Filipino Nurses in UK Face Possible Deportation

A dozen filipino nurses, working as senior carers, in Cambridge, United Kingdom face possible deportation after the Home Office refused to renew their work permits according to a report by the Cambridge Evening News.

Home Office officials also announced they will no longer issue work permits to foreign nationals for senior carer positions after the position has been taken off the list of shortage occupations.

"We treat each work permit renewal on a case-by-case basis and cannot comment on individual cases. The shortage list is made up of roles where professionals within the industries involved have told us there is a chronic shortage of applicants." A Home Office spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, local city official David Howarth has taken the cudgels for the filipino nurses. "These are qualified and hardworking nurses who came to this country at our request and they are now simply being discarded. This is not the way to treat people doing a very important and difficult job." He said.

In a letter to Minister of State for the Home Office, Liam Byrne, Howarth said, "This policy seems unfair and ill-judged and I hope your department will reconsider it. This decision will lead to a shortage of carers.

Many of the nurses have lived in Cambridge for four years after being recruited to help ease staffing shortages in 2003.

Nursing Board Flunkers May be Allowed to Work as Practical Nurses - Brion

Labor Secretary Arturo Brion said that the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) and Senator Edgardo Angara are looking at the possibility of allowing the flunkers of the Nurse Licensure Examination to work as Practical Nurses.

Practical nurses, also known as Licensed Vocational Nurses, are also in demand abroad.

Brion presented the idea to Senator Edgardo Angara, former chancellor of the University of the Philippines, as well as officials of the Commission on Higher Education and to the Professional Regulation Commission.

"They all agreed to its viability so we'll meet soon and discuss it," Brion added.

According to a report by the Inquirer, about 40,000 of the 78,797 examinees are expected to pass the June 2007 Nurse Licensure Examination according to estimates by the labor department. The projected 40,000 includes June 2006 examinees who were required to retake portions of the exam.

Brion said the results of the June 2007 nursing licensure exam will be released by middle of August.

(Thanks to breech for pointing out the Inquirer article)

New Zealand Health Board to Hire Filipino Nurses

The Counties Manukau District Health Board (CMDHB), a government health board in New Zealand, plans to hire filipino nurses for Auckland according to a report by GMANews.TV

CMDHB is one of the largest providers and funder of primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare in Australasia, serving the people of South and East Auckland in an area that stretches from Otahuhu to Port Waikato.

Representatives of CMDHB will be coming to the Philippines on the third (3rd) week of September to interview applicants and may deploy qualified applicants to New Zealand as early as October.

Qualified candidates will initially be issued visitor visas to do a competency course for eight weeks before they can take exams and eventually register as a nurse in New Zealand, according to Japhet Vailoces, a Filipino clinical nurse educator at the CMDHB’s cardiology and neurology department interviewed by GMANews.TV

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CMDHB representatives are reportedly working out a direct-hiring scheme with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to eliminate possible abuse and exploitation by private recruitment agencies. They are also seeking an exemption from paying the US$450 recruitment fee prescribed under the standard recruitment agreement of the POEA.

NCSBN will begin NCLEX testing in Manila Starting August 23, 2007.

The National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. (NCSBN) announced that it will begin accepting registrations via Pearson Professional Center for the U.S. nursing licensure exams (NCLEX) beginning Friday, July 13, 2007. The exams, conducted daily, will begin on August 23, 2007.

The Philippine site for the NCLEX exam is at the 27th Floor, Trident Tower, Sen. Gil Puyat Ave., Makati City.

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Click here for directions in going to the testing site.

(Thanks to breech for posting the pearson test center address at the shoutbox)

Related Link:
NCSBN Press Release

U. S. Department of State Revises July 2007 Visa Bulletin; Retrogression is Back

RETROGRESSION UPDATE

The U.S. Department of State (DoS) today (July 2 in the US, July 3 in the Philippines) issued a revision on its previously released July 2007 Visa Bulletin effectively retrogressing all employment-based visa numbers.

