BACK FROM DC WITH THE LATEST 03/29/07
The situation is this. Long term we should be in fine shape. The STRIVE Act (Comprehensive immigration Reform) has been proposed in the House and may be proposed in the Senate in the near term. The conventional wisdom is that CIR will not be finalized and signed until this fall. However we talked to one senior staffer in DC who told us that “I wouldn’t be so sure.” Her implication was that political pressure may be such that CIR may get done before Congresses’ summer break.
More immediately we are seeking “bridge” legislation (which will likely take the form of a recapture of older, authorized but unused visas) to help the cause between now and whenever CIR is passed. It was with that in mind that we went to Washington.
We’re running into two problems:
First, there is pressure from one Senator to institute a $1500 training fee. Understandably, this is not something that the industry supports. It would serve as an additional cost on top of what is already an excessively costly process.
Second, there is a general tenor in DC that everyone with an immigration issue should wait for CIR. When one group finds out about another’s issue moving down the road, they complain. As a result no one immigration issue is moving.
All of that having been said, there is still a very realistic chance (50%) that there is a bridge/recapture legislation before Congress breaks for the summer. We, along with a lot of others, are continuing to push this issue.
What can you do to help?
If you or any of your clients, friends, or relatives who work for Hospitals. The TIME IS NOW to get them to talk to their Hospital Executive team. We need these Hospital Executives to call on their Senators and let them know a simple message. If Hospital Executives do not call, the Congress will not hear the message.
- The nursing and PT shortage in this country is untenable.
- Foreign-trained nurses and PTs are all English fluent and pass the identical exams as their US counterparts.
- Foreign-trained nurses and PTs (who make up about 15% of all new nurses and PTs) MUST be part of the solution.
If your Hospitals Executives would like help reaching out to your Congressional Representatives, please contact Chris Musillo (cmusillo@hammondlawfirm.com) or the HLG attorney that you ordinarily work with.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
54 Responses to this article
Dear HLG,
Thanks for the update and your great effort to end this Retrogression Issue.
As you said we still have 50% chance of recapture of unused visa, Do you have those influential Senators contact info so that we (HLG blog readers) can write some notes to them? Do you think it will help in any way?
When is the Senate Summer Break? Looks like if recapture bill does not take place soon, we will have to wait a long way.
As always, Thanks for your continuous effort to resolve this issue.
When is the Senate Summer Break???
Thank you for the update. Not very promising one, but realistic.
What about elections 2008? Will anybody have any time left for the immigrant’s issues this fall?
Thanx again
You kept saying there is a chance for the recapture of unused visa, but still nothing happens, don’t you think you’re just giving us false hopes? Can we apply for a working visa while we’re waiting for the immigrant visa to become available?
Referring to the post above, I don’t think HLG is giving us false hopes, they are just giving us updates and most importantly the news that you can ever get anywhere. Remember this, they are not the US government and they don’t make laws. While I appreciate their updates, I would suggest you to do whatever you wish to do, get a work visa or whatever…no offense, just don’t rant here.
Dear HLG
Thank you very much for all that you are doing. Having spent 2 years in the “waiting room” and already complied with ALL requirements only to be told about retrogression in November 2006 which was the time that we were due to go for our green card interview, havind already sold our house and my husband has sold his business you can imagine what kind of mess we are in now. From your site I have discovered just how many other people are in the same situation. My greatest sympathy and support to those as well. I have always seen America as a country of the highest moral standing. Surely it is immoral to apply retrogression to those people that are so far down the pipeline. Surely retrogression should only apply to new applicants so that they know what they are up against before they go through the expensive and time consuming process of compliance.
If possible please can you supply us with e-mail addresses of “supportive” senators in order that we might petition them to assist us in our plight. For us a working visa is not a solution. I am not prepared to give America 3 or 6 years of the best years of my life only to be discarded at a later stage. For us we either become loyal dedicated American citizens otherwise we will have to seek another country that might appreciate us.
Thank you again and please keep up the good work.
Gail
South Africa
I do appreciate HLG for all they are doing and for running this blog, but there was a post where they say “we have learned that there will be another amendment by easter”, later on they did not mentioned it at all and said 50% chance in 3 months or so,
HLG please continue all effort, but please dont be obligated to be “nice” and to say things that are not that true.
HLG we appreciate what you are doing. Thanks for all the info and updates you are making.
I am in the US right now and I dont know whether I should exit or not.
