solohammer

I forgot about a non-immigrant visa. You can apply for an H-1B visa (Alien in a Specialty Occupation) The duration is for three years on that one, and you can attempt to adjust your status to legal permanent resident. There is also H-1C specifically for Nurses. Either of those will "get your foot in the door." There is a shortage of Nursing professionals resulting in this visa classification, or so states my field guide. Just another two cents.

Check here for details: www.uscis.gov Also, applying for an immigrant visa at your local U.S. Consulate might be a good start. Crossing the border illegally isn't nearly as easy as it sounds. Also, as a Non-Mexican, if caught, you'll be sent before an immigration judge and formally deported. That will delay your hopes of being here legally for at least five years. Possibly ten. Marrying a U.S. Citizen won't get you citizenship. It might not even get you a visa. Anyway, just my two cents. Good luck in your endeavors.

I'm an Agent in the U.S. Border Patrol, and we make extensive use of Agents who are also EMTs of various skill levels. For the most part, this involves providing medical care to the illegals whom we apprehend. May stations have dedicated EMS vehicles that are equipped to carry pts instead of arrestees. It involves dealing with many heat related injuries, and lower extremity injuries, but anything can, and frequently happens. At the station that I work at however, we respond to many highway accidents and roadside emergencies, due to the fact that our checkpoints are closer to the accidents than the nearest State Police unit. There is also an elite unit called BORSTAR which are all medical trained. Kind of like a swat team that are all medics.

I probably qualify as a whacker. My duty belt has a ton of stuff on it, but, I work in LE, EMT is secondary. I have this cute little pin that says "E.M.T." above the nametag on my uni. My Trauma and Airway bags ride in my POV, along with my trique bag from work, but only because they won't fit in my locker, and if I leave them on top of my locker, they'll walk. I don't have any star of life stickers or any EMT T-shirts, but I have some LE T-shirts, and an LE sticker on my POV. I don't have any extra lights on my POV, and to be honest, I didn't even know that was legal until I started reading EMT forums, lol. I don't own any EMT series on DVD, but I do have two seasons of Miami Vice! So despite all these "don'ts", I feel like I'd probably be labeled a whacker if I was full time EMS. I'm new and over-enthusiastic, and I like gadgets and nifty gear. Anybody know of a support group? Whacker's anon maybe? Hutch