LisaBee

Hi we are a family of 5 and have been discussing emigrating for some time and would love to go to Florida. We do not know where to start looking and if we are even able to so was looking for any advice. My other half is a Doctor and I am a paediatric nurse, our children are aged 14, 8 and 3. Any advice would be great Thanks!

scrubbedexpat099

First thing would be to find an Employer who will sponsor him.

Noorah101

Read the link below and then come back to discuss which one(s) you think might work for you.

Pulaski's Ways: How to Live and Work in the USA : British Expat Wiki

Rene

tom169

Start googling for agencies that offer a path to mov. I'm thinking at a minimum both of you will need to pass US board exams. NCLEX for a nurse, not sure for a Dr.

Guindalf

Are you aware that America is not all 'House of Mouse'?

We get a lot of people come to this forum who have visited for a two-week holiday and think it's an ideal place to live when the reality of it is, it may be no better than what you have!

You must consider the cost of healthcare, food, cars, insurance, etc., etc., etc., and that's without considering the range of temperatures, the need to run air conditioning for most of the year, the bugs (OMG, the bugs!!), tourists (yes, they're a pain when you live here!), and many other factors that make Florida a pretty poor choice overall!

excpomea

A Dr and a nurse are pretty good starting cards.

You may, find a hospital that would sponser your husband.
I'm pretty sure we have had Physicians do this before.
Manybe there is a member withing the group that can better advise.

Oh, my wife is a pediatric nurse too. She's American but did work for the NHS in the late 90's before we moved to the States.

scrubbedexpat099

Dr is a good card, nurse not so much, and any work visa he is likely to get may not allow her to work anyway.

S Folinsky

There are immigration paths open for both professions.

Carl Shusterman has information on his website..

Carl's office is well known among immigration professionals and has a good reputation on health care worker issues.

sherbert

There is an option to get a Green Card Through a Physician National Interest Waiver (NIW):
https://www.uscis.gov/greencard/physician-NIW#criteria

This route means that you can self petition and do not need to have a job offer in place.

Not sure whether qualifications transfer though. I was under the impression that those with foreign medical degrees need to do some degree of re-training in order to be able to practice.

Twinkle0927

Are you married to "the other half"? I have often heard this expression amongst cohabiting Brits. If one of you qualifies for a visa, you will need to be married for the other to be able to come here too (unless you both qualify independently).

SanDiegogirl

Unless you have close relatives (parents) to sponsor you, then you need to obtain work visas to emigrate to the US.

Sounds like your other half (needs to be husband if you and children want to go with him) should be looking for a medical group/hospital to sponsor him.

jxv73

Well this is an old thread and sorry to revive it this way, and perhaps the moderators may want to use it in the FAQ, but the replies here about physician immigration do not recognize the huge difficulty in getting a state medical license, which is the first major hurdle any physician will face before getting into the United States.

The physician will either have to take and pass the USMLE boards, then secure a training slot through the NRMP Match to come to the US to repeat specialist training - therefore obtaining a training license, which can then be converted to a full license after 1 or more years (each state has different rules about this, but 1 year is the minimum) OR obtain an academic-center only restricted license (this does not exist in every state) and come work for a university.

For the first "traditional" path, the J-1 visa and H-1 visa are available. Note that the J-1 requires a statement from the home country saying there is a shortage of physicians in the particular field. The physician J-1 is designed to help foreign physicians train in the U.S to then bring back this knowledge to their home country (the J-1 visas in general are about exchanging culture and scientific knowledge). It can be used to move permanently to the U.S. if one obtains a "Conrad 30" J-1 waiver by working in an undeserved area for 3 years.The H-1 is therefore preferable for most people. After specialist training is completed, usually 3-8 years after arriving in the U.S., one can obtain a permanent position with a hospital, university or physician group that can then petition for a Green Card through EB-2. The 5 year NIW program can be used to self petition as noted above, but it is frankly easier and faster to go through PERM. Some may have accumulated enough research and publications ove those 3-8 years so as to self petition using the EB2-NIW or even EB-1 paths.

For the second "academic only" path, the O-1 is a very interesting option and can often be converted to EB-1-B fairly quickly. This gets you a Green Card fast, but not necessarily an unrestricted state license.It is best for physicians who are several years (think 5 or so) into their careers for whom the thought of going back to 80 hour work weeks for specialty training would be toxic.
A fairly lengthy post, but I hope I summarized the more common ways for a physician to immigrate.

steveq

I think that's under-served ?

jxv73

Yes that's correct, under-served. Ooops