So, please continue sending those updates and give us the real score so that we could plan accordingly.
Again, thank you.
Dear HLG,
Thanks for using this medium to keep us informed.
Please continue to push for the recapture of unused visas to be used in the interim!!
We did our interview already and were then told a day after that no visa is available. We were that close. Therefore, you can just immagine how we felt?
Please continue your good work.
US summer runs from June 21st – Sep. 21st. Fall follows right after. (just got this info from Yahoo answers) HLG, it would be helpful if you could provide us with at least the month if you were to post a timeframe instead of the name of a season. Remember, we are still anxiously waiting for the time when we can experience your 4 seasons and know the exact time of the year when each season occurs.
anyway, a much more better question would be, WHEN EXACTLY DOES CONGRESS TAKE ITS BREAK? When does it start, June, July, mid-July or what? We wouldn’t really know so we are hoping that you could provide us with an exact date of this break so we can best manage our time and anticipation.
Like everybody else, I have been in this battle for almost FIVE LOOONGGGGG YEARS now. I had been almost there when this “second” retrogression happened. Apparently and unfortunately, I’ve been through “two” retrogressions already. Like everyone else, I am anxiously, frustatingly and painstakingly waiting for the time when a US visa is in my hands. Until that day comes, there’s nothing else I can do but wait, and of course read your blog everyday.
As usual, THANK YOU OH SO MUCH HLG for your unyielding support for us PTs.. and nurses too. We really do appreciate it.
Hoping only for the best,
PT from the Philippines.
Facing a huge deficit, it is understandable big-shot senators are proposing increased fees all the time. However $1500 extra would not be a big hurdle, the real issue seems to be the 2nd one. Somebody once said if a problem could be solved by money, then it is not a problem.
Frankly speaking if I could get my GC issue solved immediately, I am willing to pay ten times of $1500.
Please continue to work towards getting a “bridge” fix!!
For US’s future, let us pray that the political force could really achieve something good soon, for RNs, for the future of this great country!
I truly believe that if we quibble about the $1500 training fee that we are cutting off our noses to spite our faces…I’d pay the$1500 fee in a heart beat if it meant that it would get me to the states before “the 12th of never”….bring it on….we have to placate the powers that be …it’s the way off the world. Mary Kennedy
thanks for the update. more power
Dear HLG,
Thanks for the update and for all your great efforts.
I too feel that HLG can possibly work on to push the Recapture bill. I am confident that HLG can do it. Hope and wish HLG will take this seriously and work hard and find ways and means to push Recapture before Easter.HLG will be blessed.
Thanks and wish all those are waiting for the retrogression to be over all sucess. Don’t loose hopes. I have a strong feeling that before Easter Recapture bill gets thru and Retrogression will be over soon.
Wish good luck
Once again i request HLG to persuade this once again.
We the entire retro affected nurses must respond aggresively instead of remain idle with this situation. We must co ordinate with our counterparts at India and china to find any solution for this retogression. We should nt allow to conduct any CGFNS/NCLEX exams in our country until retrogression is finished. This is a real mockery towards the nurses. While there is no visa quote available what is the sense of conducting such exams all over the world.First they must make available visas for nurses and then go with the recruitment activities.
I am a philipine nurse working in Dubai.
THANKS HLG!!! no matter how it turns out, its good to know that you have been there for us..
JA DGTE PHIL
Dear HLG,
thanks for the update and were really hoping for the good news to come. When will be the summer break?
The Congresses take their summer break from 8/21 to 9/20 for one month. If you google key words, you can find the answer. That time is too late for me, and may be for most people affected by retro. I’m in US now but don’t have a work permit (no SSN), I cannot even renew my CA license without a SSN. So my license will expire if I don’t renew it in OCT. And it takes 3 months to get EAD even if you have visa numbers available now. That’s why it is time critical to have visa numbers immediately.
The Congresses take their summer break from 8/21 to 9/20 for one month. If you google key words, you can find the answer. That time is too late for me, and may be for most people affected by retro. I’m in US now but don’t have a work permit (no SSN), I cannot even renew my CA license without a SSN. So my license will expire if I don’t renew it in OCT. And it takes 3 months to get EAD even if you have visa numbers available now. That’s why it is time critical to have visa numbers immediately.
