Is Syracuse a Good Place to Live for International Nurses in New York

Hi, everybody, and welcome. It's Friday, so it must be Connetics USA weekly show onwards and upwards, everything that a healthcare worker needs to know about living and working in the United States. I am your host, Tanya Freedman, the chief executive officer of Connetics USA, and I'm joined today by Salvador. Hi, Sal. Hi. Good morning. Welcome. Today's topic is stateside.

We're going to learn how things are when you are living in the upper New York region in central New York, which is where Sal has lived for how many years? I think many years. Right. So we're going to hear his story almost 40 years now here in Syracuse. Wow. Almost 40 years. So we're going to hear what it's like to live in that area of the country and we can't wait to get started. I see we have some people joining us in the chat already and I see we have Aldrin from Fort Myers. We have Gene do we recruit medical lab scientists? And the answer is yes. In fact, Salvador is a medical technologist. Matt. Matt is saying good evening, watching from the Philippines. Welcome. Brenz is watching from the Philippines.

So if you're joining us now, please put into the chat where you're watching from and any questions that you have for sale. He will be happy to answer any questions about what it's like to live in the upstate New York region. So let's get started. So do you want to introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your background? Yes. My name is Salvador Banan and I'm originally from Philippines. I'm from Toggle Cage, and that's my province. And I grew up in Pasay City that's adjacent to the city of Manila. I had my College degree. I am a graduate of medical technologies at Forest University and I work with the Philippines government Department of Health for almost 15 years and then doing this research and vaccine production and years later thought of migrating to us. And that's how I started everything myself. Okay. Wow. So did you always have the dream of coming to the United States, though? Yes. That's actually my original plan when I started College. That's why I took medical technologies, because during that time, medical technologies are very in demand in United States. And that's the reason why I took medical technologies and also thinking that going further to the medical profession to be adopted, but it didn't work that way. Anyway, it's very successful for me. Very fair. Okay, good. So we're going to learn today a little bit about the upper New York state area and specifically Syracuse, which is where she lives. And I see we have Byron saying Hi. Brains is watching from the Philippines. Delvey is watching from Dubai. Grace is watching from Dubai. Neely is saying Hi. She is watching from the Philippines.

Neely is asking for how long before you came to the USA. So Neely is asking Sal, how long does it take? I think Neely's question is how long does it take you to get to the United States? What's the processing time? Well, this is how I got into this international travels. When I work in the Department of Health, they keep sending me. I have received a Fellowship. My first abroad was in Japan when I started immunology at the University of Hiroshima School of Medicine. The government sent me for fellowship to study some of my specializations and then after that, I had another few years after I had another fellowship in Holland sponsored by the who. I have all access to countries now after my term in the Philippines, I decided to come to the United States because I already have the visa because of my official passport. So I started working that way. I applied for first tourist visa. Then I converted into a student so that I have access to the school to change my Tourist visa to student and I studied. I tried my best to be a good student. I'm sure you did and I studied more advanced in Immunology, one of the College here in Syracuse. By then because of my background, I think the American Red Cross invited me to work with them and I did some training and specializations in blood bank and then eventually they probably like my performance and they offered me a green card. So I said I'm not you said yes, I'm thinking of staying in the United States because Switzerland, I'm open with the AAA. But when the director said you need green card, I said, oh, yes. Okay. Comparatively, I like United States better to stay with. Okay. Especially