This program is no longer offered.

This page is being preserved for archival purposes only. We do not currently offer the Foreign Nurse Recruitment Program.

This program is offered by Vancouver English Centre (VEC) and The Icon Group (Icon). Icon is a well-established recruiter of foreign-educated nurses for hospitals in the United States. VEC is one of the largest language schools in Canada. Each year, Icon helps hundreds of foreign nurses establish rewarding careers at hospitals in the USA. These nurses are eventually able apply for citizenship and remain permanently in the United States with their families.

Benefits

The Foreign Nurse Recruitment Program helps nurses through each step of the process, from the initial pre-screening to the first day of work. Here is what is included:

• Pre-Screening, to ensure that the nurse has a reasonable chance of success
• Final screening and interview by a Clinical Nurse Interview Team composed of two Clinical Nursing Managers from a large American Healthcare provider
• Assistance with the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX), if necessary
• Assistance with the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) exam, if necessary
• English language training
• Preparation for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test
• Interview with the American Hospital
• Help obtaining a Canadian Study Permit, if necessary
• Help obtaining a United States "Green Card" immigration visa and H-1b work visa

Requirements

The basic qualifications for recruitment are:

• CGFNS passage
• 4-year Bachelor of Science degree
• Three years experience working as a Registered Nurse

If a nurse has passed CGFNS, upon hire and reporting for work, the nurse will be reimbursed the CGFNS testing costs paid. If the nurse has not yet passed CGFNS Icon will work with that nurse to get her passage of the CGFNS examination. Additionally, if a nurse has passed IELTS and NCLEX, those testing fees will also be reimbursed upon reporting for work.

Language Requirements

Minimum IELTS Requirement
IELTS (Academic Module ONLY): 6.5 IELTS Spoken Band: 7.0

Procedure

The usual hiring model is as follows:

• After the interview and screening by Icon, a nurse is approved to apply for admission to the program.
• The nurse begins studying English at VEC in Vancouver, Canada. Although the duration of study depends on the ability of the nurse, it is usually six to nine months.
• The nurse's resume is submitted to a United States hospital for employment consideration.
• A representative from the hospital comes to VEC to interview the nurses.
• After a nurse is hired by a US hospital, it takes four to five months to obtain a work visa and get the nurse to the United States.

Working Conditions

The nurse will normally be hired on a 24 to 36 month contract. The nurse will usually be paid between USD$19.00 to USD$28.00 per hour at the beginning. The pay that the nurse receives is based on the nurse's education, experience and especially recent experience and licensing. The nurse is also paid time and one-half for overtime and holiday work. Pay raises every 6-months can usually be expected.

This pay scale is based on the fact that the hiring hospital has extraordinary costs associated with bringing the nurse to the United States, getting that nurse licensed and recovering those costs over the life of the contract. These costs included, but are not limited to, testing review and testing or reimbursement, legal costs for the H-1b work visa and "Green Card" immigration visa, travel, housing costs for 30 to 90 days, malpractice insurance, state licensing costs etc. Icon or the client hospital also pay for testing review and testing costs for IELTS, NCLEX and Specialty Nurse Certification. The Specialty Nurse Certifications are in the areas of Medical-Surgery Nursing, Cardiovascular Nursing or Critical Care Nursing.

Visas

The hired nurses will come to the United States to work under the H-1B "Specialty nurse Classification" work visa. Upon arrival in the USA and beginning work, a "Green Card" immigration visa will be immediately applied for. At the successful completion of employment contract, the "Green Card" will then be released to the nurse. Having completed the initial contract, the nurse is then free to work anywhere in the United States or stay with the current employer hospital at a renegotiated hourly pay rate.

Program Objectives

We want nurses who are looking to make their new homes, and those of their families, in the United States. The American Health Care system has an 'open door policy' to Korean and other foreign-educated nurses. There are no exclusionary rules against foreign-educated nurses as exist in some countries. The USA only requires a foreign-educated nurse to be able to pass, after testing review courses paid for by Icon and the USA employer hospital, the same examinations as a USA nursing school graduate. That nurse can then go to work immediately serving patients in our health care system and begin their new life in America."

Getting Started

The first step to accessing this wonderful vehicle to American nursing jobs is the completion of the foreign-educated nurse information affidavit. Upon receipt, it will be reviewed and you will be notified about the your invitation to attend the next interview and screening event.