Thanks a lot HLG! We are so very thankful to have all the updates from you to ease our burden and agony of waiting in the dark. We are also glad that we are being served by your expert lawyers in facilitating our work and/or immigrant visa. It’s nice to know that you are really working that hard to solve this retrogression problem.
I hope this efforts will come to a good fruition. We are hoping for the best to come soon.
Philippine RN
Thank you HLG for all your efforts.
I agree with an earlier post, people need to keep in mind that HLG is not the government and therefore they do not make laws.
They predict(using their expertise and resources) the future of retrogression.
We cannot get this type of information anywhere else.
CIR has NO, I repeat, NO chance of passing. Our only hope is Scxhedule A retrogression relief through separate amendment. Need proof, read the following article from the Denver Post:
Immigration reform sputters
A White House plan has lawmakers split along party lines, with Sen. Ken Salazar pointing to “onerous” conditions.
By Anne C. Mulkern
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 03/29/2007 11:07:22 PM MDT
Washington – A renewed congressional drive to pass immigration reform hit a roadblock Thursday when lawmakers split along party lines on a White House proposal.
Republicans either defended the Bush administration’s ideas or called them starting points for discussion.
Democrats said parts of the proposal were unworkable, including high costs to apply for permanent residency, and a temporary-worker program that would not allow workers to bring their families.
Those party-line differences came less than a day after a bipartisan group of senators, including Colorado Democrat Ken Salazar, met to start work on a new immigration bill.
“I do not want a comprehensive immigration reform proposal that’s not going to be workable,” Salazar said. “When we create conditions that are so onerous, it won’t solve the problem.”
The differences underscored how controversial and difficult it still may be to pass legislation, even though the Democratic- controlled Congress and the Bush administration want immigration reform.
The Bush administration’s ideas for immigration reform legislation have come out as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has met with Republican senators.
Those meetings have been “to try to build consensus among a majority of Republicans,” on immigration, White House spokesman Blair Jones said.
“Once a majority of Republicans begin to coalescence, we would meet with Democratic senators to discuss a way to build broad bipartisan support for comprehensive immigration reform,” he said.
The president’s initial proposal, according to those familiar with it, includes a provision for temporary workers to stay two years, after which they must leave the country for six months.
They can then renew twice, for a total of six years.
The proposal requires illegal immigrants who want legal status to pay fees starting at $3,500, plus a balloon payment of $8,000 if they gain permanent-resident status.
The proposal also shuffles some categories of work visas, reducing the number allotted for family members such as adult children, adult siblings and parents, said Marshall Fitz, director of advocacy for the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
“Temporary workers are here to meet the needs of the country,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Those workers shouldn’t necessarily get to bring family members or get in line for permanent residency, Graham said.
Salazar said he is reserving judgment on the Bush proposal “until I see how these concepts are laid out in a bill.”
He added, “I don’t want to see the tool of immigration reform break up families. I don’t think that’s the moral high ground.”
Thanks for the update.I am also a daily reader of your blog.my case was completed in NVC on august 2006,from that day waiting for this retrogression to be lifted.May our ALMIGHTY GOD help us to solve this problem.Thank you HLG for your update.
Thanks to HLG for prompt information and efforts that they put into guiding the helth professionals into this difficult times during retrogression.
I would just comment on the summer brake time…maybe it will be little sooner.
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/resources/pdf/2007_calendar.pdf
I don’t put much hope that anything will happen before Easter as Senate is not in session until April 10th.
God shall give enough patience to everybody.
We cannot afford to just wait until summer. WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING! Let us all unite to get a big attention.WE BADLY NEED THAT RECAPTURE.
Waiting until summer is not a good idea, it means we can only be in the US by 2008. I am only waiting for my packet 4, it is so hard to accept that I have to wait for a year just to have that.
PEOPLE AFFECTED BY RETROGRESSION PLEASE LET US DO SOMETHING SO THAT THERE WILL BE A RECAPTURE SOON.
Here is what I think about retrogression. We will not have a recapture visa before CIR bill is over. After this CIRcus is over, then we will have a greater chance of recapture bill to be passed.
Why can’t they just separate legals from illegals?!
Thank you to HLG!
Patience is a virtue. Let us calmly wait for the retrogression to be lifted. Surely it will not take long. To HLG more power. thanks for all the inputs. Thanks
Taking one more shot at immigration reform
By William McKenzie
COMMENTARY
THE GAME IS back on, and not a moment too soon. Republican Jeff Flake and Democrat Luis Gutierrez filed a top-to-bottom immigration bill in the House last month that jump-starts a discussion that had gone into hibernation since the November elections.