we are English speaking people and it's not hard to communicate here when you are hearing in the United States. No, that is correct. And Louis is joining us from Ontario, Canada. Joyce is saying Hi, if you are joining us now, we are sharing Sell story about what it is like to live in upstate New York region. He lives in Syracuse in central New York. And we're going to be learning a lot more about that area. So for many health care workers all over the world, they might have heard of New York City but not really know very much about upstate New York or about the central New York area. So we have a graphic of the US just to show everybody where it is. And we're going to put that on the screen. Now can you talk a little bit about where New York is in the United States and where Syracuse is within New York? All right. Syracuse. Well, some people, when they say New York, I'm going to New York, they think right away of New York City. But if Syracuse, New York, that's an upstate New York, like, for example, Manila and Baggy compared to Manila going to Baggy City. That's how I compare it to be more simple. Syracuse is located central New York. Yeah. And I think we have a graphic of that of exactly where in the state it's located. So there we go, correct? Yes. We are in between Albany and Canada. Yes. Buffalo. Okay. So it's very close to Canada, correct? Very close. It's only 2 hours and a half driving time. Okay. So just for everybody's benefit, if you were to travel to New York City, if you were to travel to Philadelphia, which are the closest cities there, how long would it take? Philadelphia is about only two and a half hours to 3 hours. New York City is, let's say about 4 hours if you drive. But if you take by bus, it takes about 5 hours. It's very accessible. Okay, good. Why did you choose that area of New York? Well, first of all, I think this is my destiny because this is how I started. I started my school, my work, and I decided not to get out of this place because I am in love with the scenery. If you are a person that like countryside, you will love Syracuse because especially we have three seasons here, the summer, winter and autumn. There are a lot of activities during these three seasons. And I went through that, the sports like ice fishing, skating, and summer, we can go camping anywhere. It's a very nice Lake and parks. During autumn, you can travel all around upstate New York. You will see the beauty of trees, very, very colorful mountains. And the road are winding with these very colorful trees while you drive along. Beautiful. So Chester is saying, how do you deal with the harsh winters of upstate, any Filipino community in store? So, Chester, we're going to talk about the Filipino communities and the stores and the shopping. But Sal, in terms of Chester's question about the winters, can you talk a little bit specifically about that? Because coming from the Philippines, you've never experienced winter like you do in the Northeast. First of all, if you experience winter or all these three seasons, you feel that you are really in America. Because I grew up in a tropical country, everything is hot. So anyway, they said it's hard to stay in a cold country, but actually it is not. You got to get used to it. And you know how to adjust yourself. If it's very cold outside, just stay inside. Warm up. If it's very warm outside, go. You just adjust. You adjust. Yeah, it's easy to adjust because during winter, as I've said, there's a lot of tickets. Do you cannot just stay inside the house? You got to go out because you will enjoy what winter is, snow, things like that. Sorry, can you think back of your first winter what that was like? Are there any memories of your first winter? My first winter is actually in Japan. Okay. Yes. But the most winter that I have is in Syracuse. So I came here around month of December and it's really a Blizzard. And then I'm feeling scared or something excited because of white snow that I see. And I said I just thought to myself, well, if people live here, they say five, why can't I? So I do what they do and what do they do? There's a lot of things. They go with activities, sports, things like that. They join. And there are a lot of parties during snow time, outside parties. Parties. Yes. Like ice fishing. They do party like that. Wow. Okay. So people adapt is what? Yes. You can adapt that's. Nothing hard. Okay. Okay, good. There you go, Chester.

