|
All internationally educated health care providers, including physical
therapists, applying for an immigrant or nonimmigrant visa seeking
admission to the United States must provide a certificate issued by
credentialing organizations approved by the U.S. Attorney General
through the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). The new interim rule eliminates a temporary waiver previously
available for non-immigrants (non-citizen legal residents).
The rule
will result in the imposition of a requirement for internationally
educated physical therapists applying for visas to enter the United
States to practice physical therapy to obtain documentation of their
professional credentials and qualifications from approved private
credentialing agencies and provide that documentation to a consular
office in order to qualify for visa issuance.
Discretion will be used
with the possibility of the requirement being waived when there is a
possibility of a conflict with the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA).
To become a licensed physical therapists, you must meet the
requirements of the state or jurisdiction in which you are seeking
licensure.
You need to sit for a licensure examination. Upon
successful completion of the exam and fulfillment of other board
requirements (eg, TOEFL, TSE, TWE), a license will be awarded allowing
the applicant to practice in that jurisdiction only.
|
In the following pages, you will find brief
information useful to overseas physical therapists that want to
work in the United States, Canada, the United
Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Australia and New
Zealand.