Last we heard, President Bush was signing a bill that authorized 700 miles of fence and barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border. That little bit of nonsense was as far as Washington could get in 2006. Even conservatives along the border, like Texas Gov. Rick Perry, thought a wall alone wouldn’t stop the flow of illegal immigrants.
Everyone had been waiting for Ted Kennedy and John McCain to start things with a new Senate bill, but Flake and Gutierrez in the House beat them to the filing deadline, which is good.
Congress only has about six months to make serious progress on immigration, before the 2008 presidential campaign swamps everything, so Flake and Gutierrez offer needed giddy-up.
They also prove that bipartisanship is not dead in Washington. Their effort differs significantly from the House version of immigration reform from 2006, when Republicans controlled the chamber and produced a punish-the-illegals bill that led to a wall and little else.
This year, the House could help the country find a better answer. With Democrats in charge, and Bush still pushing, there’s a greater chance legislators like Flake and Gutierrez can deal honestly with the large flow of illegal immigrants.
Their proposal mirrors what Senate reformers like Kennedy, McCain, Mel Martinez and Chuck Hagel persuaded their chamber to pass last year. The Flake-Gutierrez bill wants tougher border security, worksite enforcement, 400,000 legal foreign workers annually and a chance for illegal immigrants to earn citizenship.
That 400,000 number is important. It reflects the estimated number of illegal immigrants who come here each year. If we have enough guest worker passes to match that flow, we will have fewer people coming here illegally.
That’s just one of the sweet spots legislators need to hit to reform our broken immigration system. Fixing the problem of 12 million illegal immigrants living here, and another 400,000 coming in annually, requires the right combination of toughness, openness and realism. Without each, we won’t fix the problem.
The Bush White House will have its hands full getting enough Republicans to back this kind of broad fix. Plenty of those Republicans, now in the minority, still don’t want to go beyond building walls and deploying more agents.
To its credit, the administration keeps trying. It is working with conservatives who opposed the Senate bill last year, including Texas Sen. John Cornyn. Team Bush needs to keep at it to see if it can help forge a deal that includes a number of Republicans and conservative Democrats.
If the president can’t persuade the hesitant to jump on board, he will face decision time this spring. Should he support a full-bore fix passed with mostly Democratic votes?
Yes, he should.
First, the country badly needs it. The same-ol’ same-ol’ is not stopping illegal immigration. Instead, it’s only tempting states like Texas and towns like Farmers Branch to solve a truly national problem.
Second, Bush doesn’t want to return to Texas in 2009 as the guy who built a wall between the United States and Mexico. If that’s all he brings home, that wall would contradict the understanding he has demonstrated since his days as governor of the two nations’ symbiotic relationship. (Cecilia Munoz of the National Council of La Raza last year described Bush as the first president since LBJ who looks comfortable with Hispanics.)
Interestingly, some Republican opponents of a broad immigration plan might welcome a Bush victory, if they can’t get one for their side. One GOP congressman I spoke with last week said some House members think it would be better if the train just ran over them, rather than leave the immigration issue hanging out there forever.
That’s a few weeks down the road. Flake and Gutierrez have provided an opening for people in both parties to start cracking this nut now.
Senators like Kennedy and McCain can do us all a favor by coming up with a bipartisan Senate bill soon. The president has shown guts on this, and people in both parties want a solution. Let’s find it this time.
SO HOPEFULLY THIS WILL BE OUR CASE IF THE US SENATE WILL SUCCESSFULLY ENACT THE STRIVE ACT ALL OF US WILL BE IN THE US IN A YEAR OR LESS TIME.GOD WILLING!
The Best thing for us to do is wait
HLG,
So law makers are basically saying that it is all or nothing… either we have a comprehensive bill that tackles EVERY aspect of immigration, or nothing gets done. That’s like saying “while we are waiting for a complete renovation of our house, we will not do any kind of maintenance, like taking out the garbage, fixing a water leak, etc.”. Letting the entire system virtually grind to a halt for years is unbelievable. This affects people who are already in the system – people who wish to come to the US legally, pay taxes, fill jobs where there is a well documented shortage, invest money in the economy, etc. These people have followed the rules only to have the door slammed after they have spent years of effort (not to mention the cost involved). How is this fair? Many people are in limbo, unable to plan for their future.