So there's the answer to your question. I hope I've got your name right. It's asking, can I work in Bruce, New York, while staying in the Niagara region of Canada? Yes. We have many health care workers that do that. Jackie is saying Hi. We also wanted to just let everybody know that we have a booklet that you can download, which is on the Connetics USA website, and you can download, which is a guidebook of what it's like to live in all the 50 States and everything that you need to know about the 50 States. Just go to the Connetics USA nurses recruiting agency website and we'd be happy to show that for you to download. Okay. So, Salvador, let's talk about I'm just curious, also, before you came to Syracuse, New York, had you ever heard of it before? No, I don't have any idea about the place. My first time to come when I came from Holland. And everything is new to me, the people, the environment, everything is new. But it's your will how to accept it. Don't be scared because I have a dream. My dream is if I stay here in New York or anywhere in the United States, I know that I have something in the future. I know that I can advance myself. I can assure my family that they will be taking care of. That's why I stayed here in United States, specifically in circus for 40 years, everybody. Correct. 40 years. So he obviously likes it. Okay. Sheila is watching from Syracuse. Welcome, Sheila. Sheila obviously likes it and is there as well. And Suki is watching from the Binghamton area. How far is it from you, Salvador? Binghamton is about an hour and a half. Okay. It's not that far. Not that far. Okay. I just want to tell everybody that those nurses were coming to upstate New York. Feel free to call me and I'm going to help you guide you through. Well, we love that that you have such a warm welcome. And I think just today, Sal, you're going to be helping so many people understand what it's like to live in the upstate New York region in that central New York area and just sharing your experience. I think it's inspiring and helping so many people. So thank you for my pleasure. Okay, so let's talk a little bit more specifically about Syracuse because people maybe don't realize that Syracuse is a city. So tell us a little bit about the area and things like where is the nearest airport? What are the closest cities? What are the closest attractions? What are fun things to do in Syracuse? All right. As I've said, Syracuse is located centrally, and there's a lot of park or beauty places nearby that you can go. Like, for example, in Niagara Falls, there's a New York site and Canada site. And going north, there is a thousand Islands, which is also a boundary of Canada. There's a lot of activities that you can see there. And Department stores here are getting bigger. The shopping centers, the population of Syracuse increasing quick because most of the people from other States are moving in. There are some that are moving out because of the call. They cannot take the call, but most of the people from other States are coming to Syracuse, especially the price of commodities. The economy is very good here. It's cheaper compared to other big cities. Okay. So that's important for people to know, a lot of people moving in and that it is definitely a much more reasonable cost of living. Correct. Because for many international nurses, when they think of New York, they think New York City. And we're going to talk about the cost of living a little later in the show that just shows a huge difference in the cost of living between Syracuse and New York City. Salvador for shopping. So for those people who are interested in shopping and there are some things that Syracuse are known for. Yes, we have a very big shopping center here. We call it Destiny USA. Okay. And that's the biggest so far here in this area. Tell us a little bit about that. A lot of things that you can buy. I would suggest if somebody comes Syracuse, visit Destiny USA. There's a lot of things that to buy, and it's because it's a big shopping center. And actually, people from Canada are coming to Destiny USA just to shop around because comparing the tax is a lot cheaper. It's lower than compared to other like Canada or other cities. So it's cheaper for people from Canada to come and shop at that mall, correct? Okay. And I believe it's one of the biggest malls in the United States, right? Correct, yes. Okay. So there you go. If you like shopping, that's a fun thing to do in Syracuse that you might not have known about. Can you tell us a little bit about how close it is to get you mentioned to go to New York City and to Philadelphia. Can you talk a little bit about the airport and travel? Yeah, the travel is very accessible. There's a lot of means of transportation. If you want to go to New York City, we have train, we have bushes, and you can drive. Driving is only four. As I've said, it's 4 hours by bus. It's 5 hours. It's very accessible. Philadelphia is in between you past Philadelphia before you go to New York City, so you can take bus anytime. It's very accessible. Okay. And is it Uber? Uber. Uber and Lyft? Yes, there are a lot of them here. You can also get Uber or Lyft or what's the other one? There's another company that is private. Yeah. Okay. So that's important because a lot of international nurses, when they come to the United States, they might not drive initially. So just to have that accessibility, I think is helpful. Yes, it is very important to get information. As I said, I'm ready. Just feel free to call me if somebody is here new and I can guide them through if they need license or provision of SS or anything that I could help. I will. Okay. Thank you, Sam. And he's not just saying that, so please don't inundate him, everybody. But he's not just saying that. We have many healthcare workers that are living in the Syracuse area, and Salvador has just been incredibly helpful and warm and welcoming, which we love. Thank you for that. So Sushi is watching from Japan. Grace has a question. Working as a nurse in the US, must one pass the NCLEX exam? So, Grace, if you go to the Connetics USA website and you look at our success path, the success path on the website will show you all the steps that you need to take in order to come and live and work as a nurse in the United States. So the first is the NCLEX. And Connetics USA has an NCLEX scholarship