# Help! I'm French...



## fdny343911 (Jan 14, 2011)

Hello,
I'm glad I discovered this forum. I'm a brand new New York State EMT-B but the thing is I'm French... I sent a lot of letters and mails to find a job as an EMT in New York but nobody answered because of US immigration system. Everybody says I cannot be hired because I'm French and I currently live in France. Is it really true? Did I pass my EMT exam for nothing? Can someone, please, help me?
Thank you very much...
Patrick QUINTON


----------



## MrBrown (Jan 14, 2011)

Yes, that is true.  Prehospital providers fall under semiskilled third preference for a work visa and there is no way any employer can prove to ICE that they cannot find suitable candidates in the US.

Think about it, in France those who staff SMUR/SAMU units critical care RNs and MDs, in Australia and New Zealand Paramedics require at least a Bachelors Degree, in Canada it takes three years to become an Advanced Care Paramedic.  In the US it takes a one hundred hour course to work on an ambulance.  That, and the US does not have a points based immigration system.

About your only option is to find yourself an American family member who can sponsor you.  Sorry bro.


----------



## fdny343911 (Jan 14, 2011)

Thank you very much for your answer MrBrown... 
My EMT director said that it won't be a pb for me to find a job. It sucks, my dream is falling down... 
But what is this option you mentioned? How can I be sponsored by an american family? Where would it lead?
Thank you


----------



## MrBrown (Jan 14, 2011)

Your EMT director just wanted your money.

The US has two streams of immigration - family and employment.  

Family means a family member who is a US Citizen sponsors you for a visa eg wife, husband, brother, sister, mother,father.  Look at devoting several years to that process.

There are a bunch of employment categories but basicalliy it means you need to be able to prove there are no Americans who can do the job you intend to do.  

And lets face it, compared to other first world nation the US is twenty years behind when it comes to EMS anyway.

Sorry mate.


----------



## skippy54 (Jan 14, 2011)

Were you in the United States when you took the course?  Or did you take it in France somehow?  If you came to the US and took an EMT-B course, while the program director suggested it would lead to employment despite your immigration status, you can at least try to get your money back.

Ultimately, the pay you'd receive as an EMT-B caps out fast.  Even as a paramedic, in the United States the only way to make a truly livable wage is to work for a fire department (and thus also be a firefighter) or work two jobs.  

School is practically free in France, if medicine is your thing you should go that route.  A degree in France transfers to the United States, you just have to do the appropriate paperwork.


----------



## EMS49393 (Jan 14, 2011)

Oh, I feel for you.  I think you were led down a primrose path into a graveyard.  EMT's are plentiful in the US, and there are a great number of them unemployed at present secondary to the saturation.  I'm a paramedic and haven't worked as one for six months since being laid off.  There are just so few EMS jobs.  

I used to work with a guy that met a lady that lived in Belarus.  There were on a cruise together and "hit it off."  The ended up in a long distance relationship.  She obtained a visa after marrying my friend.  Her visa ran out while she was trying to get her green card.  She ended up having to move back to Belarus so she didn't violate her visa.  My friend has been working tirelessly trying to get her back into the US.  They've been married close to five years, lived together only six months of that, and have been living apart and seeing each other via skype for the last four and a half years.  This is killing them because they actually LOVE each other and the US immigration just will not budge.  

That was a long story, but you get the picture.  It's outrageously difficult obtain US citizenship even under the most honest of intentions.  It's a shame you're not British.  I'd trade you my citizenship for yours.  

Get your money back, you were lied to.


----------



## TransportJockey (Jan 14, 2011)

skippy54 said:


> Ultimately, the pay you'd receive as an EMT-B caps out fast.  Even as a paramedic, in the United States the only way to make a truly livable wage is to work for a fire department (and thus also be a firefighter) or work two jobs.