Dear HLG,
Please answer the following question:
In the past, Schedule A visas enabled nurses to receive their Green Card right away once in the U.S. With Strive Act, would Schedule A still enjoy this immediate Green Card status or would we become some kind of guest worker and have to wait years for our Green Cards? Will the Strive Act give us the same status as before or not? Please help me understand exactly what would happen to us under Strive Act. Thanks.
I am currently in nursing school and will be graduating in December 2007. I will apply for OPT and work for one year. Is there a chance that retrogression will be over by mid 2008??
Church Leaders Push Immigration Reform
By Staff
Apr 2, 2007
Religious leaders from several denominations are joining the fight over granting U.S. citizenship to the nation’s estimated 12 million illegal immigrants.
With lawmakers in their home states for Congress’s spring break, many will receive visits from local clerics supporting a bill that creates a path to citizenship for those in the country illegally, USA Today reported.
Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, said his members will be targeting 40 U.S. House of Representatives Republicans who traditionally depend on the evangelical vote.
Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention has joined forces with U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., who is pushing immigration reform in the Senate. Land told the newspaper the nation has “a biblical mandate to act compassionately” toward “hard-working and otherwise law-abiding immigrants.”
Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles said he sees the Roman Catholic Church’s lobbying efforts as part of a long tradition.
“Since 1770, the Catholic Church has helped every wave of immigrants,” he told USA Today. (c) UPI
I HAVE TAKEN THIS FROM ANOTHER IMMIGRATION ADVOCATE’S SITE.I HOPE THE EFFORTS OF THIS GODLY MEN PAYS.IT’S NICE TO KNOW THAT THERE PEOPLE OUTSIDE BOTH HOUSES WHO CARED FOR HARWORKING FOREIGN WORKERS.To HLG thanks for everything I wish you were my lawyer.But anyways if I will eventually be able to work in the states,I will let you handle my petitions for my loved ones back here in the Philippines.I SWEAR!!!
hey Folks,
Here is a link where Mr. Greg Siskind , an immigration lawyer discusses about CIR bill that was introduced in House last month.
Its pretty good. check out here
Well, its time for Cherry Blossom here and its getting nice in DC.
Hope, things will get settle down as Congress comes back from spring break.
ELCA Synod Bishops Meet with Members of Congress on Immigration Reform
Title: ELCA Synod Bishops Meet with Members of Congress on Immigration Reform ELCA NEWS SERVICE
April 2, 2007
ELCA Synod Bishops Meet with Members of Congress on Immigration Reform 07-049-AL/CC*
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Several synod bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) urged their members of Congress and key congressional staff March 22 to enact comprehensive immigration reform in 2007 that is “humane and for the common good.”
Specifically, the bishops emphasized that comprehensive immigration reform legislation must: + protect and unite families. + protect human rights and worker rights. + end marginalization, and + provide a path to permanence and eventual citizenship.
Key components that the bishops believe help to fulfill these principles include: elimination of the family visa backlogs; fair and humane enforcement provisions and the elimination of the unnecessary detention of families and children; earned legalization of the nation’s 10 million undocumented people; a future worker visa program to meet the economy’s employment needs; and a path to permanent residence and eventual citizenship for those who earn legalization or receive temporary work visas and who choose to be permanent members of communities.
“Our theology and practice call us to be a public church and to speak boldly and confidently in the public arena,” said the Rev. Edward R. Benoway, bishop of the Florida-Bahamas Synod, Tampa. “Being a church of immigrants, we must pull from our own life stories to give encouragement and support to new immigrants of our present day.”
Bishops met with both Republican and Democratic legislators from their districts, and also met with Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., chair of the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Border Security and International Law. Before their meetings on Capitol Hill, the bishops listened to several briefing sessions on immigration, including briefings from Matt Wilch, senior counsel for policy and advocacy, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS); Christina DeConcini, director of policy, National Immigration Forum; Ur Mendoza Jaddou, chief counsel, House Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law; and Flavia Jimenez, National Council of La Raza. In between briefings, the bishops had time to discuss the scriptural basis for immigration issues and to plan next steps to take on the issue. The two-day event was hosted by the ELCA and LIRS.
This was the first meeting of a group of bishops who identified immigration issues as a critical priority in their own communities and on a national level. The bishops are planning to request a meeting with President George W. Bush to discuss comprehensive immigration reform, in addition to other advocacy efforts in the coming months.