program. We will pay for you to do the N clicks course. So if you're interested, please apply to the Connetics USA website and our team will be on standby to tell you more about the scholarship and see if you qualify for that scholarship. If for some reason you don't qualify for the scholarship, once you pass the influence, come back to us. We would set you up with one of our employers. And remember, Connetics USA is a direct hire. So what that means is that Connetics are not your sponsor. We are not your employer. Whether you're a nurse or Med tech, it is the healthcare facility. So you're going to earn the same as an American nurse or an American Medtech. We pay you for the interview. Then we have the visa framework, which is where you'd come on the TN. So Chester might come on the TN because he's a Canadian citizen or a green card for everybody else licensing credentialing. We'll help you with the get ready game plan, the arrival sequence, and then enjoy and prosper as Sale is right now and has been for the last few years, in the last 40 years in Syracuse. Can we talk a little bit about the community now? As an international person arriving in Syracuse, for many health care workers, they might think, well, I know New York City, but I don't really know Syracuse. What could anybody expect from the community in Syracuse? Well, there's a lot of nurses here coming from other countries and especially the Philippines. And we have a community here, the philanthrop community, that takes care of the people here in upstate New York, like charity programs or any other activities. They invited them just to give them a support or to enjoy their time. We have parties. We have techniques. We have Christmas party. We have sort of a Valentine's party just to have them enjoy after working hard. So that's my objective of having this community keep rolling so that people will have a sense of togetherness. There is no separation. I encourage everybody either Filipino Americans. I encourage everybody to unite. We are in one umbrella helping each other. And I'm glad that there's a lot of nurses now that came to know this organization, and they connect with me. And we love that the community there is really supportive and really helpful to each other, especially during that transition time. Correct. We also do charities, not only in the United States but also abroad, like the Philippines. We send a lot of medical supplies during emergency situations, like the recent three typhoons that occurred through my agency. Lot of medical supplies for the people. And also we have Feed the Hungry program in one brand, guy in one group. We send money or just have them food, buy food and then have them enjoy love it. Well, I love that you pay forward and that you have all of those different support mechanisms in the community. I know obviously the pandemic changed things a bit where people couldn't get together. But I know that in the past I've heard about your big Christmas parties that you've held a little bit. Tell us about your last big Christmas party. How many people came? What happened? What did you do? Well, our last Christmas party that was in 2019, and I think it's over 300 people attended. I tried to invite many nurses all over upstate New York. There's a lot of them that came. Unfortunately, some of the Connetics nurses cannot come because of their own duty, especially a night shift. But we have a great big turnout everybody enjoyed and all of them because we have a lot of things to do, like fashion show, like Raffles. There's a lot of big prices that we do a lot of fun. So are you planning to have more functions? Yes, actually, this year. I already made the plan for this year. Starting on June 25, we are celebrating our Phil and gala night in commemoration of the Philippine Independence Day. That's June 25, and the next will be our picnic on August 20, then followed by again, the Christmas party on December 3. So please, all those upstate, you can come. You're all invited. Take note of these dates. Check my Facebook page. Fabulous. So lots of fun things to look forward to. Yes, fabulous. Okay. So run through my vein, says Hi. Andre is asking about the major hospitals in the area. So, Andre, there are a lot of hospitals that we work with in the area, both on the acute care side as well as the rehab side as well as skilled nursing. So lots and lots of opportunities for nurses. As Salvador said, this part of New York is growing. It is a very reasonable cost of living and many people are coming into that area. Andre is asking about the winter. Anything to add about the winter. So just wear a thick clothes and you'll be one wrong. Okay. There you go. Just address appropriately, adjust and sell things. Yes. Adjustment is the most important. Don't be scared of going out because just wear the proper warm clothes as you do it's. Okay. And you got to know, of course, in driving, you got to know the skills of how to handle it. Snow. Okay. But if you cannot drive, just call an Uber or take bus and there's no problem with that. Okay. There you go. Andre, who is asking how far is the recruit from Buffalo? Buffalo is two and a half hours from Syracuse. Okay. It's very accessible because it just goes straight to the Interstate 90 and all the way there and you pass also Rochester. Okay. So not very far at all. Not very far. Okay. Aldrin is saying what are the requirements for the nurse A jobs applying from India. So, Aldrin, we do have nurse a job that a lot of our clients all over the United States. The only thing is, when you say applying from India, I'm sure you know about the visa bulletin. Unfortunately, there is a backlog for India and China right now. So it is difficult for a health care worker from one of those countries. If you're born in one of those countries to come to the United States on an EB3 green card. We are hopeful that there will be some legislation change. But if you are born in India or China, unfortunately, there is a backlog still on the visa bulletin. All other countries are current. And if you were born in another country, then India and China and would like to come to the United States as a nurse aide, please go to the Connetics USA website and apply and we'd be happy to help you. There's a QR code so you can scan that and apply right now. Oh, there we go. We've just answered asking about the application.

