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10/07/2002 HEALTHCARE IMMIGRATION ALERT:
A RESOLUTION TO THE OBSTACLE OF A SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER FOR FOREIGN NURSES
The National Council of State Boards of Nursing is attempting to resolve
a problem created by conflicting rules on the part of the Immigration and
Naturalization Service, the Social Security Administration and several state
boards of nursing. The obstacle that many foreign nurses face is that many
state boards of nursing require foreign nurses to have a social security
number while the Social Security Administration has strict requirements to
obtain a social security number. Several hundred nursing applicants have
demonstrated competency to practice in the U.S. but are unable to obtain the
state license until the nurse obtains a social security number.
Currently forty-four states require a nurse to have a social security number
before it will issue a state license to the nurse. The requirement of a
social security license places many nurses in a catch-22 situation.
Specifically, if a foreign nurse wants to obtain a green card the INS
requires the nurse to have either a certificate from the Commission on
Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools or a license to practice in the state
where the nurse has a job offer. However, the state nursing boards in
forty-four states will not issue a license unless the nurse has a social
security number and yet the Social Security Administration will not issue
the nurse a social security number without proof of work authorization from
the INS.
Last year foreign nationals who wanted to work as public high school
teachers faced the same problem of not being able to obtain a state license
without a social security number. The Assistant Commissioner of the INS
responded by instructing all INS officers to approve a petition for
temporary employment authorization on behalf of a foreign national if the
only obstacle to obtaining the state license was the fact that the foreign
national cannot obtain a social security card. The Assistant Commissioner
said the INS could approve a one-year period of work authorization and then
extend the work authorization if the foreign national obtains the social
security number and the state license within the one-year period. While INS
officers have followed this policy for public school teachers requesting
temporary work authorization, the INS officers have not consistently
followed this policy for foreign nurses who apply for a green card.
During its annual meeting in August, the National Council of State Boards of
Nursing issued a resolution to work with the INS, the Social Security
Administration and other federal agencies to resolve the problem.
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