I am a Primary School teacher with my specialism being Early Years. I could apply to work for British Schools of America, but i want to move on a permanent basis rather than an exchange, and risk LOVING living over there to have to come back after 2 years with no chance of going back. Also there is no guarantee that I would get hired if i went down that route. The schools are not based in any of our "dream" locations, but then again it could be a means to an end.

Is it worth re-training and doing a Nursing degree or doing a masters in the field i already work in?

Has anyone else re-trained for the specific purpose of emigrating? Is it then 2 years work experince in your field before you can apply?

I don't really see any other way of getting over there inour current situation. But I am unsure about another 3 or 4 year degree.

Hi

Take a look at this link

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pulask...ork_in_the_USA

Whether you decide to re train on not, your employer applies for the appropriate visa for you.
Teaching is very State specific..each State requiring the teacher to take their specific teaching cert. (this doesn't always apply for jobs in private schools)
Good Luck

What are you applying for? If you are trying to get job sponsorship then the rues are the same as applying for any other job. If they want you they will talk to their lawyer and if they think you will qualify for a visa they will apply for you. Also, it would be temporary as well and the length of time would be determined by the company you work for and your visa.

Even if you train as a RN you may still be affected by retrogression and still have a long wait ahead of you (if you do go the nurse route make sure that it covers theory and clinical in Obstetrics, Mental health, Paeds as well as general adult, UK is more specialised and the US is generalised) but would only suggest youdo nursing if it is something you really want to do

Couldn't agree more. To be honest, it pisses me off when I read/hear people say they are considering doing a nursing degree just to get to the USA. It makes me feel like our profession is viewed as an easy one, and anyone with half a brain could do it.

I've been an RN for many years, it's all I've ever done, and I'm very experienced. But since I've been here in the USA, I now hate my job.

So to all the would-be nurses out there who think it's an easy way in, you probably wouldn't last 5 minutes. I've never been as stressed in all of my career as I am right now working here.

you're not moving to the USA.



just ask Dean.

I have been here a year now and RN in the UK nothing local nurses have said to me makes me what to work here!
I have a friend in New Hampshire, who is an American citizen but brought up in the UK (father a uni professor in London on visa) she did her nurse training in Kent, 2 sets below me, the set below me is P2000 as it was called then, she tried twice to work over here, but she didn't have the necessary time served in Paediatrics and Mental health to have a smooth transition over here (she trained 1991 things may have changed (fortunately I do) she has an Oecology degree and specialty and still as a USC it took her 3 years to be approved to nurse here.
once you are accepted on a nursing course expect to wait a year before starting (if lucky), drop out rates are chronic, in the first year as you barely get hands on, nurse training 3 years/4 for degree, and the US won't look at you unless you have 18 months in a speciality they want, and you have to be qualified in most cases for that speciality, after qualifying it took me 6 years to get a speciality training, as again, back then they wouldn't be accepted you into specialist areas until you had done at least 6 months of general nursing, and even then not very often (why and I thinking if that ad right now! not vwee often!)
these days little easier in the UK for nurse to go straight into the specialities but the real American head turners ICU, ER, Oncology, NICU, OR, geriatrics (I am racking my brains for the correct term for geriatrics now, help me?)are still difficult to get into as a lot of people who land a job leave very quickly, so they are picky, as all these jobs are stressful and burn out its stellar! and in the US a weeks holiday after a year of working (in my state) it must be worse.
Also the termanology is different, so you will have to learn the new stuff you will see too spellings for oncology the spell checker gave me the other!
hope this made sence? for one I am confused by my post

Thanks to all who have replied. I wasn't meaning to piss anyone off when I wrote that I was thinking of re-training. I don't think Nursing is an easy job, what i thought was it seemed to be in demand worldwide and therefore might help with the application process. Earlier on in the year i had considered Midwifery training as I felt i had had enough of being a teacher,but still wanted a job where i would be working on a personable level with lots of people.

But I seemed to recall someone telling me midwives were in demand in places like NZ and Aus but not the states, so thought about Nursing instead. It wasn't like i sat here yesterday and thought hmm nursing..:P Teaching is also a very stressful job, and i get annoyed when people think (mainly the govt by sticking untrained people in front of a class to save money) anyone can do it, so please don't think i was disrespecting your profession.


Also, i appreciate people taking the time to help out, but comments like the one above just seem to be a bit negative. Yes you may be telling the truth, and yes I know i am in for a bloody tough fight to see my dreams realised, but those of you who are lucky enough to be already living in the states must have been in our position at some point, and should therefore recall how disheartening the whole process seems. This has been my dream since i was early 20's after coming back from living in CA, but it is only now we are getting to be in the financial position to be able to try. Please try not to mock or be so harsh on people that just want to be living their dream. Even if it is true could you please find another way to phrase yourself.Thanks.

You would be surprised at how many British expats living here had no real dream of living in the US until the opportunity came along. Met that special person, got offered a transfer to a US office, got headhunted for a job, some people get lucky and are able to apply for the greencard lottery, stuff like that. It seems that the people who have the dream generally don't have an option to make it over. Paperwork and dealing with USCIS I think everyone is on the same page about, actually trying to figure out how to move here I think most people can't relate.

That is a shame that the people who have this as a dream can't find a way in. Some people get lucky i guess and get to do what others can only dream of by luck. No-ones fault i guess, that is just the way of it sometimes.

Not trying to be nasty but maybe you are getting hung up on this 'dream' thing. It's very tough here at he moment, teaching will still be a hard job here, nursing I believe is better paid than in the UK but plenty on here have found it to have its own difficulties.

Please understand, US immigration law is set up to deliberately keep people out. Unless you can make yourself fall into one of the visa categories available, legal immigration is pretty much impossible. The US mindset is that they neither want, nor need, foreigners to come in and take jobs away from people already residing here. Sorry if I've burst any bubbles, but US immigration law is what it is. If you truly want to live here, then do some more research into how to work with the system. Read the wiki's here, and try to read some more personal stories of the routes people took. There are lots of people here who took years, and for a few it took decades, to attain their goal of living here. Don't give up if you really want it. Good luck with your endeavors.

Even if you do your nurse training in the US you may still have some issues because of how the training is done. Canada and the US you have to have general training in the areas I previously mentioned. Australia and NZ at the moment accept UK training but may change in the future who knows.

It does help to have dreams but realistic dreams are better. As mentioned the US is extremely hard to get into and you may want to consider somewhere else

I understand you about living your dream to come over here - i came through the job route and i had always wanted this experience and i applied for several positions and never received any replies for several months and then out of the blue ( i had actually forgotten about applying) i received two emails and two interviews one in cali and one in the midwest. I think you should read all you can on these discussions boards there is so much useful information and read about other's experiences. Even though things are difficult here because of the recession sometimes there is a way things can happen. Good luck. I think people on the discussion boards want you to see that things are not straightforward and immigration to the US can be a difficult road.

Julia

What's your job? That's a critical issue. Some areas of work are easier to get visa sponsorship for than others.