British Nurse to California

Hi and welcome

Retrogression is affecting everyone. I have just moved to Canada but passed licensure requirements in 2004 and after a few problems some personal but also petitioner backing out and having to find another employer I became caught up in retrogression. There are good and bad with any state but Ca does have a high cost of living in a lot of places. Have also seen posts indicating hard to find employer/petitioner for Ca We also do not recommend Ca for initial licensure as they will not give license without SSN which you will not get until in the US with a valid work permit. Also your file is destroyed after 3 years with them if you haven't provided SSN and that includes your NCLEX results. Suggest you check out the sticked called Primer to working in the US and also be prepared for a few years wait.

There are lots of threads regarding Ca and this discussion try searching the forum for them using California as keyword. Generally NCLEX is for life, few exceptions ie whether you stopped nursing for several years, but Because Ca destroys your file if you haven't provided a SSN then your results have gone also. Last year we had some members posting that they was able to get a year extension on their file due to retrogression but you do have to write to them nearer the time. Suzanne the other mod here lives in Ca and will be able to give you more info re jobs etc

Right now, we are not seeing one hospital in the Bay Area wishing to petition anyone, no matter which country that they are from.

The issue is the retrogression and one is looking at several years for a green card, and when they need help, they need it now.

With the Bay Area and a family, you are going to be looking at several thousand dollars per month in rent, and expenses at the very least.

If the three years are coming close, you would have to apply for licensure in another state to keep your NCLEX results active, if not and the file is destroyed, then the results go with it.

Best of luck to you.