Applying for Nursing license without taking Philippines NLE. Regardless of what State

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Hi, I'm new here and I just wanna say thank you to the people who made this site and those who participated in it. I bet there are a lot of people who is lost and found the answers they were looking for here.

I did a lot of searching and found some close answers to my questions here however some are outdated and policies may have changed. Or maybe the answer is posted and I just didn't know where to look for it.

I want to be a registered nurse here in the US. I have a student visa studying something else to buy some time. I came here about 3 years ago. I graduated BSN in the Philippines but I didn't take the NLE there. I'm wondering is there a way to take the NCLEX without going back to the Philippines to take the NLE?

I did a little reaserch and I heard California, Vermont and New mexico could do that but recent posts say that its too late for that because their policies have changed. I confirmed that because I called the BON of Vermont this morning and they said I needed a license in the Philipppines before I could apply to their NCLEX.

Any advice would be much appreciated...

By the way, I'm from Washington state. People here say a lot that its better to work on a state where you want to live in. Lets say, what if I'm open in living in any State...

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Specializes in Emergency, Tele, Med Surg, DOU, ICU.

If you have a student visa then I assume you do not have a social security # that is valid for work. Without that, CABON will not issue you a license. I think they won't let you take the NCLEX to start with.

Moreover, I am not aware of any state that will issue you a nursing license without a valid for work social security. I could be wrong though.

But I am 100% sure no employer will hire you if you do not have a social security. That unfortunately will be the case for you.

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Yes I believe that to work as an RN you need atleast a working visa. California on the other hand have some concurrency issues that most of people here are familiar of. There are some states which don't require NLE in the country which you are educated from. For instance Texas does not require a license from the country you were educated with but you must be a graduate must have graduated 4 years prior to taking the NCLEX. I'm also in this situation, I graduated from the Philippines and did not take NLE there lives in California but I applied for Texas. They didn't require a license just a full course to course report submitted via CGFNS.

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Yes, I graduated with a 4 year degree and about the work visa, I plan to apply for a work visa after I get my license as a nurse. Well hopefully a hospital can sponsor me of course. Again, I'm not really too focused in California because I understand they have very strict policies. I'm wondering if someone in my same situation was able to pull it off in another state..

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Specializes in Emergency, Tele, Med Surg, DOU, ICU.
Yes, I graduated with a 4 year degree and about the work visa, I plan to apply for a work visa after I get my license as a nurse. Well hopefully a hospital can sponsor me of course. Again, I'm not really too focused in California because I understand they have very strict policies. I'm wondering if someone in my same situation was able to pull it off in another state..

How can you get an RN license without the necessary prerequisites such as a valid for work social security number ?

One other thing, I believe the work visa lead time is around 5-10 years. There are a ton of information on this site. Do a search and it will yield answer a lot of your questions.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Work visa H1b requires BSN at a minimum or 12 plus years experience. It is a specialist visa and covers all professions so very hard to get and that is if the employer is willing to pay the $$$$$ it will cost.

Immigrant visa when through a employer is based on where you was born and if you keep an eye on the US bulletin for the month you can see how the progress is doing for PD and currently that can be anywhere from 3 - 12 years and that is as long as you can find a employer willing to wait that long.

Some states are sticking to the federal requirements of US SSN however some states will accept application without one. This doesn't mean you will get a license because some of the states will not issue a license until they get notification of your US SSN

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There is a surplus of RN nurses in many places in the United States. Many with their BSN degree from a national institution. This will make the likelihood of any hospital sponsoring a foreign trained nurse very slim.

Not to bring your hopes down but you may need an alternative plan since the situation is not favorable at all for Nationally trained nurses, therefore it would be even harder for foreign trained nurses. In your case it would be even more complicated since you don't have work papers.

Anyways keep your hopes and fight for what you want. In the end you might end up getting it.

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The OP may have received a "restricted" SS#, it may have the notation on the Social Security card "Valid for Employment Only with INS Authorization" which means that one may need to obtain work permission in order to commence employment. Should a person holding such a SS# card, the next employer if they are doing their job correctly, should always ask for a copy of the SSN card itself and if they see such wording, they need to make sure they are approved to accept the employee.

An employer who misuses the SS# under such situation can actually be fined heavily and get into trouble with their own state's taxing agency.

Remember that it's the IRS (the USA main taxing agency) that needs the correct SS# so that they can see if the employer is hiring the right authorized employee and a way for the IRS to make sure one pays their taxes to the IRS. In return, the employee needs to also give a share of their income to the IRS and to their particular state's taxes.

Having a restricted SS# is used a lot for international college students who wish to work while attending school to help out with their basic living expenses, but it's not an automatic free pass to the unrestricted SS#, such as the ones given to US citizens or other legal residents.

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To be honest, for those NOT wanting to take the Phils NLE for whatever reasons (either because the PH nursing board usually do not allow US or dual citizens to take the exam but the exempted nurse could take it, there are ways or for those of PH citizenship, they don't want to take it for the primary fear of FAILING it), it is really to your own best self interest to TAKE and PASS the NLE.

Why?

For the main reason, if a hiring manager or nursing manager sees two job applications: (a). one resume shows a PH nursing license and numbers and (b). the other resume nothing as far as a nursing license, who do you think looks better on paper and may be more considered for hire?

Think of the PH nursing license as another form of certification, a good one at that. I say the hiring percentage goes up if the PH nursing license is on the resume or at least for consideration rather than one showing "blank" license information, which ends in the "not interested" pile with the other 100's or 1000's of rejected applications.

Then, one wonders why they never got a call back? Of course, there are always other factors that plays into the hiring processes, but at least one knows they did their best vs a person who either failed the NLE or simply think it's not useful, they will never know.

Everyone knows that in this highly competitive job market, one needs to have a slightly better resume presentation.

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Specializes in Emergency, Tele, Med Surg, DOU, ICU.

To the OP,

You may have a small window of opportunity

https://allnurses.com/advice-on-immigration/us-graduate-nurse-940363.html

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Thank you for a very informative response. You even gave me more than I was looking for. I'll definitely consider everything you stated.. I now know what to say when I encounter someone with my situation..

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Thanks for your response and most importantly for your encouragement.. I'll consider everything you said and I'll find a way..

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