Brent is asking is it safe to live in upstate New York, especially in Syracuse? Yes. Generally, compared to other States, Syracuse is a safe place to live, although there are some incidents about crime, but it is well controlled. I know the chief of police who update me also of how the situation is about crimes and it's normal for other places. There are some incidents going on but it is controlled. Okay, good. So really, I think overall, Syracuse is known to be a very safe place, but it is a city. And like any city all over the world, there's going to be some element of crime. But overall known to be a safe kind of like a family friendly area. Am I right? Yes. Plus, if you are in other places, you have to know how to protect yourself. Don't go out at night by yourself. Things like that. Yeah. Just good common sense. Yes. Okay. So let's talk about how multicultural the area is. You've spoken more specifically about the Filipino community, the full Am community. Can you talk about other nationalities that might be there's a lot of organizations here, like Chinese, India, Middle East. There's a lot of organizations here in every country. When I send the donation, I met some of the Ukrainian organizations, and that's how I found out that there's a lot of them here. Wow. Yeah. It's a big organization, too. And we helped them out because of the ongoing war over there. So I'm glad we were able to share some help to them. Yeah. So that's amazing. I did not know that about people from the Ukraine, but I think that there are a lot of people from countries all over the world in Syracuse, correct? Yes. Okay. So let's talk about the food. Well, because first of all, the Filipino food, if you have friends around, Filipinos here are very friendly, even the Americans. So if they want Filipino food, just call your friend and they're going to Cook for you. They offer you some food, for example, if you like a specific food for Filipinos adobo. Most of them know how to Cook adobo, and they group themselves Sometimes they invite people to their house and have some just Cook food for the Filipinos. Now if you want other recipes, like for India, there's a lot of restaurants here from India. Chinese. There's a lot of Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants here. The only thing we don't have here is at this point of time, we don't have a Filipino restaurant, but we can order from people around who sell or can Cook for us. Okay. Interesting. In fact, I'm just thinking back south to when you and I met. There was a Filipino restaurant at one time, many years back, and that's how Sal and I actually met many years ago. Hopefully they'll start up again. But in the meantime, there's no problem getting the Filipino food. Okay. You've lived in Syracuse area for 40 years, so obviously you like it, and it has been a great experience for you. What has surprised you about living in Syracuse? What surprised me is, first of all, what I like. Okay. I like in general, not only in Syracuse, but the health care  system in the United States. I'm just comparing other countries like Philippines or other countries that with. The healthcare system is very good. In my opinion is the best. I agree. Yes. And for the things that I don't like is if the people that I organize, if they don't unite, if they don't cooperate, that's the thing I don't like because I have to push myself on the deepest thing, how to unite themselves. And that's the only thing. If we don't unite, our strength will be weakened right away. But if you have the unity among Filipinos and other nationals here living in Syracuse, that would be a perfect environment. Yeah. And that's the goal, I think, just to evacuate that because that is the goal. And that's where I think from onwards and upwards, our show's perspective. We want to share information, we want to educate people, we want to inspire people who are watching all over the world. And I think no matter where you live, not even just in Syracuse, but that's the goal. It's for people to unite and come together because that's where you have a strong community and really good, I think for any healthcare worker around the world to know that in Syracuse there are a lot of nationalities and it's very multicultural. Okay. Now let's talk a little bit about schooling. So can you talk a little bit about the school system in Syracuse? Yes, actually there is a review of the school system in Syracuse, generally the United States. I think it's the best school system, one of the best school system in the world. As far as Syracuse. We have one of the top ten universities here, the Syracuse University. And lots of Filipinos are coming over to study, especially the master's degree. A lot of Filipinos I graduated from that University. Secondly, we have Colgate University and somewhere in Binghamton. What University? There are three big universities here. Okay. If you send your son or daughters to come and study, I think rest assured they will get a good reputation from this University. The third one is the Cornell University, Binghamton. Yes. So