Permanent Relocation
This one is for everyone interested in permanently relocating to the United States!
Before You Begin...
The very first thing you should go is join our community of Canadian to U.S. travel nurses. There is a Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and this website for tons of resources and support.
by Kat Ann
Looking to Travel Nurse to the U.S.A.?
Head to the Recommended Recruiter List (RRL) to get in touch with the top travel nursing agencies!
Here is the form, just below...
For those interested in relocating permanently to the United States, this article will have a form at the beginning and end.
If you enter your info, the top three agenies for relocation will reach out to you!
*They typically reach out within a week or two. If you haven't heard from one or more of the three, let me know and I will follow up with them.
Here is how it works... Typically a nurse contacts a relocation agency (if they know some) and then the agency prompts them to start getting their documentation with a little guidance along the way.
When they make an offer, and if you take it, that is when they will process you typically on a TN visa (to start) and then they will put in your application for a greencard either immediately or within approx. 3 months of starting your contract.
*IMPORTANT*
I suggest following the monthly bulletin to monitor the time it takes for a Canadian worker in your stream to be granted a greencard.
HERE
ABOUT
Typically, travel nurses can only pick from among 17 states for their initial state license. However, this changes with relocation, because you essentially have an agency AND hospital who are eagerly looking to sign you for about 1 to 3 years. So, you can pick from way more states!
They are willing to invest in you, hire you without a state license, and wait until the license comes through!
Aside from that, all the other articles about things like the NCLEX, VisaScreen/Visa4Nurses, etc. all applies to nurses looking to travel nurse AND those looking to relocate. But, I would fill out the form in this article (at the beginning and end) to start the process with the agencies who guide you along the way (and some may even pay for things upfront or reimburse) Just take the articles with a grain of salt because they are meant for travel nursing, but there is A LOT of cross over with those looking to relocate too.
NOTE
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Here are our relocation agencies
top
Passport USA
Clearport
Intellistaff
nurse bonus
$400*
$275*
nurse bonus
* nurse bonues are in CAD & taxable
$200*
nurse bonus
A Canadian company. I found them to be the easiest to talk to among the three and truly invested in the outcome. There was a small town feel to chatting with them that can often be lost with bigger agencies.
They help guide you through the process and check in often.
I have seen some of the deals and many include pay above the staff pay, housing assistance, reimbursements, and retention bonuses.
This agency is constantly expanding as they have such a proactive team (both for their company and nurses). From one month to the next, they may add a new state to their list of offerings.
A very well-known American company. It can take a while filling out the intake form through their website to get to the person you need to get to, the head of the Canadian division.
The set up I use (the form in this article) gets your name and contact info to the heads of the Canadian division pretty much instantly. The idea is to save some time!
PassportUSA is known to have connections and facilities all over the United States. They are one of the largest relocation agencies, if not the biggest!
A very proactive Canadian company, or mix. The testimonies from nurses so far has been very honest and overall, extremely positive. They have the benefit of feeling like a smaller/closer agency, with the reach of a large agency because of their hospital partners.
They are VERY unique in that they will pay for things UPFRONT (e.g. NCLEX, etc.). I am sure there must be some contractual obligation, but it is a slightly different and nice business model if you want to save your own money instead of paying out of pocket and getting reimbursed later. They function more like a concierge agency or boutique agency to get you what you want!
Here are our relocation agencies
least favourite
***Bear in mind, this is my opinion, and you should still do your own research to see if you agree. It is nothing personal against these agencies, but it is based on speaking with and using their services or being told by others who have used their services to stay away and warn other Canadian nurses. ***Note: I will add more here if there are pretty major complaints. If you know of an agency that has conducted themselves especially poorly and want to warn others away, let me know!
IMCS
IMCS is one that comes to mind. When asked if they could place Canadian LPNs they replied they could and have. When I asked which visa they got for the LPNs and they said, “TN visa.” I asked how they could get an TN visa for LPNs since LPNs do not qualify for it. I was immediately blocked. So... despite being admin from the company, they clearly had no idea how a TN Visa worked. LPNs do not qualify under the NAFTA shortage occupation list for the TN visa. This could lead to LPNs spending a lot of money and then being turned away at the border. Would certainly avoid.
Westaway/Elite Intellicare
There have been numerous complaints from seasoned Canadian nurses over the things they have seen Elite Staffing and Westaways post and the numerous misleading things they advertise.
One example, apparently a recruiter advised a Canadian nurse from Quebec that they could avoid having to take an English Proficiency test by endorsing her Quebec nursing license to Ontario. This is wholly untrue. There have been numerous other incidents that the admin from another facebook group felt they needed to warn me not to have them in my travel nurse group and so I took their advice.
Shortly after this, the main recruiter from Elite called my recruiter with RNNetwork and threatened him...! Who knew the relocation/travel nursing world got THIS dramatic? He threated my recruiter with RNN because he didn’t like that I was warning Canadian nurses to stay away from their agency. I think this behaviour further solidifies this agency should be avoided at all costs.
Greenstaff
Per nurses, I don't have much info off the top of my head, but complaints just including lack of knowledge of how to go about the process, things like getting a TN visa, etc.
NurseMatch
Per nurses from the group. I actually used to recommend them (despite complaints of low pay) until nurses began to DM me that the location were awful (e.g. California, sure, but in the desert... Florida, sure, but on the underbelly... etc.). They complained pay was low and after signing the contract the agency going dark and zero help when or if clinical issues or bullying on assignment occurred.
back when I was recommending them, I did reach out to them to see if they wanted to connect. They offered a referral bonus of $200 (the lowest I have ever seen) and complained they would not be able to 'handle the volume' of nurses from our community, whatever that means. No issue with them personally, just found that response incredibly odd considering how much marketing they do and all the events they Put on. I'd suggest to them to reduce the money spent on marketing and events and channel that money into increasing their referral bonus as that would make more sense.
Travel Care Hawaii
It was nurses again who brought this up frequently in the Hawaii chat in the facebook group, many were prepared to go and then switched to LTC regardless of their specialty, others were bait n'switched, others were led through the process and it fell through because the agency/recruiters had no idea what they were doing with Canadians (e.g. TCH told LPNs they qualified for the TN and they bought the VS for $760 USD only to find out LPNs don't qualify for the TN), etc.
Salud & McCare Global
Ghosting, no response, and disorganized is the feedback after multiple inquiries from nurses
THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON HERE IS TO DO YOUR RESEARCH ON ANY AGENCY YOU PLAN TO WORK WITH (this applies to travel nursing AND relocation)!
For those interested in relocating permanently to the United States, this article will end with a form to sign up with the three agencies I recommend. There is no commitment to sign up, they will just reach out to you (usually via email).
*They typically reach out within a week or two. If you haven’t heard from one or more of the three, let me know and I’ll follow up with them.
HERE IS THE FORM, JUST BELOW...
