US nursing group, RP mull flexibility on VisaScreen

By Jerome Aning
Inquirer
Last updated 07:27pm (Mla time) 02/19/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippine government may open informal talks with the United States’ Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) to ask for a "flexible implementation" of its policy requiring nurses who passed the June 2006 board exams to retake disputed portions of the test to be eligible for visas, an official said Monday.

Labor Secretary Arturo Brion said he met with CGFNS representatives on Sunday and asked them if they would be flexible about the retake for nurses who would want to work in America.

"'We can talk,' they said; we talked about some options, which I cannot yet make public," he told reporters. "We'll explore possibilities of flexible implementation during the informal talks because I think our chances are better if we use this option."

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