all three very famous, well known universities. Yeah, one of the top ten. Yes, very well known. If you are advising a parent that has just arrived from outside of the United States and maybe they had young children, what would you advise them about the school district and how things work in Syracuse? Well, get all information about the requirements because there's a lot of requirements before you get in. And there are some schools, it depends on the location of where you stay. Normally there are good schools, there are not good schools, things like that. But if you get some information about sending your kids to school, it depends on where you live. But rest assured all the students here are safe. They are really protected. Good. Okay. So I see Brenz is tagging some friends? Thanks Brenz for tagging your friends. Please. If you're watching right now, anywhere in the world, please tag your friends as well. Onwards and upwards is about paying it forward and health care workers helping other health care workers that want to come and live and work in the United States. That's what Sells doing today. He's paying it forward and sharing his knowledge and his experience and his journey in Syracuse, New York. So please, paired forward like Brendz does and with your other friends and tag your friends to watch the show. Patrina is from Ghana is asking how can I apply? Can you sponsor so, Patrina? Yes, you can go to Connetics USA website and apply and our team will be on hand to help you with the next steps. We have a viewer that was helping tell you about Binghamton University. Sal. Binghamton University, yes. Yeah. And Grace is asking, what about African food? Are they available? Sal African? Yeah. Yes. I think there are some organizations here, too, from that country. And there's a lot of African foods here. You just have to know where the restaurants are because there's a lot of them. Absolutely. I'm just thinking back many years ago, we had one of our first nurses from Nigeria arrived in Syracuse, and we found her some connections at the Church, places of worship. And she was like, oh, my gosh, there's so much here, I realized. So in answer to your question, Grace, yes, there is African food available. And so Christina has a question. I have a question. Is it possible or required to take NCLEX first before you apply for a nurse in the United States? Is there any hidden fees when you apply for this? So, Christina, that's a good question. If you have passed the inquiry, you can come as an RN, obviously. But do you have many clients that will sponsor nurse aides where you have not yet passed your NCLEX and there are no recruitment fees? So just to be clear, Connetics USA are accredited by the CGFNS for ethical recruitment practices. And there are no recruitment fees. And Zamoya is asking, do you recurrent midwives Zamoya? I'm not sure if you're a midwife and an RN. So please apply online and our team will speak to you and see how we can help you. And Suzanne is asking for more information on the nurse aid program. Suzanne, keep watching because we have a whole show that's coming up on the nurse aid program soon, so we'll be able to share that with you. Oh, my gosh. I'm looking at the clock and we've got 15 minutes to go. This has been such an interesting conversation. So let's talk a little bit about housing. Can you talk about how to find housing, renting buying? Can you talk to us a little bit about that housing here? If you buy a house compared to other cities, as I've said, again, it's a lot cheaper. Okay. Like, for example, I can say a figure if you have. You don't mind if I tell a figure, right? Yeah, go ahead. If your house worth about, let's say 350,000. It's a big six bedroom or five or six bedroom compared to California. Other States. That's going to be million already. So you can just imagine the difference. Yeah, there's a huge difference. There's a huge difference. And there's a lot of apartments here to live. A lot of houses are being built right now. People are just buying houses in my area. Sometimes I saw a sign, House for sale, and then after three to five days, it sold out. Wow. So a big demand for housing. There's a lot of areas here that good. Houses and rentals. There's no problem. There's a lot of them. So there's availability. Availability, yes. Okay. Shanido is asking how about the Med tech application, please? I can't find information on your website. So, Chenido. Yes. Go to the Connetics USA page and apply. And we have an allied division, and our team will be on hand to help you with your process. As a Med Tech, we have many Med Tech opportunities all over the United States. So, Sal, let's talk a little bit about vacation. Being on the East Coast. Can you share with our viewers where you've been on vacation? Where have you traveled most on holiday? Well, first of all, I traveled nearby, the upstate New York. There's a lot of thousand Islands. It's a very beautiful place. Niagara Falls and Adirondaps, where if you want to go camping, it's very nice. We have too many parts to go through. Too many.

