Do I Nafta?

NAFTA.  The North American Free Trade Agreement was signed in 1994.  There are actually a whole lot of countries involved in this, but the one particular item I have made note of is that Canadian, American, and Mexican professionals in specific trade can move between the countries a little more freely with the signing of this act.  I met the credentials by being Canadian and by being in a profession listed in the NAFTA Act.  I took extra care to write the American Board exams as well as the Canadian exams with the idea that one day I might just want to go and work across the border some day.  As the years went by, I talked to others in my profession who had done exactly that.  It was easy -- you just presented at the border with a job offer for a period of less than 3 years, your original degrees and licenses, and off you went.  I have to admit this is sort of what I have been expecting I could do.

However, due to a change in the global environment, the NAFTA Act is trumped, if you will, by Department of Homeland Security.  Medical Professionals are now required to have a VISA Screen, per a Homeland Security act in 2004.  The VISA Screen is administered by one busy and likely overworked office somewhere in Pennsylvania, called CGFNS.  The VISA screen requires that every school, every professional certifying body, registering body, or licensing body that you have ever been listed with submit your history to them.  Sadly, for me, this included 2 post secondary schools, 2 certifying boards, and 3 licensing bodies in 3 different countries to stop what they are doing and dig into their records and send off the information.  The volume of mail means it takes about 20 business days for CGFNS to review a piece of information.  In the event that something is amiss....a space left blank, a new person on staff at the school signed your form, a letter will be generated and sent regular international mail to that place, and the cycle begins again.

It took me 4.5 months to get a certificate saying I had a valid VISA screen.  I was a little surprised (and almost offended) that my upstanding Canadian goodness was not immediately recognized, and in fact, it took 45 days longer than the worst case scenario I had been warned of (3 months).  Apparently, the process gets a little longer the more places you have been and the more people you have to bring into the process.  But, it's finally done and I am a pretty happy camper.

So, a word of advice.  If you are a medical professional considering working in the US...apply for the VISA Screen 6 months in advance.  Do it before you job search.  It is good for 5 years.  So if you are even remotely thinking of it, do it now.  Yes, you have to...NAFTA doesn't cover all the bases any more.  That's it for today.