Seeking employment in US now easier for Pinoy nurses

MANILA, Philippines — Seeking employment in the United States is now easier and faster for Filipino registered nurses and caregivers.

Migration consultant Manny Geslani said processing of immigrant visa for registered nurses and caregivers now takes less than a year.

“Gone are the long and tedious wait for two-three years during the pre-pandemic years which discouraged some nurses from applying for work in the USA,” Geslani disclosed over the weekend.

Quoting prominent Fil-American immigration lawyer Salvador Tuy, Geslani said that Filipino nurses and caregivers can depart faster for the US “as long as the required documents are submitted electronically to the hospital or caregiving facility who had requested for the immigrant visa for her.”

According to Tuy, the pathway for Filipino nurses to enter the healthcare industry in the US has become easier and faster through the electronic processing system implemented by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS).

He said a foreign nurse who is issued an immigrant visa by the USCIS automatically becomes a green card holder and has permanent resident status in the US.

Tuy said that there is a current shortage of 190,000 nurses in the US. Nurses there receive an average monthly salary of $6,900 or higher depending on the specialty and professional experience.

Based on records, about 18,617 Filipino nurses took the latest National Council Licensure Examination – a 90 percent jump compared to the previous year.

“This indicates the strong interest of the nurses to work for better employment opportunities and for their future in America,” Geslani pointed out.

It is expected that more than one-half of those who took the exams will pursue their desire to work in the US with the passing rate of 80 percent set up by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.

The demand for Filipino nurses for employment to US Hospitals continues to rise with the easing of COVID restrictions and huge shortage of health workers to care for the rising population of senior citizens known as “baby boomers.”

Meanwhile other Filipino nurses who could not wait for US jobs opted to work in the UK or Germany to join the National Health Service, or the Triple-Win system of the Department of Migrant Workers/Philippine Overseas Employment Agency. – Rudy Santos