And if I go for vacation, sometimes I go to other States, like Florida, like Maryland or other cities. Las Vegas, if you want to play, where are you? We've got some pictures that's actually the family from Philippines who like to shop around. That's the Destiny USA. That's not vacation. That's a shopping vacation. That's a shopping vacation. And the one on the left is that is New York City where the occurred. Okay. And that's actually a shopping center. Now, back of that is a building where the incident occurred. And yeah, there they go. The shopping in that's in Canada. When I went to Canada. Okay. There's a Filipino. What is it? City. Food city. Okay. In Toronto and Cocoa Beach. That's in Florida. Okay. So how long did it take you to fly to Florida? Not as much. About 3 hours, three to 4 hours later. Very accessible. Very accessible. Yes. Okay. All right. So we're coming to the end of the show, but one important question. We've kind of touched on it, but we haven't really spoken too much about it. And I think important to share with everybody is the cost of living. So we've spoken about, obviously, that it is less expensive than, for example, New York City. And international nurses or Med tech might be more familiar with New York City than Syracuse. So we have a graphic cell. Can you maybe talk us through this? The cost of living, $600. Yes. Transportation, yes. This is a good figure to refer with. So everywhere. If we compare Syracuse to Manhattan, to New York City, there's a massive, massive cost difference. Can you talk a little bit about the cost of living and the taxes in the area? Well, the taxes are all the same. We still have the 8% tax. As far as the state of New York, they're all the same compared to other States. Okay, it's only 8%. There you go. Okay, so a lot of good information about the area and what to expect if you were to come and live in Syracuse, New York.

Andre is asking. I'm in the process of preparing for the NCLEX exam, but I'm concerned that when adjusting my status, USCIS may accuse me of misrepresentation, which is not the case. So is there someone in your legal Andrea, it sounds like your question is very specific, so I'm not 100% sure what that misrepresentation is, but if you haven't already, please apply online and we'd be happy to discuss your case and see how we can help you. Andrea, further question. So there's someone in your legal Department may I speak with before applying for the NCLEX exam? Yes. Sorry, Andrea, I didn't see your full question.  So, yes, you can speak to one of our recruiters and they will evaluate your situation and see if we can put you in touch with one of the lawyers to evaluate your situation. Christina is saying thank you for answering my questions. So if anybody else has any further questions before we finish up with cell, please put them in the chat. He'd be happy to answer. Christina is saying thank you for answering my questions. Greatly appreciated. I just want to know because my brother from the Philippines wants to work in the United States. So there you go, Christina. So, Sal, you have helped Christina and her brother today, as well as many health care workers all over the United States. And just to hear about what life is like in Syracuse New York. And so really interesting information. Sal, what would you say to anybody as we finish off now about coming to live in Syracuse? Everybody, the people in Syracuse, everybody is welcoming you. Anywhere you come from. In the Filipinos, India, living in Syracuse, you will see the difference. If you travel around the world or anywhere in the state, you will see the difference. When you live in Syracuse, you have to compare yourself. And if you need help, the authorities can help you. Just call any help. Just call the police, for example, the police. If you call them for help, they immediately respond to you. And as I've said, the way of living here is a little bit lower compared to others. And you will like the Syracuse area, not only Syracuse, but the adjacent cities, the neighboring cities like Binghamton, Oakland, Albany, Rochester. Those are beautiful cities comparatively. The small cities then like New York. But if you intend to live here, I already mentioned few of the things that you may encounter. And you got to know how to adjust yourself anywhere you go. You got to know how to adjust yourself. By then, you will know if you like it or not. But when you are in Syracuse, I assure you the place is very good for you, especially if you like a countryside living. You will like Syracuse. Okay. Generally, upstate New York. Fabulous. Well, those are very positive, encouraging, inspiring word sell. So we're going to finish off now, but I think that's a great place to end off. I know we have a few extra questions. What he is saying, is there an age range of recruitment? No, there is no age limit.

