Visa Screen Certificate / CGFNS

World Registration

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Visa Screen Certificate is required by all foreign nurses wishing to obtain a green card to work in the US, as well as any type of temporary work permit, such as the Nafta TN Visa for those from Canada and Mexico.

It requires that you pass either the NCLEX-RN or the CGFNS exam, as well as the series of English exams if you are not exempt from them.

The CGFNS exam is only required now in about five states, and rumor is that one or two will be removed from that remaining list as well. Do not bother with that exam if you are not going to work in a state that does not require it, or you have no way to be able to take the NCLEX exam from where you are currently located.

The application for the VSC is now only good for one year.........please do not apply for it until you have passed at least one of the required exams, or you may need to pay an additional fee.

(This thread is replacing the original thread that was from more than 2 and 1/2 years ago, and has updated information.)

thank you for your response! why are you hoping that retrogression will remain? i thought you desperately needed nurses over there...anyway...please tell me if i got you right: working in psychiatry would only minimize my chances when it comes to the amount of job offers, right? but has nothing to do with immigration, right?

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Specializes in intensive care, recovery, anesthetics.

She is not hoping that it'll remain, she hopes it'll move forward (instead of backwards)

5cats

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thank you for your response! why are you hoping that retrogression will remain? i thought you desperately needed nurses over there...anyway...please tell me if i got you right: working in psychiatry would only minimize my chances when it comes to the amount of job offers, right? but has nothing to do with immigration, right?

It does matter! It depends of what kind of visa you're applying. If you're applying for a work visa like TN visa, they all require an employment letter at the port of entry making sure that you cross the border for work purpose. If the State is in retrogression, the job opportunities will be minimized and competitive. That means they are looking for work experiences in all areas -not just psychiatry. My humble opinion, if you have specialty nursing skills like ICU/PACU/CSICU, Telemetry, Cath Lab, ER, OR, Labor room, or Dialysis training, the chances will be high. I just got a job in Dialysis 2 months ago and I'm in the process of getting the TN visa. I got to make sure that all my certificates and documents and licenses (original papers) are well prepared before I come to the border though.

Just a little sharing,

Cheers,

Grace99

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Retrogression has been a round since Oct 06 and has moved backwards and forwards with dates that are being processed. Currently there are no visas and will see no movement until September bulletin for October month when the new year starts. The dates being processed was 2003 and expect something similar when the new visas are released.

I am not in the US but a UK citizen that has moved to Canada. Just look at state and general nursing forum and you will see that nurses are being laid off or struggling to find work. As a International nurse it is even harder to find a job as the employer has to prove that they can not employ a US citizen or legal resident. There are only a couple of routes for you coming from the EU and that is H1b (as long as you meet requirements) and immigrant For those citizens from Canada and Mexico there is the NAFTA and for Australian citizens there is the E3

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thank you, you all!

:specs:

so is it still possible for me to immigrate to the us as an european-trained rn? i know nursing isnt schedule a anymore, but it is still possible to get a green card as an rn, correct? i wouldnt be able to get an h1b visa. i want to go the immigration route. im concerned now...please help! thank you.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Yes if you meet requirements it is possible to still go as a RN however be prepared is what we are saying to a long wait (as things stand at the moment)

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I see your frustrations Mounty! I agree what Silverdragon wrote about the situations in US. It is true that they are in retrogression, in some States, even if they need nurses, they hire the experienced. I knew that some new grads (trained in US) were not able to find jobs there.

My theory is, nothing is impossible if you try hard to reach the requirements, you'll get it somehow. As Silverdragon said, " It takes time though!". What I suggest is (as I did that before), to google the available job fairs in the States you like to go and see what their availabilities are. They will also tell you what requirements you need to achieve before being hired. There are websites you can register and they will update you from time to time (or everyday) the job opportunities. It is free of charge. I'm not sure whether I'm allowed to post their link in this forum but you can easily google it.

Just be wise when you google or get on various websites, make sure you pick the reliable, helpful, and non-profitable sites. Sometimes people may trick you when they know you're desperate.

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hi! i need help.. in my VSC my second given name is indicated twice such that for examply my name is mary jane, what's written is mary jane jane... how can i make changes? thanks for any help!!

I have the same problem too! What happens is that I have my English name on my passport and on some of my certificates and documents, I have my second name added to my legal name. So I ended up getting 4 name versions on my documents. I did pass in my VSC, but I'm wondering whether it matters when I get my TN visa.

I worried about that! Can I go to an attorney to get help verifying those names all imply to me?

May I share your experience too?

Thanks in advance

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does anybody here knows about credentials evaluation services under cgfns and how long will it take. i'm applying for louisiana endorsement and they need it.i heard it from a friend that it took her 7 to 8 months until her louisiana license came in.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

On average CES takes approx 4 months but may take longer depending on how timely they receive your paperwork

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thank you for that very helpful information, at least now i know what to expect from ces.

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i am a nurse from the philippines. i am done with my nclex and ielts. i passed my nclex for california but i cannot get my license yet because i do not have an SS number. what happens now? California board of nursing will give me until april of 2011 to submit an SS number and after that they will declare my exam void.what can i do to avoid this? will applying for the visa screen lengthen the validity of my nclex and ielts? please help!i'm really confused:bugeyes:

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