CGFNS/ICHP's Official decision on Visa Screening for June 2006 NLE passers

[eivan]

CGFNS Denies VisaScreen® Certificates for Philippine Nurses Who Passed the Compromised June 2006 Philippine Licensure Examination

PHILADELPHIA, PA — FEBRUARY 14, 2007 — After careful consideration, the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS International) has decided that those Philippine nurses who were sworn in as licensed nurses in the Philippines following their passing the compromised licensure exam of June 2006 are not eligible for a VisaScreen Certificate. CGFNS began investigating this issue soon after the first reports of irregularities were received and sent a fact-finding mission to the Philippines in September 2006. CGFNS has concluded that the licensure process for those who received their license as a result of passing the compromised June 2006 licensure examination raises significant questions about the accurate assessment of the competencies of many of those individuals.

Therefore, CGFNS is unable to certify that the licensure is comparable to a U.S. license. In this instance, applicable U.S. immigration law will not permit CGFNS to issue the VisaScreen Certificate required of internationally educated health care workers to those nurses who obtained Philippine licensure on the basis of passing the June 2006 nursing licensure examination. CGFNS notes, however, that the June 2006 passers are able to overcome this bar and qualify for a VisaScreen Certificate by taking the equivalent of Tests 3 and 5 on a future licensing examination administered by Philippine regulatory authorities and obtaining a passing score.

please verify at:

http://www.cgfns.org/sections/about/news/news/2007/02-14-07_philippines.shtml

For those that want to go to US...we need to take the board or certain parts of the board this June.

[lemon sweater]

I really dont know the entire story regarding this issue however, I wonder why not take those 2 sets of Exams? Would it make it easier to do that than wait until a"pardon" is made by CGFNS?

It looks like CGFNS decided not to give visa screens so just take it. The United States is a very nice place to live and work. There are so many opportunities that you can explore here. You have that option as a nurse to be here.

Good luck again. If you did well during the June exam, Im pretty sure you're going to pass the next one.

sir Xigris,

this is not anymore about retaking the exam, this is all about the integrity and sovereignity of our country.. It is very clear that the Supreme Court already decided that a retake will be unnecessary since the leakage issue was not widespread instead ordering the 1,687 examinees to do the retake last december..

it can be interpreted that CGFNS simply did not respect the decision of the Supreme Court and to think our Phil license is not comparable to their license so why the hell giving much attention to this issue. How about if i'll pass the NCLEX, don't tell me CGFNS will not give me a visa screen certificate and if so, it is tantamount they are questioning the integrity of the NCLEX exam? correct me if am wrong... thanks..

[lemon sweater]

US immigration requires that all that wish to get a green card on their own present a Visa Screen Certificate.

A nursing license does not give you permission to work in the US, you must have a visa that will allow you to do so. That is why there is so much talk of the VSC.

hi suzanne,

i am just wondering why CGFNS issued visa screen certificate to nurses who passed the NCLEX exam but without a philippine license because they failed or not took the exam at all. so, if this is the case, our philippine license has no value at all.

please give some thoughts about this... thank you..

[art00]

sir Xigris,

this is not anymore about retaking the exam, this is all about the integrity and sovereignity of our country.. It is very clear that the Supreme Court already decided that a retake will be unnecessary since the leakage issue was not widespread instead ordering the 1,687 examinees to do the retake last december..

it can be interpreted that CGFNS simply did not respect the decision of the Supreme Court and to think our Phil license is not comparable to their license so why the hell giving much attention to this issue. How about if i'll pass the NCLEX, don't tell me CGFNS will not give me a visa screen certificate and if so, it is tantamount they are questioning the integrity of the NCLEX exam? correct me if am wrong... thanks..

I beg to disagree. If you passed the June 2006 exam and have been granted a license to practice the nursing profession in the Philippines then you are free to practice the profession in the Philippines. This is where Philippine sovereignty ends.

Practicing the nursing profession in the US has NOTHING to do with Philippine sovereignty at all. This is governed by the policies, rules and regulations of their own regulatory agency. Take note that the CGFNS does not prevent anyone from practicing nursing in the Philippines.

Also, the CGFNS does not have to respect the rulings of the Philippine Supreme Court. The Americans have their own Supreme Court. Nursing practice in the Philippines is governed by Philippine laws and rules. Nursing practice in the US is governed by US laws and rules. Two very different things.

Just my humble opinion.

[suzanne4, RN]

sir Xigris,

this is not anymore about retaking the exam, this is all about the integrity and sovereignity of our country.. It is very clear that the Supreme Court already decided that a retake will be unnecessary since the leakage issue was not widespread instead ordering the 1,687 examinees to do the retake last december..

it can be interpreted that CGFNS simply did not respect the decision of the Supreme Court and to think our Phil license is not comparable to their license so why the hell giving much attention to this issue. How about if i'll pass the NCLEX, don't tell me CGFNS will not give me a visa screen certificate and if so, it is tantamount they are questioning the integrity of the NCLEX exam? correct me if am wrong... thanks..