Zamoya is asking, do I need to work experience as a nursing assistant? It depends on the employer, what they're looking for. So our team will be able to help you with that. Milady is saying, do you have the hemodialysis facilities in Syracuse? Yes, we do. Eldrin is saying, thanks, Tanya and Salvador, for the information. Connetics USA is the way to go. The best. Thanks, Aldrin. We really appreciate the words of support. And Marcell is agreeing. So with that, we're going to finish off for today. Thank you so much for everybody who has joined us from all over the world. And thank you so much to Salvador, who has shared his journey, his experience, his advice for anybody who is coming to live in the Syracuse, New York area. It has been so informative, so interesting. And I know that you've helped so many people all over the world today, Sal. So thank you. Thank you for having me. Thank you for being a part of this show. You're welcome. Lastly, I would like to thank also you being the facilitator for the show and your company. It helps a lot with this problem shortage of nurses and medical workers here and not only in Syracuse, but all over the United States. I hope you provide more nurses, professionals. That's the only way to solve the problem and improve our health care system through you. Thank you, Sal. Well, we're trying. We have thousands of positions all over the United States for all different kinds of health care workers, nurses, nurse aides, medics, all different kinds of specialties. So if you have not yet applied to Connetics USA, please do so. And we'd be happy to help you and to come to live your American dream like Sal has been doing for the last 40 years. Before we finish off just some upcoming shows to show everybody what's coming up next week. On the 20th, we will have an IELTS bonus class, so that will be really fun. For those of you who still have to pass your IELTS exam, please make sure to watch on the 20th. And for those of you who still need to pass your NCLEX exam, we have an NCLEX bonus pass on the 27th on the third. We have our usual Connetics Q and A with the expert legal team for any of your immigration questions and we have the Lefora talk show. This is an interesting show. We are going to be talking about the clinical differences what it's like to work as a nurse in the United States for example as opposed to overseas and specifically on the clinical side. And then we have our client showcase very prestigious client on the 10th Cedars. I'm one of the top ten facilities in the United States. Our Connetics initiatives for everybody to remember. We have a free aisles scholarship. All Connetics nurses that all kinetics health care workers that go through Connetics get a free IELTS course to help you with your IELTS and we've had enormous success with that. I always refer to Bert he's one of our Connetics nurses. He failed the IELTS seven times. He then came to Connetics. He did our course and he passed on the 8th time with an eight in speaking and a seven overall higher score than it is even required. We've mentioned a few times our NTC scholarship which is our free review course for selected global nurses. We also have $1,000 referral fee if you send us a nurse with NCLEX. This is a promotion has been extended until may 31. Please also watch our podcast nursing in America. We're in the top 10% of podcasts all over the United all over the world and we have our direct hire program our weekly show. Watch us next week and also looking for allied needs. And also feel free to download our article booklet on the different States which shows you every state is different and information about the housing, the cost of living the laws. This is free information for you. You can use this QR code and scan to get your 50 state guidebook. So with that said, I want to thank everybody for joining us. We will see you next week. Onward and upwards. Thank you, everybody. Bye.