“The Lutheran bishops are united in their resolve not only to ‘welcome the stranger’ but to embrace the worlds, cultures, issues and gifts they bring with them,” said the Rev. Stephen P. Bouman, bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod. “What kind of community will emerge in this changed, global world? This spiritual conversation was at the heart of our conversations with our leaders in Congress, and undergirds a vision for comprehensive reform of immigration policy which takes seriously both our need for security and the well-being of families who are our new neighbors.”
“We are moved by the bishops’ pastoral concern and prophetic witness on behalf of the most vulnerable newcomers in our midst,” said Ralston H. Deffenbaugh, Jr., LIRS president. “LIRS is committed to working with policy makers, the Lutheran churches, and with the wider community to help create a system that is humane, that works for the common good and that helps to assure welcoming communities for newcomers.”
Similar groups of ELCA bishops have self-selected to work on other advocacy issues, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, hunger and poverty, and the environment. These groups will be available to testify before Congress, speak to the media, write editorials, and encourage the people in their synods and other bishops to take grassroots action on these issues.
In addition to Benoway and Bouman, bishops present at the gathering were: + The Rev. Paul J. Blom, bishop of the ELCA Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod, Houston + The Rev. Gerald L. Mansholt, bishop of the ELCA Central States Synod, Kansas City, Mo. + The Rev. Theodore F. Schneider, bishop of the ELCA Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Synod + The Rev. Paul W. Stumme-Diers, bishop of the ELCA Greater Milwaukee Synod
LIRS, based in Baltimore, is a cooperative agency of the ELCA, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. LIRS works to resettle refugees, protect unaccompanied refugee children, advocate for fair and just treatment of asylum seekers and seek alternatives to detention for those who are incarcerated during their immigration proceedings.
STOP RETROGRESSION NOW
Let’s tell Congress to provide first-aid while we are waiting for the cure…
We need Schedule A Visa now…
Retrogression is not an immigration issue now but is a healthcare issue that needs to be address to Congress. The United States has a huge number of shortage on Registered nurses and P.Ts. Hammond Law Group should continue to lobby for the recapture of unused/authorized visas for schedule A cathegory. Again this is a HEALTHCARE ISSUE not an Immigration issue.
I agree with anonymous, why don’t they separate legals form illegals?
I mean, nothing against hard working people who are in the US illegally, but it is hard and expensive to do things right, they should separate and give credit to those of us who comply with the US law in spite of difficulties.
Yes, I agree with many of the recent commenters…maybe we should keep our marketing strategy(re our cause )simple and emphasise that we are linked to HEALTHCARE CRISIS and not to IMMIGRATION…when things become too complex it’s time to strip to basics….we can just keep reciting out mantra when other immigration groups fret…”what about us?”….we are a separate ball game…keeping things simple simplifies debate (which is what we want) and will give the powers that be a sound simple rationale to rcapture our visas….Mary Kennedy
We nurses, we don’t deserve this….this totally unfair!! If this is the road they are offering us, much better to welcome other offers from other countries..after all the sacrifices we had after taking all those required exams..I hope they would also feel how hard is it to pass and pay all those exams…Why is it hard for them to give relief for nurses. We are not illegal migrants, in fact we deserve better benifits than this for we are definitely serving the American people with all our fidelity and sincerity.we simply ask for a RELIEF……thanks HLG for bringing our voice to everybody…mabuhay!!
It has already been too long a wait to see retrogression sorted.
Bring it to an end NOW.
Dear HLG,
The gap between Good Friday and Easter is only one day. I hope even the gap between the retro and the recap will be so short if the US Govt is inspired by the spirit of Resurrection this Easter. Happy Easter! God’s best!!
All,
Here is one piece that latimes published about PT shortage.
Hope media will take effective role in solving the issue along with HLG’s effort.
Kudos to HLG and its crew.
Click here
Hello everybody,
First thanks HGL for all the information and the support. This is my first post.
I’m an international RN educated in the USA and currently in USA facing the retrogression dilemma as you all are facing.
My suggestion is that the media needs to know about our stories. The media needs to know about how the retrogression effect the health care system in the US.
I wrote down some email addresses that you can contact with your personal stories as nurses and as PT’s. Make sure that you focus how retrogression effect the health care in the US. That it’s a health care problem not an immigration one .
email addresses
ABC 20/20 : 2020@abc.com
WORLD NEWS NOW: wnn@abcnews.com
CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/registration/register.php
Oprah
http://www.oprah.com/email/reach/email_reach_fromu.jhtml
Thank you.
