RANT: When stupid people make laws.

[MomAndSkoorbaby]

Originally posted by: Garet Jax

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
Get a job bagging groceries at Winn Dixie and when you get your SSN leave and go work for Robert E. Lee Memorial

It's not that easy. If Mrs. Skoorb gets a job bagging groceries and then goes to the INS to say "Hey I have a job, give me a SSN!". She is in effect saying "Hey, I have been working illegally and want you to give me an SSN to make it all legitimate!". This is a very bad idea and she could be subject to deportation.

The only way to get an SSN is to have a work visa. The only way to get a work visa is to have a job offer in hand. For Canadian and Mexicans they can get a TN. It is a lot more complex for other Nationalities: they have to go through the H1 visa process.

There used to be a loop hole where state agencies required SSN to give permits or licenses (Driver's licenses were the big ones, but nursing licenses are another one). The state agencies would write a letter basically saying they needed an SSN and this would be enough to get one. The US has closed this loop hole and no longer give out SSNs for this reason. Now you must have a work visa to get an SSN.

The state agencies had to modify their policies to give these licenses to people without SSNs. Their solution was to take a Tax ID number instead of the SSN. Every person in this country can get a Tax ID number because you can't pay taxes without one.

My suggestion is to get a Tax ID number and try to get someone to write a letter (from INS or similar) saying that Alabama can take the Tax ID instead of the SSN to transfer the nursing license. The other suggestion I have is to call the Canada/US border crossings for help. the people who answer the phones are the actual INS agents who work the border. Ask them questions and you will get answers directly from the horse's mouth so to speak.

Hope this helps.

That is absolutely correct. Now if I could only get a hold of the nursing board and relay this to them! They are impossible to get through on the phone and of course, email goes pretty much unread. I have left messages. They originally stated that a Tax ID number is not acceptable. Maybe now, they will change their minds.

Thanks Garet!

 

[Red Dawn]

Uh.. tell me again, why did you move to Alabama from Canada? How come you didn't move to a plave a little more civilized like Kentucky or Arkansaw?

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
Uh.. tell me again, why did you move to Alabama from Canada? How come you didn't move to a plave a little more civilized like Kentucky or Arkansaw?

It would have upset the idiot balance in California if they had moved there. The idiots would have been outnumbered and would have retreated into their own little country called the Bay Area.

Plus I can live in a new house here and the same amount of money in Cali would get me a shared one bedroom.

 

[rufruf44]

Well, you can always enroll in the local college and have them issue a F1 visa for Mrs.Skoorb . Afterward apply for SSN, and get on with life.

 

[StageLeft]

To clear up some misconceptions:

- I'm here on a "temporary worker" permit. Although I can renew it each year for the rest of eternity until I change visas (namely, an H1b through my employer - although they may give one eventually I'm not under that status now) I'm not a permanent resident and thus mrs.skoorb HAS to get work authorization to get an SSN.
- as mentioned nobody will give her a TN status (which she needs) unless it's a qualifying job. Groceries are not qualifying
- she can't go to school and get it that way - very long process compared to the fact she should be working now. Also AFAIK she'd only get an SSN by this method if she applied for a student loan - which she cannot do (I checked the requirements for an immigrant to apply for a loan)
- it's not actually that complicated. Although one might think a lawyer is needed I know that I've exhausted all outlets right now. Something simply will have to be changed in the alabama board of nursing; there is no way around it with legal advice. Mrs.skoorb spoke to somebody there and he is quite helpful and finally realizes that somewhere somehow somebody made up this requirement and he agrees fully that it doesn't make sense now that we've pointed him to the right sources and he is trying to see if he can change the requirements. Hopefully that doesn't require a whole bunch of legal bullsh*t that would take a year to do.

If the nurse candidate is outside the US, then the company that sponsor her will have to arrange for the H1-A visa first. After it has been issued she can come to the US ahead of the specified employment date (i think there's a specific range), get a SSN, and get certified. SSN process should not take more than a couple weeks (30 days).

That's all accurate but unfortunately it leaves out one key thing - to get this visa she needs a job and to get the job the hospital _needs_ to see a license.

In the end it all comes down to the fact that she will not be able to legally work in Alabama as a nurse or anything right now since it must be a qualifying profession until she gets a license and work is totally and utterly required first for her to get an SSN. Since work requires license and license requires SSN, but SSN requires work it's an unbreakable circle now and so somebody has to give way. INS sure as hell isn't going to so unless we can find a hospital that will give her employment conditional on her getting a license (believe it or not none will, the commie swine), AL board of nursing will have to change their laws/rules.