Questions we get asked

Short answers here, with a link to the full one where there is more to say. If your question is not below, ask us and we will add it.

Work authorization

Can I work as an RN after I graduate? Yes, on Optional Practical Training, for twelve months. You also need a state license before you can practice, and OPT does not give you one. More on OPT

When should I file for OPT? Up to 90 days before your program end date and no later than 60 days after, and within 30 days of your DSO entering the recommendation in SEVIS. Both windows have to be open at once, and the second one catches people. The timeline

Does nursing get the 24-month STEM extension? No. Nursing is not on the DHS STEM designated degree list, so twelve months is all there is. Why, and what replaces it

How long can I be unemployed on OPT? 90 days in total across the whole authorization, counted from the start date on your work permit. This is a different rule from the 90-day filing window and people mix them up constantly.

How long is my grace period after OPT ends? 30 days from September 15, 2026. It was 60 before that. Most advice online has not caught up. What changed

What happens if OPT runs out and I have nothing lined up? Your work authorization ends and your status generally ends with it, and you have 30 days to depart. There is no grace period that solves this, which is why the whole site is organized around starting early. Talk to an immigration attorney well before you reach that point.

Can I use CPT to work during my program? Only where the work is required of every student in your program, and SEVP tightened that twice in August 2026. An optional elective no longer qualifies. Twelve months or more of full-time CPT also destroys your OPT eligibility, though part-time CPT does not count. CPT rules

H-1B

Can a hospital sponsor me for H-1B as a staff nurse? Sometimes, but do not plan on it. USCIS guidance holds that most staff RN roles do not meet the specialty occupation standard because entry to the profession does not require a bachelor’s. Advanced practice and documented specialty roles are a different conversation. The full answer

What are my odds in the lottery? Selection has been weighted by wage level since February 2026, with four entries at Level IV down to one at Level I. Staff nursing prices at Level I, where DHS projected a 15.3% selection rate. And you get one attempt, not three. The numbers

What is a cap-exempt employer, and why does everyone here keep mentioning it? An employer that files H-1B petitions outside the annual cap, at any time of year, with no lottery. The statutory categories are higher education institutions, nonprofits affiliated with them, and nonprofit or governmental research organizations. It changes your odds more than anything else you control. How to find them

Is any nonprofit hospital cap-exempt? No. Nonprofit status alone does not do it. Most cap-exempt hospitals qualify through a formal university affiliation, and it is a legal determination about that specific entity.

I have a US master’s. Does that make me cap-exempt? No, and this one confuses everybody. A US master’s opens a separate allocation within the cap. It is not an exemption from the cap and it does not change your employer’s status.

Do I have to pay the $100,000 H-1B fee? No. A federal court vacated the policy implementing Proclamation 10973 in June 2026, the First Circuit declined to pause that ruling in July, and the payment is not being collected. The proclamation also expires by its own terms in late September 2026. Note the appeal is still live.

What about the proposed $103,265 fee? A proposal published August 25, 2026, not a rule, and nothing is payable unless it is finalized. Scope matters: it would apply only to cap-subject petitions. Cap-exempt petitions are excluded, as are extensions, amendments and transfers for someone already counted against the cap. Unlike the $100,000 measure it has no exemption for changing status inside the US. Comments close September 24, 2026. The comparison · Policy tracker

Licensing, exams and certification

Do I need a CGFNS credential evaluation? Usually not, if your nursing program was in a US state. The requirement is written for graduates of programs outside US jurisdiction and turns on where the program was, not on your citizenship or visa. One exception: if you already hold a nursing license in another country, ask your board. Why everyone tells you otherwise

Do I need a VisaScreen certificate? Almost certainly yes, for any employment-based visa including H-1B, TN and EB-3. Studying in the US does not exempt you from it, it streamlines it: an ACEN or CCNE accredited program means you skip both the credential comparability review and the English test. Budget $740 and about 14 weeks to collect the documents, and note it cannot start until you are licensed. What it involves

Do I need TOEFL or IELTS for licensure? Generally not if your nursing program was conducted in English. Federal regulation also exempts graduates of US institutions from the VisaScreen English requirement.