I think that it’s obvious to everybody that our issue is an immigrational one also!! How CAN ANYBODY SEPARATE? Nurses get green card and become immigrants. very good permanent residents but still immigrants.
Just get the news that H-1B cap was reached at the first day of receiving application on 4/2. So it has become a big problem for companies hiring engineers and scientists. The Congress will discuss this problem for sure, and it should happen earlier. Either they speed up the CIR discussion or single out H-1B quota bill. If single out H-1B bill to pass, Schedule A recapture should have a chance to pass too. Speeding up CIR may also helpful. Hope this is good news for RNs and PTs in retro.
Just get the news that H-1B cap was reached at the first day of
receiving application on 4/2. So it has become a big problem for
companies hiring engineers and scientists. The Congress will discuss
this problem for sure, and it should happen earlier. Either they speed
up the CIR discussion or single out H-1B quota bill. If single out H-1B
bill to pass, Schedule A recapture should have a chance to pass too.
Speeding up CIR may also helpful. Hope this is good news for RNs and
PTs in retro.
Just get the news that H-1B cap was reached at the first day of
receiving application on 4/2. So it has become a big problem for
companies hiring engineers and scientists. The Congress will discuss
this problem for sure, and it should happen earlier. Either they speed
up the CIR discussion or single out H-1B quota bill. If single out H-1B
bill to pass, Schedule A recapture should have a chance to pass too.
Speeding up CIR may also helpful. Hope this is good news for RNs and
PTs in retro.
dear hlg,thx for the update.
i hope just and pray that retrogresssion will be lifted soon. It’s painstaking to wait for few months or maybe years ..we don’t know! Having spent time&effort to apply ,review and waiting for the results of both my ielts and nclex exams .. which fortunately passing both hurdles this time i need to wait again..for the visa to become available.
HLG, watching that RETROGRESSION COUNTER on top of your blog only makes us more frustated and slowly lose hope. As the retrogression days go by, the chances of getting a retrogression relief also become slimmer.
I know you’re already doing your part in solving this dilemma, but just please continue to push for the recapturing of unused visas. We’ve been waiting long enough and we’ve paid the necessary fees, and this is not so easy for us. This is really unfair. The fees are sky-high and it is also not easy to prepare for these exams and fly to Guam(for PTs) to take the NPTE. We are doing our part and we comply with the law religiously.
WE NEED A RELIEF.
Thanks HLG.
PT Phil.
Fixing Broken Health Care System
By Scott K. Fallis
I would like to comment on the recently published article “Death Rate Higher in Heart Attack Patients Hospitalized on Weekends, Study Finds” in the New York Times on March 15, 2007 that reported that heart attack patients entering New Jersey hospitals on weekends had a higher mortality rate than patients arriving during the week.
According to the Dr. Donald Redelmeier, a professor at the University of Toronto health department, due to a lack of medical personnel working on weekends, patients didn’t receive the same quality of emergency medical treatment that could be expected on weekdays. This shortage of on-duty medical staff on weekends, according to William J. Kostis who led the study, meant that one patient in a hundred potentially died unnecessarily because of a lack of trained medical professionals working on weekends. New Jersey is not alone in having trouble coping with a constant and increasing shortage of medial staff employed to provide proper health care to patients. In all fifty states and especially in rural areas, hospitals are severely understaffed and patients are faced with bigger and bigger lines in emergency rooms and have to wait longer and longer to receive their medications, speak to a doctor or nurse, have an operation or even get a bed in a hospital.
Medical reform is something America cannot put on the backburner, as a crisis in our health care system is looming large. For anyone who has ever been inside a US hospital, it is commonly known that the main channel of communication is with a registered nurse. The current patient to nurse ratio is 20:1 and it is projected by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that by the year 2020 there will be over 800,000 nursing vacancies in the USA. American researchers are on the cutting edge of medical science and America has some of the best research centers and hospitals in the world but the quality of service as well as the health and safety of patients is being jeopardized by the lack of health care professionals such as registered nurses and physical therapists working in U.S. hospitals. There is no way that nursing schools can cope with the ever increasing demand for qualified RNs and the only logical and viable solution is to promote immigration of qualified, licensed registered nurses from such places as South Korea, the Philippians, India, Canada and Mexico. Before an immigrant nurse can step foot in a US hospital, they must take and pass an assortment of exams including NCLEX, IELTS or TOEFL; receive a CGFNS VisaScreen Certification and go through and fill out an enormous amount of paperwork as part of the immigration process. NCELX is the same test American nursing students must take and pass to receive their nursing license and IELTS/TOEFL are English language proficiency tests that have very high standards for passing and CGFNS reviews the applicants educational and professional background and experience to make sure it is consistent with US accepted nursing standards and issues a VISASCREEN Certificate once all requirements are met.