Or not-so-secret option number 3: Work at a municipal or county third service and get teh same type of pay and benefits without being forced to become a hosemonkey


----------



## fdny343911 (Jan 15, 2011)

*Thank you...*

Thank you so much everybody. That's now official, I hate my EMT director and my life will never be the one I expected to live... 
Why do Departments of Health allow alien people to pass this exam if it's Impossible for them to get a job once certified? Only because of money? It's a shame. I spent around 5000€ to live 4 months in New York. It's not fair, I thought the dream of my life was about to become true. It's a huge disappointment. 
In France, it's not as good as you can imagine. To be a part of the SAMU, you have to be either a Doc or a Medical assistant. And even as a Medical assistant, it's horribly long to get this job. Nothing's as good as USA. In France, Fire Departments hire Firefighters. It means you work for EMS and Fire both. France system is not that good...
Anyway, thank you very much. Take Care

Patrick Quinton


----------



## MrBrown (Jan 15, 2011)

fdny343911 said:


> Thank you so much everybody. That's now official, I hate my EMT director and my life will never be the one I expected to live...
> Why do Departments of Health allow alien people to pass this exam if it's Impossible for them to get a job once certified? Only because of money? It's a shame. I spent around 5000€ to live 4 months in New York. It's not fair, I thought the dream of my life was about to become true. It's a huge disappointment.
> In France, it's not as good as you can imagine. To be a part of the SAMU, you have to be either a Doc or a Medical assistant. And even as a Medical assistant, it's horribly long to get this job. Nothing's as good as USA. In France, Fire Departments hire Firefighters. It means you work for EMS and Fire both. France system is not that good...
> Anyway, thank you very much. Take Care
> ...



Seriously bro .... did you not read the green I-94W form you gave to the Immigration Officer at JFK? Notice how it says in big black letters that it is for nonimmigrants who do not possess a valid visa and that employment is prohibited?

It is not the jurisdiction of any professional licensing or certification/crenditialing body to asses immigration status.

Not fair? How is it not fair? It's your responsibility to realise that as a non citizen or lawful resident in a foreign nation you will require work authorisation.  

The French system is light years ahead of the United States.  SMUR and SAMU are things the US can only dream of.  Which do you think is better: the French SMUR/SAMU concept staffed by physicians with six years of education or the American system where one can have a semi-comparable scope of practice with six hundred hours of training?

Sorry you are dissapointed mate.  You have it better than you know, look at the social framework France offers compared to the US and then you can look at the emergency medical service second.  If you want to work as a Paramedic, the US is not the place to do it unless you like living in the stone age with Fred Flintstone.  

Best of luck


----------



## Scott33 (Jan 15, 2011)

You have an EU passport, and your English is excellent. Why not try the UK? You may get a job as an ECA or similar, and it is only a couple of hours from home. 

As already mentioned, there is no preferential treatment for those on student visas when it comes to employment visas. They are a in different category and have different requirements. Very few employers know the steps involved to satisfy immigration, so a job offer means nothing unfortunately.

If you look around this site and others like it, you will find it is equally as difficult for a US citizen to gain employment in an EU country.

If it is any consolation, the one fair thing about immigration is that everybody has to abide by the same rules, and as already mentioned, they don't budge. It's nothing personal.


----------



## MrBrown (Jan 15, 2011)

Scott33 said:


> Why not try the UK? You may get a job as an ECA or similar, and it is only a couple of hours from home.



*Brown shudders as if Lucifer himself (aka Gary Ludwig) has penetrated the very depths of Brown's soul .... 

Brown immagines the gent would like to actually be allowed to touch patients and not drive the big yellow thing that goes neenaw neenaw quick how long left on the orcon clock airhorn airhorn neenaw brake, beep, beep, oh no its not straight, go forward, now go back, beep, beep, beep, oh bloody hell just park out front, erm, white base november one-hundred on location.

What, Brown has been to the UK


----------



## katgrl2003 (Jan 15, 2011)

MrBrown said:


> Brown imagines the gent would like to actually be allowed to touch patients and not drive the big yellow thing that goes neenaw neenaw quick how long left on the orcon clock airhorn airhorn neenaw brake, beep, beep, oh no its not straight, go forward, now go back, beep, beep, beep, oh bloody hell just park out front, erm, white base november one-hundred on location.



Uh, Brown, not everyone drives as badly as you do.


----------



## llavero (Jan 21, 2011)

Really I did not know of these problems to be able to work in USA. Thanks you for inform to us, the foreigners, about the problems that they exist to be able to work.
Another option is to request the Green Card and be lucky of that your number goes out.


