H-1B visas are for professional workers in “specialty occupations” including engineering, technology and health care. Foreign nurses may qualify for H-1B visas to live and work in Illinois as Lawful Permanent Residents (green card holders). All nurses do not qualify for an H-1B visa. H-1B visa qualifications include that the job must require at least a Bachelor’s degree:
The H-1B program allows companies in the United States to temporarily employ foreign workers in occupations that require the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or higher in the specific specialty, or its equivalent.
Many nursing jobs do not require a Bachelor’s degree. Many RN and LPN positions require a 2-year degree, not a 4 year Bachelor’s degree or other nursing certification. Nurse practitioners, nursing instructors, nurse managers, clinical nurses and other nursing occupations that require a 4-year degree are more likely to successfully apply for an H-1B visa.
A foreign nurse must find a nursing job that requires a Bachelor’s degree in the U.S., the employer must sponsor them for a green card by completing a health care worker labor certification Form 9089 with U.S. Customs and Immigration Service. If USCIS approves the application, the employer can then file the I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker petition for the nurse. If that is approved, the nurse can then apply for Lawful Permanent Residence and a green card.
Godoy Law Firm’s experienced Illinois business immigration attorneys can assist foreign nurses and a wide range of professional occupation H-1B visa applicants. Contact us today at 855-554-6369.
Immigration Attorney Mario Godoy has years of experience guiding clients with immigration issues through the immigration process along with guiding clients through the criminal case. Godoy focuses on family-based immigration law, business immigration law, removal defense, and criminal defense representation of immigrants. A criminal charge or conviction can be devastating to your immigration case. With over a decade of immigration law experience and memories of family members who were deported due to bad legal advice, Godoy is committed to helping other immigrant families receive the legal justice they deserve. As a legal entrepreneur who practices immigration law, criminal law, estate and probate law, and running two successful law firms, Mario Godoy understands the importance of keeping families together and making a home and future in America.
