permanent relocation
This one is for everyone interested is permanently relocating to the United States!
Before You Begin
The very first thing you should do is join the community of other Canadian to U.S. nurses. We have a Facebook group, Instagram, a Youtube, and this website for tons of resources and support.
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 agencies 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’ll follow up with them.
Here is the form, just below...
ABOUT
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.
NOTE
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.
Not Sure Which State is a Good Fit for You?
Take Our Quiz and Find Out!
tOP rELOCATION aGENCIES
INTELLISTAFF
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.
Here are nurse testimonies
PASSPORTUSA
A very well-known American company. It can take a while filling out the intake form to get to the person you need to get to, the head of the Canadian division.
The set up I use 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.
CLEARPORT
Another very proactive Canadian company, or mix. They are newer to the Canadian-to-American relocation game but are very keen. 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.
Least Favourite rELOCATION aGENCIES
IMCS
I will add more to this list to call out agencies that claim to be able to work with Canadians but actually CAN’T AT ALL.. ***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 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.
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... Someone has something to hide! lol!
Westaway(s)
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!
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)!
I will add more here if they have done nurses dirty and should be on blast here!
If you know of some and want to warn others away, let me know!
NurseMatch
This one is conflicting. Initially, they were the only agency I had heard of because they host events all over Canada.
However, when I was looking to move, they said they would help and that included basically just adding them to my CGFNS VisaScreen as an authorized agent. After that, it was pretty silent for a long time. There wasn’t much contact or encouragement along the way.
What I would say about5 NurseMatch is they are OVERRATED.
They do a lot of promotion, but don’t actually have many facilities nor many states. I asked about sending them nurses and they flat out said they wouldn't be able to accommodate the volume from our group.
Okay...? I thought they would want business? I think they prefer to do their excessive marketing with little delivery.
I found their contracts did not pay well, especially places like Florida and Texas where the average pay for nurses is typically much lower compared to other states. They might have some incentives like retention bonuses or housing for the first 3 months. And there is a bit of a trial for 3 months to see how you like it but I'm not sure what the expectations are - I presume if you don't want to continue, you likely won't be reimbursed for anything.
I found them to have pay similar to staff pay in Canada and the seldom locations they have tend to be in some pretty obscure places (e.g. Naples, Florida, and in the Californian desert, etc.). Likewise, they also told one nurse I sent to them that they don’t place Canadians in California so... That’s one less location to choose from. Also, I think the Naples location is almost full and only taking OR nurses. I’m not sure why they aren’t keeping pace with the demand and why they are marketing so excessively when they don’t have the facilities or pay to make it worthwhile.
I'd say really overrated to me to be honest.
Their promotions got me interested in them; but, now that I know of more agencies out there, I realize they are just good at marketing and hosting events. However, they don't necessarily compare to other agencies out there who are less flashy so they can pay better and offer more locations.
They have been doing this for some time and initially they were the only agency I knew of for 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...
