Canadian RN wants to work in the US,can the spouse also work

Hello everyone,

I hope I am posting this in the right place on this forum.

My wife and i are considering a move to the US. She is an RN and has begun the licensing process. As i understand it she can get a visa to work in the states with help from an employer and we will be able to move to the US along with her but my concern is will i be able to apply for a work visa once I am there.

I have a post secondary diploma from a college but not university so as far as i can tell I cannot apply for a job before hand.

I really do not understand this process and would appreciate any advice or suggestions from someone with expertise or experience in this area.

Thanks in advance for any help eh.

In order to work in the United States you will need work authorization. If your wife is entering the United States to work as an RN, she is probably going to enter under TN-1 Status. This will then allow you to obtain TD status as her dependant. Unfortunately, TD status does not grant work authorization. You would need to obtain your own work authorization. Your ability to obtain work authorization depends on a number of factors such as: education level, experience, professional field, etc... Depending on your years of experience and profession, you may qualify for work authorization. More details about your education, experience and profession would be necessary to provide a complete answer to your question.

Thanks for the response. I have worked in retail sales management(electronics/telecomunications) for 18 years, as for education I graduated from a 3 year college program (computer programming). I have done some research and I seems that my field might qualify for a work visa if i can find an employeer willing to sponsor me. I am curious if i can enter the country on my wifes visa and then search for work while i am there. Thanks again for the earlier answer, it is dificult to find acurate information about this process.

Yes.

Before you begin employment you will need your own work authorization. Based on your experience you would qualify for an H1B visa.

I am a canuck--and a RN, but did my schooling in the USA. My two younger/smarter sisters are RN's back in Canada and they have had RN friends who wrote the CRNE and the NCLEX and stated they were two different exams!! I can't recall on how! 1 said the NCLEX was much harder than the CRNE and the other said it was just different,lol. A good site is allnurses.com for NCLEX info. I took Kaplan prior to writing the NCLEX, and I think it was a great tool. They offer online NCLEX prep courses! I did the inclass 1, and was a waste of time! Should have just done it online! As the big things with Kaplan are the study text books(which covers everything--may be able to buy it on Ebay) and the online question bank. Cheers

Yes.

Before you begin employment you will need your own work authorization. Based on your experience you would qualify for an H1B visa.

Thank you so much for the information. My wife and i have been discussing the matter and are considering an attorney, i will contact you by phone within a couple weeks.

I am a canuck--and a RN, but did my schooling in the USA. My two younger/smarter sisters are RN's back in Canada and they have had RN friends who wrote the CRNE and the NCLEX and stated they were two different exams!! I can't recall on how! 1 said the NCLEX was much harder than the CRNE and the other said it was just different,lol. A good site is allnurses.com for NCLEX info. I took Kaplan prior to writing the NCLEX, and I think it was a great tool. They offer online NCLEX prep courses! I did the inclass 1, and was a waste of time! Should have just done it online! As the big things with Kaplan are the study text books(which covers everything--may be able to buy it on Ebay) and the online question bank. Cheers

thank you for your post, my wife purchased the Kaplan book the day we came up wth the idea, as we understand it she needs to pass her nclex, then get a job offer from an employer willing to sponser her and lastly apply for a florida licsense and a ss#.

where did you work n the US?

I worked in the DC area. Now living in Nicaragua. Good luck on the job front, I know the RN jobs are not as plentiful as they once were. As well kaplan offers a online package that just has the question bank. The kaplan book I am referring to is their course book, NOT a book that contain questions. I do not believe they sell that book, but some people sell them on Ebay. On ebay search: Kaplan: The RN Course Book Its a purple book, and u can see a stethoscope hanging over onto the front of a gals chest. It sort of covers everything. Fair # of delegation/priority questions, I wrote it back in 2009 and I think it changed in 2010. Nclex changes every 3-5 yrs. It is computer based. I know when my sisters did the CRNE, it was pencil/paper and didnt find otu the results for a long time. 1 finds out their results usually next day or soon after. If you go onto allnurses.com in the NCLEX forum, they show you a trick where you can find out unofficially in a few hours.

http://www.vue.com/nclex/ pearsonvue is the company that has the contract to admin the NCLEX Read throughthe DOWNLOADS, you will find some interesting info, such as what happens if your time is up and you have not goner through all 265 questions, etc etc. Esp go through the ONLINE tutorial for NCLEX examinations--as that ionfo is the exact same info you will see on test day on ur computer, so u can 1)be prepared for the kind of different questions formats they will ask you and 2) you can quickly go through it and get crackin on the exam. I thinbk the min # of questions is 75 and the max is 265 and yes people pass with the min (even I did,lol) and with the max. If you have any questions with the NCLEX ask away.

Thanks again for the great info, i forwarded this link to my wife for her to look over, it will be really helpfull.