides the 
opportunity for them to learn from, share with, and assist each other with individual and mutual goals.
NCSBN will also take the information gained through this new international relationship back to its 
own member boards of nursing for use in their mission of public protection.
				

Our March 2011 news is now available.  You can access our Immigration News here and our I-9 Compliance Newsletter here.  Should you wish to discuss your immigration case with us, we can be contacted at info@immigrationsolution.net or by phone at 562 612.3996.

We have a volume of free information on our websites that includes newsletters, news flashes, podcasts, blog, and articles.  Please feel free to sign up on our website:  www.immigrationsolution.net to receive our information through email or iTUNES.

We think this could well be the wave of the future for the USA as healthcare reform rolls out and increased demand is put upon primary care providers – physicians and nurses.  We have more on this in our newsletter (link below)

We link to the article here and also link to our special edition healthcare news letter here

Follow these steps to ensure proper registration for the NCLEX examinations:

1. Submit an application for licensure to the board of nursing where you wish to be licensed. Then, verify that you meet all of the board of nursing’s eligibility requirements to take the NCLEX examination.

2. Register for the NCLEX with Pearson VUE via the Internet, telephone or by mailing in a registration form obtained from your board of nursing (photocopies of the registration form are not accepted).

3. Receive an acknowledgement of receipt of registration from Pearson VUE.

4. Receive an Authorization to Test (ATT) letter from Pearson VUE once eligibility is granted by the board of nursing.

5. Schedule to take the exam.

6. You will receive your results approximately one month after taking the examination. Please note, some boards of nursing allow candidates to access their unofficial results 48 hours after the examination via the Quick Results Service for a fee. Contact your board of nursing for more information about this service.

Additional important information for candidates taking the NCLEX examination is available by visiting www.ncsbn.org/1213.htm.

We have received many emails and telephone calls regarding the new position taken by the CA Board of Nursing that now requires that an RN have a work authorized social security number in order to apply for licensure.

There is a general misunderstanding concerning this issue; namely, there are social security cards that are issued for identification purposes that do not permit work – and there are SS cards that permit work and are annotated with work authorization.

There are 3 types of Social Security Cards:

1) Unrestricted Social Security Card:  If you are a US citizen or a permanent resident, you are permitted to work with any US employer without permission from a government agency.

2) Restricted Card:  This social security card has an annotation: VALID FOR WORK WITH  USCIS AUTHORIZATION.  This type of card is issued to temporary visa holders such as H-1B, TN, E-3 or L-1 who are working for a US sponsoring employer.  Note that H-4 visa holders are not eligible to obtain a Social Security Number and cannot be employed, but can hold a driver’s license, open bank account(s) and obtain ITIN (see below) for IRS Tax purposes.

3) A Non-Work Social Security Card: This card has the annotation NOT VALID FOR EMPLOYMENT. This card is issued on a limited basis in certain types of situations such as in order to receive federal, state or locally funded benefits or if a state requires it to receive public assistance.

What is an ITIN number? ITIN numbers are for IRS identification and tax purposes and do not authorize work or provide social security benefits.  For more information:  http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96287,00.html

What is an EIN Number? EIN numbers, also known as FEIN (Federal Employer Identification Numbers) or TIN (Tax Identification Numbers), are issued by the IRS to employers operating in the USA for identification purposes.  In essence, it is the corporate equivalent to a social security number.  It is issued to individual business owners for identification purposes and for paying withholding taxes on their employees.  For more information:  http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=98350,00.html

Applying for Permanent Residency:  If you have a pending permanent residency case (I-485) and are in the USA and have filed and received approval of an I-765 Application for Employment Authorization, you can obtain a social security number for work purposes while you case is pending approval.

Consular Processing your Immigrant Visa:  If you have processed your immigrant visa (green-card) outside the USA at a US Consulate, you are entitled to apply for a work authorized SSN card upon entry to the USA.

If you are a Student: If you are an F-1 student who has completed a course of study, USCIS will grant temporary work authorization or training directly related to your course of study.  Optional Practical Training (OPT) can be authorized pre or post-completion of studies. The on-campus Designated Student Officer (DSO) will assist with the application process.  We link to more information concerning OPT.

How to apply for OPT:  http://www.ice.gov/sevis/students/opt.htm Fact Sheet:  http://www.ice.gov/sevis/factsheet/061404emp_fs.htm

Other Resources:

►  To locate a Social Security Office in your area

►  Applying for a Driver’s License

►  Student Fact Sheet on Obtaining an SSN

We have recommended that RN licensure be obtained through states that do not require the above SSN Restricted Card requirements such as NV, TX or AZ.  If your job offer is in the state of California, following approval of your immigration case, you will be permitted to endorse your licensure over to CA.  It is important not to let your CA licensure lapse (expire), otherwise you will be required to re-take the NCLEX exam.  Give yourself plenty of time to endorse to another state if CA will not grant an extension of your current licensure.

Should you wish to consult with our office regarding this matter or any other immigration related issues, please contact our office.

