The State of Immigration Today: Are Travel Bans Lifted in the US?

Even if the virus has not yet been fully contained, it can be safe to assume that the post-COVID-19 era has begun. Businesses are functioning toward recovery, tourism sites are once again exciting locations, and people have shed some of the fear of going outside. Alongside this diminished fear is the confidence to travel, especially to international locations.

So, if you want to be an immigrant nurse, you might wonder what is the state of immigration today and if this is finally your chance to look into pursuing a career. While opportunities for career growth and exploration are abundant in the US, the country is still within that transition period between opening its borders and keeping everyone safe and healthy. But is it an entirely different conversation when it comes to nurses like you? Has the travel ban been lifted, and is it time for you to procure a nurse visa?

What Is the State of Travel to and from the US?

It was announced last November 2021 that the US travel ban would no longer apply to persons entering and leaving the country. What will replace it instead is a policy that will require both essential and non-essential travelers to present proof of vaccination only against COVID and perhaps a negative results test. Foreigners must show proof of the COVID-19 vaccine if they are to go to the country, while those visiting through air travel must show a negative COVID-19 test.

True enough, the US travel industry is beginning to pick up from where it left off in 2019. Compared to said year, Americans have raised travel expenditures to more than three percent in April 2022. Furthermore, in a conducted survey among American travelers, 28 percent admitted to the willingness to spend more for their summer trips compared with projected spending on their supposed 2019 trips. Even if there is a rise in costs due to gas price hikes, they are still pushing through with going out and about.

It appears that the country is beginning to be comfortable again with travel. With this in mind, aspiring nurses can grab this opportunity to relocate to the US to pursue a career in nursing. But aside from borders opening, there are other reasons why now is the best time to be a nurse in America.

There Is a Lot of Support for Putting Immigrant Nurses in Front of The Visa Application Line

One can easily come up with a lot of reasons why the nursing shortage is happening. Casualties caused by the virus, a rather large population of retiring nurses expected at one million by the end of 20223, and nurse burnout wiped out these medical frontliners, leaving a gaping hole in the nursing community. While nurses are dwindling in number, demand for their services is skyrocketing.

There have been numerous efforts to counteract the nursing shortage. Hospitals are amending salary and benefit offers to nurses, and provisions to care for their mental health are being implemented. Also, in letting in more immigrant nurses, there is an ongoing petition to prioritize immigrant visas for nurses. Due to a backlog in visa applications, the US State Department has prioritized family-based visa requests and healthcare workers as the least priority. A Change.org petition is being enacted to make getting a nursing visa easier to do, and this is not a faraway possibility.

Additionally, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is putting more effort into speeding up the processing of worker visas, which will include nurses. The government office has shifted to attend to the lag in visa processing due to the pandemic. There was an unattended workload amounting to about a million unopened visa applications, but these have been cleared as of July 2021. With pandemic backlogs in visa processing out of the way, new visa applications for nurses become well-within schedule.

Becoming A US Immigrant Nurse Will Be Your Best Decision Ever

US hospitals are on the lookout to hire more international nurses. Just as with Canada and the UK, an estimated 1,000 nurses are arriving from the Philippines, Caribbean, and Africa to fill in the nursing gap. Becoming an immigrant nurse is so appealing because one can gain citizenship from their host country, and the pay grade is just beyond. That is why it is not difficult for countries like the US to attract immigrant nurses.

With the country encouraging international nurses to come over to their greener pastures, there’s no denying that getting an EB3 visa for nurses sounds like a good option. More than just aiding a country to rise from the agony of the nursing shortage, saying yes to the invitation to work in the US has a lot of benefits for you as well.

• Career options for nurses are aplenty. Once you enter the US, you may explore other means to use your background as a nurse beyond a patient’s bedside. The exodus of nurses has given prospective immigrant nurses like you more options to branch out of traditional nursing, so consider these options that are still well within the need for new nurses.
• Diversity is well-represented. An immigrant nurse like yourself may have discrimination and maltreatment as part of your top fears going into a foreign country. However, Americans are proving to be more accepting of cultures and individuals, especially in the realm of healthcare. In fact, the America Nurses Association is urging nurses to further explore their profession to understand issues about diversity and how they can attend to them within their means as healthcare professionals.
• Nurse salaries in the US have risen. Bigger demand for nurses will not work if there are no added benefits to saying yes to the call of nursing. That is why hospitals and other medical institutions are putting a premium on nurse salaries, so many are enticed to stay in the profession. A survey pinpoints the significant rise in median registered nurse salaries. From a median pay of $73,000 back in 2020, it is now at $78,000.
• The nursing profession is utterly flexible. Not interested in becoming a full-time nurse? No problem. Part-time capacities are abundant across US hospitals. If you want to study on the side or pursue a second passion, it can be done through your nursing visa. There are even nurses who collect licenses across states, so they get to serve as a nurse and travel at the same time. All of these are possible once you decide to become a US immigrant nurse.

MAKE YOUR IMMIGRATION JOURNEY A MEANINGFUL ONE THROUGH PRS GLOBAL.

The US gates are wide open to welcome immigrant nurses like yourself. What are you waiting for? If you truly have decided to take your career higher by stepping into the US, you might as well avail yourself of the help of a premier staffing agency dedicated to helping aspiring US nurses like you.

PRS Global promises a holistic approach to assisting you through the nursing application process. You will be guided on how to apply for a US visa for nurses and in finding the best employer that matches your skills and background. However, our support for our beloved nurses does not end in employment.

We hold a program that helps to usher new nurses into a foreign working and living environment and let them be part of a community of nurses who are also assimilating to life abroad. Also, we can provide support for legal matters like citizenship and licensure and also help you find ways to include your family in your immigration journey. Deciding to be an immigrant nurse is a tough decision, but we here in PRS Global are here to help you overcome the challenges of it.

The travel ban to the US has been lifted, and this is your invitation as a future immigrant nurse. Contact PRS Global now.