Why do I need a Social Security number to get licensed? Several boards require one, and a multistate compact license requires one under the compact’s own rules. You cannot get an SSN until your work permit arrives, which is why a late OPT filing delays your license and not just your start date. A single-state license is often the way through. State by state

Which state should I get licensed in? Wherever you intend to work, and check its rules first. Texas has required documentary proof of lawful presence since June 2026 and its accepted-document list is hard for an F-1 applicant to satisfy. Iowa runs SAVE verification. California, Illinois, Nevada and Washington have laws separating licensure from immigration status. The differences

Am I likely to pass the NCLEX? If you trained in the US, the relevant number is 87.6% first-attempt for baccalaureate graduates in 2025, not the 47.3% figure quoted for internationally educated candidates. That gap is about where the program was, not about who you are. The pass rates

Is the NCLEX fee changing? Yes. It rises from $200 to $350 on February 1, 2027, the first increase since 2000. Register before that date and you pay $200.

How long after passing the NCLEX until I can start work? Days to a few weeks for the license once your board has everything, then four to eight weeks more if you are endorsing into a second state. Add VisaScreen if your route is H-1B, TN or EB-3.

Jobs and sponsorship

When do new graduate residencies open? Five to seven months before the cohort starts, and many close within a week. Start listing target systems and last cycle’s window dates about seven months before you graduate, then check weekly in the month before each window is due. How the windows work

How do I find out whether an employer sponsors? Ask before you apply. Almost no residency page says. Two sentences to a nurse recruiter will tell you whether the application is worth a week of your time, and there is a template on the residencies page.

Can I work for a travel nursing agency on OPT or H-1B? Treat it as a complication rather than an option. OPT employment has to be in your field with an employer relationship your school can document. For H-1B, a staffing agency placing you at a client site raises the question of who controls your work, which USCIS scrutinizes, on top of the specialty occupation problem staff nursing already has.

Does inSpring get me a visa? No, and be careful with anyone who says they can. Petitions are filed by the employer through the employer’s own attorneys. What we do is connect you with health systems that hire internationally educated nurses, and tell you which ones near you have sponsored before.

Staying long term

What is the realistic long-term route? For most staff nurses, the EB-3 green card. Registered nursing is a Schedule A occupation, so the employer skips labor certification. The wait then depends on your country of birth. EB-3 and Schedule A

How long is the green card wait? On the September 2026 bulletin, roughly two years for most of the world, around three for the Philippines, and more than a decade for anyone born in India. Bulletin dates move monthly and the October bulletin had not published when we last checked.

Does the employer pay for the green card process? Usually the employer pays the petition costs, and practice varies on the rest. Ask before you accept, get the answer in writing, and ask specifically whether there is a repayment clause if you leave within a set period. Those clauses are common and more negotiable than people assume.

Can I start the EB-3 process while I am still on OPT? Yes, and you generally should, because filing sets your priority date. But be clear about what it does not do: it gives you no status and no work permit, and you cannot file the adjustment application that produces one until your priority date is current. You still need something to hold your status meanwhile.

Am I stuck with that employer until the green card comes? No. Once your I-485 has been pending 180 days you can move to a same-or-similar role at another employer without losing your priority date.

I have an ADN. What happens when my OPT ends? If nothing else has changed, you leave. H-1B is effectively closed without a bachelor’s, and EB-3 gives you a priority date rather than a way to stay, so the wait happens abroad and can run to years. The route that avoids it is a BSN started early enough to overlap your OPT, which keeps you in status and earns a fresh twelve months at the higher degree level. It has to be a program that can issue an I-20, which rules out the online ones. The full picture

How long does the whole thing take, graduation to green card? For someone not born in a backlogged country, plan on two to four years from graduation, most of it waiting rather than doing. If you were born in India, the nonimmigrant route is the plan and the green card is a background process measured in more than a decade.

I am Canadian or Mexican. Is any of this different for me? Substantially. Registered nurse is a listed TN profession under the USMCA: no cap, no lottery, no March window, renewable indefinitely. Two things to plan for are immigrant intent and the VisaScreen certificate. TN status

What changes for F-1 students on September 15, 2026? Duration of status is replaced with a fixed admission period, and the departure grace period drops from 60 days to 30. If your I-94 still says “D/S” and you file for OPT on or before March 18, 2027, you avoid a second filing. International travel can cost you that. What to check

If you are a U.S.-educated nursing graduate looking for an employer that sponsors, apply to inSpring.

Last checked September 9, 2026. Nothing here is legal advice and every answer above is a summary. Talk to an immigration attorney about your own situation.