Last month, the U.S. Department of State released its July 2007 Visa Bulletin reflecting all employment-based visa petitions becoming "current" beginning July 1, 2007.

However, the sudden backlog reduction efforts by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) offices during the past month have resulted in the use of almost 60,000 employment-based visa numbers.

This means that the nurse visa retrogression is again in effect.

Related Links:

• Department of State Bulletin Update for July 2007
• USCIS Notice

Related News:

• Retrogression Lifted Temporarily (June 14, 2007)
  

BoN: 'Examination results will be out by August'

Marco Sto. Tomas, member of the Board of Nursing (BoN) tasked to prepare and oversee the administration of the Nurse Licensure Examination, today said that the results of the recently concluded nursing board exam will probably be out by August 15 - 31, 2007.

The labor department earlier said that they will be releasing the exam results three (3) weeks after the conduct of the exam last June 10 and 11.

Sto. Tomas explained that the delay is primarily due to the large number of examinees this year. He added that the PRC's optical machine readers can only process 10,000 test papers per day.

Individual exam scores are then matched to the examinees' names in the PRC database before the BoN determines the mean passing score based from the highest and lowest scores obtained.

78,797 nursing graduates took the June 2007 nurse licensure examination in various cities across the country.

IELTS to Implement Changes in Test Band Score Reporting

After consultation with test takers, teachers, Recognising Organisations and other stakeholders, the International English Language System (IELTS) will be implementing a revised band scoring system.

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Under the new system, band scores in the tests will be scored in full and in half-bands. The old IELTS scoring system used full bands for the tests except in listening and reading, which is scored in both full and half-bands.

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This means that in the old system, an examinee may score 7 or 8 in the writing and speaking tests. Under the new system, scores will increment or decrement by half band so the examinee in the same tests may score 7.5 or 8.5.

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The changes, taking effect July 1st this year, will only affect the reporting of the band scores and will not, in any way, affect how the tests are rated.

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IELTS is jointly managed by British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (Cambridge ESOL) through more than 350 locations in 120 countries worldwide. Close to 5,000 organisations around the world recognise the test for education, immigration and professional accreditation purposes.

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Retrogression Lifted Temporarily; Senators Looking to Revive Stalled CIR Bill

RETROGRESSION UPDATE

The US Department of State has released its Visa Bulletin for July 2007. The bulletin includes a summary of available immigrant visa numbers. Effective July 1, 2007, all employment-based immigrant petitions will become "current."

This means that the backlog in the issuance of immigrant visas to qualified nurses is over albeit temporarily.

The Hammond Law Group (HLG), a law firm specializing in immigration cases, explains the bulletin's implication to nurses.

What does this mean?

For applicants waiting for interviews at the consulate: The foreign national may proceed with the consulate interview after the National Visa Center or the consulate schedules an interview. It is expected that it will take the NVC some time to begin issuing appointment dates, as there are thousands of cases that have stacked up during the period of retrogression.

For applicants with labor certification approvals: the foreign national may proceed with concurrent filing of the I-140 and I-485 applications.

For applicants with approved I-140 petitions: The foreign national may proceed with the I-485 Adjustment of Status or consular interview, depending upon which option the foreign national is choosing.

For applicants in the U.S. on temporary status who are eligible to bypass labor certification (e.g. registered nurses, physical therapists, National Interest Waivers, Exceptional Ability Aliens, etc.): The foreign national may proceed with concurrent filing of the I-140 and I-485 application.

However, the relief is only temporary and may only last until October this year as the category is always over-subscribed as the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is only allowed by law to approve approximately 140,000 employment-based immigrant visa petitions annually. Moreover, dependents are also counted against the yearly quota.

Meanwhile, Key Republican and Democratic senators are reaching for a deal to resurrect their stalled immigration compromise by requiring that some $4 billion be spent on border security and workplace enforcement.

U.S. President George W. Bush met with key Republican leaders in Capitol Hill this week to rally support for his pet bill.

Passage of a comprehensive immigration reform bill is largely viewed in the healthcare industry as a long-term solution to the recurrent problem of nurse visa retrogression.