So, immigrant nurses are in every way as qualified as their American counterparts and also have the added advantage of being bi- and multilingual and willing to work shifts that American RNs usually shun (overnight and weekends). America needs to welcome overseas nursing professionals who are ready, eager and able to shore up the current shortage so that Americans can receive the kind of medical care they not only want but also deserve. At present, due to Schedule A retrogression since last November, immigrant RNs and PTs who have been waiting years for their chance to come and work in the US are unable to obtain a work visa and their lives are in limbo. Other countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Kuwait and UAE openly welcome and recruit RNs and PTs with hassle free visa procedures and offer extremely competitive compensation packages and America will lose the opportunity to hire many of these workers if it doesn’t act soon to end retrogression.
Last week, America missed a great opportunity to relieve the terrible nursing shortage when the “Hutchison Amendment” was removed from Senate Bill #4. S4, also known as the 9/11 bill. Senator Kay Hutchison’s amendment would have allocated 90,000 visas (Schedule A) for nurses and physical that would have gone far to alleviate the severe shortage of RNs and PTs in US hospitals and ensured a dramatic improvement in the level of health care and services currently being provided to patients. It was a terrible mistake not attaching the “Hutchison Amendment” to the 9/11 bill because hospitals in New York, New Jersey and throughout the US are already ill-equipped to handle the constant flow of patients seeking medical attention so how would they deal with a sudden surge of thousands or tens of thousands of wounded and dying patients if another catastrophe, natural or manmade strikes again. If another 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina occurred, thousands of lives could be lost because Congress so far hasn’t passed the necessary legislation to increase the number of Schedule A visas and allow RNs and PTs from overseas to fulfill the ever increasing demand for their services and skills in US hospitals.
It is unconscionable that the Senate failed to see the link between Homeland Security and meeting urgent hospital staffing needs. Whether or not disaster strikes, the fact remains that Americas will continue to receive inadequate patient care and suffer and die unnecessary until Congress ends retrogression and offers Schedule A relief. Some in Congress want to avoid piecemeal legislation that could solve the nursing shortage and include it as part of the controversial Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). CIR is primarily focused on dealing with the millions of illegal Mexican workers and other illegal immigrants already in the US. It is ridiculous to hold the US healthcare system hostage to this entirely unrelated issue as RNs and PTs applying for immigrant visas have followed the rules of legal immigration and have waited in a very long line for their chance to come, live and work in America as so far we, as Americans, are shutting them out. The best message Congress can send on the issue of immigration is that America is still a land of opportunity and immigrants are welcome to come if they can positively contribute to American society and are willing to follow the rule of law. A government that ignores the plight of highly skilled and desperately needed immigrants is sending a message that the American system is broken, illogical and self-contradictory.
I am convinced that the average American has no idea that hard-working, qualified, decent people are waiting years for the chance to be employed by American hospitals and care for American citizens. Registered Nurses and PT’s are following the rules and laws of legal immigration but Congress seems too distracted by the Iraq War and the upcoming Presidential elections to fix our broken immigration system. I ask all Americans interested in fixing our immigration system and guaranteeing hospitals have adequate numbers of medical staff to provide patients with proper care to write their lawmakers in the House and Senate and ask them to pass legislation as soon as possible to allow foreign-born registered nurses and physical therapists to obtain their Schedule A visas so they can come and work in US hospitals.
well, i will just continue praying that retro will end soon.
thanks HLG for all your efforts!
Please hear our crying voices……….!
Multitude of Nurses an PT’s are desperately waiting and stuck with their American Dream, well in fact many other countries warmly embrace them. Some can’t back out in their application because they already signed contract with their local and US based hospital employer. Otherwise, they’ll breach contract. Domino effect resulted in this problem. Depression, family disputes/marriage break up,sleepless nights,financially drain and job burnout are the ill effects we are now experiencing. For how long are we going to endure all these hardships and pains?