Beginning March 1, 2010, VisaScreen renewal applicants who can demonstrate employment in the United States in the health care profession that is designated on their International Commission on Healthcare Professions VisaScreen certificate do not have to take another approved English exam for renewal of their VisaScreen certificate if the following criteria are met:

1)  The period of employment must be for at least 27–36 months, including nine months of the year before the date an applicant submits the renewal application.

2)  They will need to have their employer submit an employment summary on corporate letterhead with the appropriate signature for the English requirement to be waived.

CGFNS has made the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services aware of this policy change.

CGFNS is an immigration-neutral, nonprofit organization based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, and is an internationally recognized authority on the education, registration and licensure of nurses worldwide. CGFNS’s mission is to provide responsible leadership in the delivery of relevant services to the global nursing and health care community. The organization was founded in 1977 through a collaborative effort by representatives from the U.S. Department of Labor; Department of Health, Education and Welfare (now the Department of Health and Human Services); the Immigration and Naturalization Service; and representatives from nursing organizations, including the American Nurses Association and the National League for Nursing.

For additional information about CGFNS and its services, contact: CGFNS International, 3600 Market Street, Suite 400, Philadelphia, PA 19104-2651 USA; telephone: +1 (215) 222 8454.

The petitions of applicants who will be processed at an overseas US Consular post are forwarded by USCIS to the Department of State (DOS).  Applicants in categories subject to numerical limit are registered on the visa waiting list.  Each case is assigned a priority date based on the filing date of the initial petition.  There are about 3.5 million on this list.  This is positively disastrous when you consider that our current laws permit 376,000 people to immigrant to the USA each year under the family-based and employment-based systems, with the average wait being over 10 years long!

There are probably another 1 million in the USA waiting to adjust their status and these numbers aren’t even reflected in the DOS report.

About 95% of the people on the list are in the family-based categories and more than 1/2 of these are  in the brother-sister 4th preference category.  At the 65,000 number level for this category, this is a wait time that averages 10-26 years!

The total employment numbers waiting a priority date:  130,509 including 119,759 in the EB-3 category.  This is a 3-4 year wait, ignoring per country limits.  The countries with the largest backlogs are the Philippines (45,331 – mostly nurses and their families.  Yes, there’s something wrong with this picture!) and India (20,467 – mostly IT professionals and their families – something is wrong with this picture, too!).  Then we hear politicians and uninformed folks saying “get in line and wait your turn”  – like the line is actually moving!

It’s a sad state of affairs that points squarely at the fact that we must first focus on legal immigration reform – getting these wait times down to something reasonable.  Do we have any representatives courageous enough to vote for legal immigration reform so that we have a system that doesn’t punish people who play by the rules?

Yes – it’s the season to start preparing H-1B “cap” filings again for Fiscal Year 2011.

The USCIS FY starts on October 1st each year. Thus, fiscal year 2011 starts on October 1, 2010 and runs through September 30, 2011.  Regulations permit cap subject filings 6 months in advance of the October start date for cases to be received at USCIS on April 1, 2010.

The following are suggestions to help you for the upcoming cap season.  Our suggestions are based on existing law, as well as USCIS guidance and our experience from prior years.

USCIS frequently issues updated guidance with slight procedural variations for each fiscal year. For example, the LCA process changed in July – note it is taking sometimes up to 7 days to obtain an approval.  In case of a denial such as problems with verifying an employer’s EIN# which is quite common unfortunately, obtaining an LCA may take even longer.

Immigration Solutions is accepting H-1B cases for FY2011 at this time.  We have a team of experienced attorneys, case managers and paralegals in our business unit who are currently working on new H-1B cap-subject cases.  The cases will be prepared in advance and will be transmitted for delivery on March 31, 2010, for USCIS filing on April 1^st.  In order to file, it is necessary to have an appropriate job offer from a U.S. employer who is willing to sponsor the H-1B case.

The USCIS has increased scrutiny on all H-1B cases and imposed tougher standards, particularly those filed in the IT consulting industry and for software companies. These new standards also affect healthcare staffing agencies that place workers at 3^rd party jobsites.   The standards for approval have become more stringent. It is necessary to recognize this trend when preparing new H-1B cap cases for filing.  For this reason, we recommend that you work with an experienced law firm that specializes in employment-based immigration. Click here to contact us for your new H-1B case now.

NOTE:  Immigration Solutions is sponsoring a free teleconference on February 10^th that will address the tougher standards in the H-1B category.  For more on this and to RSVP, we link to our blog

Unlike many other industries, the healthcare sector is projected to continue growing.  The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report in December 2009 that projected an additional four million jobs will be created in the healthcare and social assistance fields during the period from 2008 to 2018.

There’s an extreme shortage of primary care physicians; there’s an extreme shortage of registered nurses.  Healthcare organizations need to be proactive in planning for the future.

Expanding the capacity of nursing schools is another essential element in preparing the workforce for coming changes, especially if the healthcare system evolves to the point where it needs more advanced practice nurses. There will be a need to educate even more nurses, and capacity would continue to be a problem.

That means that many healthcare organizations may be scrambling to fill vacancies and to develop creative and efficient strategies to deliver patient care.

We link to this article in Healthcare Briefings for more.