----------



## SunnyEMT (Jan 24, 2011)

He couldn't have studied a 4 month course having entered on a I-94W, as these are only valid for 90 days.  He could have entered on a student visa and there's no mention about not being able to secure a job because it sometimes is depending on your line of work/ study.

For the Belarus couple, something's not right with that because assuming there haven't been any visa overstays, no criminal convictions and no communicable diseases (excluding HIV which is no longer an instant refusal) they should be applying for an IR-1 visa, since they've been married for more than 2 years.  This would grant her a 10 year green card and the right to apply for citizenship 3 years after issuance.

The UK idea is pretty null and void these days, as many of the Ambulance services are withdrawing their direct-entry recruitment and are now recruiting degree level paramedical science grads.  

If living in the US and working as an EMT is what the OP's lifelong dream is, his best bet is to apply for the Green Card lottery, which he'll qualify for as a French national.  There's no guarantee of winning and takes a couple years assuming success on the first attempt.

Even qualified RNs can't get employment visas in the US anymore, unless specifically recruited by an American company/ organisation willing to sponsor you.  Costs them $1000s and with the overflow of EMT/ Paramedic US nationals, why would any company in their right mind hire you?  They have to prove that an adequate, equally qualified American or Permanent Resident was not available for the job or that you have an expertise that means that you are the only person in the world who can do that job.


----------



## bigbaldguy (Jan 27, 2011)

*French guy have you looked into Alaska?*

Just throwing this out there but what about rural services in Alaska that have trouble recruiting anyone to work there. Yes it would be the middle of nowhere and the pay wouldn't be great but he might find someone who is desperate enough for a warm body to put in the proper requests. I don't know much about the Alaskan jobs except that there are places up there they just can't get people to go. He might be able to commit to a 3 year contract and crap wages in return for a green card. Does this sound plausible to anyone? He might also give canada a shot. He speaks English and French so he might land something in quebec or one of the other French speaking areas. It's not the USA but it would keep him close if he wants to wait on the lottery.


----------



## MrBrown (Jan 27, 2011)

Look this guy needs to pull his head out his arse and realise that what he wants is basically near impossible to get.

He needs to also realise how far advanced the SAMU/SMUR French model and that of other nations is compared to the US and how that working in this system is not a step down but several steps up.


----------



## glitter719 (Oct 29, 2013)

*Pouvez-vous parler beaucoup de langues est un allocation!*

C’a m’est égal si vous parlez l’anglais sans un accent très fort! Je suis américaine, mais je parle l’anglais, le Français, et L’espagnol. Quand je cherchais pour un travail, beaucoup de départements ont voulu m’emploie parce que je suis trilingue ! C’est un allocation que vous parlez plus d’une langue.


----------



## EMT B (Oct 29, 2013)

TransportJockey said:


> Or not-so-secret option number 3: Work at a municipal or county third service and get teh same type of pay and benefits without being forced to become a hosemonkey



There is nothing wrong with being a "hose monkey" :angry:


----------



## CFal (Oct 29, 2013)

In all honesty immigration laws aren't enforced all that strictly here.


----------



## Medic Tim (Oct 29, 2013)

Trust me it can be very difficult to get a work visa in the USA. It is impossible to do it solely on EMS education. I have an aas in paramedicine , my wife is American and I am just finishing up a bs in public safety. If I wasn't currently a student I wouldn't even be allowed to volly. 

A 2 year ADN can get a visa on the spot at a port of entry. If I am lucky I may be able to use the bs public safety for a medic job... And that is a maybe.


----------



## Scott33 (Oct 29, 2013)

CFal said:


> In all honesty immigration laws aren't enforced all that strictly here



Said no one who has actually gone through the US immigration process, ever.


----------



## CFal (Oct 29, 2013)

Scott33 said:


> Said no one who has actually gone through the US immigration process, ever.



That's the thing, you don't.


----------



## DAN911 (Oct 29, 2013)

glitter719 said:


> C’a m’est égal si vous parlez l’anglais sans un accent très fort! Je suis américaine, mais je parle l’anglais, le Français, et L’espagnol. Quand je cherchais pour un travail, beaucoup de départements ont voulu m’emploie parce que je suis trilingue ! C’est un allocation que vous parlez plus d’une langue.



Français et anglais seulement. / French and english only.  But my french is a lot better !


----------