You are completely mislead on the topic. CGFNS represents the US Government and are under contract to them, not your country.

And if you do pass the NCLEX exam, they still will not issue a VSC to you until you participate in the retake of that exam. Just like everyone.

There have been issues with the PRC since before that exam, as well as after. The US is doing things correctly. If you do not wish to work there, then you do not need to follow their requirements. If you do wish to work there, then you must meet the requirements of the US, and not those of your country. Your choice.

[suzanne4, RN]

hi suzanne,

i am just wondering why CGFNS issued visa screen certificate to nurses who passed the NCLEX exam but without a philippine license because they failed or not took the exam at all. so, if this is the case, our philippine license has no value at all.

please give some thoughts about this... thank you..

Your license has value only in the Philippines and in no other country...same with any license. And any country is free to decide and make rules as to what they want and what they do not want.

-----------------------

There are already issues with nurses and physicians purchasing licenses in the Philippines and not attending school in the proper fashion. And this is what the US government is watching out for.

It does need insight, but is called doing what is right.

If a nurse fails that exam, then it is up to the state to even decide if they want them to be able to take the NCLEX exam. Why would another country, any country, wish to hire a nurse that was unable to pass the exam, if they took it, in their own country in the first place? If no exam was taken, then it is not an issue.

[suzanne4, RN]

I beg to disagree. If you passed the June 2006 exam and have been granted a license to practice the nursing profession in the Philippines then you are free to practice the profession in the Philippines. This is where Philippine sovereignty ends.

Practicing the nursing profession in the US has NOTHING to do with Philippine sovereignty at all. This is governed by the policies, rules and regulations of their own regulatory agency. Take note that the CGFNS does not prevent anyone from practicing nursing in the Philippines.

Also, the CGFNS does not have to respect the rulings of the Philippine Supreme Court. The Americans have their own Supreme Court. Nursing practice in the Philippines is governed by Philippine laws and rules. Nursing practice in the US is governed by US laws and rules. Two very different things.

Just my humble opinion.

Agree with you 100%. If you wish to go to another country, you need to follow their rules.

[art00]

Agree with you 100%. If you wish to go to another country, you need to follow their rules.

Thank you suzanne4 for your kind words.

I would just like to offer this unsolicited advice to those who are affected by the June 2006 Examination scandal. Please, let us not assign blame to persons or entities who had absolutely nothing to do with the scandal. Let us not attack CGFNS who is just doing its mandate of looking after the best interest of the nursing profession in the US. Let's just accept the fact that that examination has been tainted. And this recent decision by CGFNS is, probably, their opinion of how to rectify things.

Instead, I humbly submit that ALL blame should be placed on the persons who were truly responsible for what happened and who, presumably, gained money from it. Let this incident be investigated thoroughly in an independent, transparent and just manner so that the guilty parties could be made to pay for all the damages done to the thousands of examinees and their familes who were affaected by this scandal. Let these scalawags bear the full penalty commensurate to their offenses. If it means imprisonment for the rest of their lives, so be it.

[Rep]

I beg to disagree. If you passed the June 2006 exam and have been granted a license to practice the nursing profession in the Philippines then you are free to practice the profession in the Philippines. This is where Philippine sovereignty ends.

Practicing the nursing profession in the US has NOTHING to do with Philippine sovereignty at all. This is governed by the policies, rules and regulations of their own regulatory agency. Take note that the CGFNS does not prevent anyone from practicing nursing in the Philippines.

Also, the CGFNS does not have to respect the rulings of the Philippine Supreme Court. The Americans have their own Supreme Court. Nursing practice in the Philippines is governed by Philippine laws and rules. Nursing practice in the US is governed by US laws and rules. Two very different things.

Just my humble opinion.

You said it right!

[cherrycoke]

If enough of the June batch thought about the end in mind from the very beginning (no US hiring, questionable integrity as professionals, discrimination from local hospitals, etc), they'd probably have chosen to retake and to retake means the issue going silent and the issue going silent means CGFNS not issuing the "ban".

[suzanne4, RN]

If enough of the June batch thought about the end in mind from the very beginning (no US hiring, questionable integrity as professionals, discrimination from local hospitals, etc), they'd probably have chosen to retake and to retake means the issue going silent and the issue going silent means CGFNS not issuing the "ban".

Sorry, but the issue would never go silent. Until all retake that exam, they will not get the VSC that most desire. Many have already retaken the exam in December so that they could go on with their lives. The others will have wasted a full year.

The ban would have been issued as the June exam was flawed. Period. And that is a well known fact around the world, not just in the US. With the number of nurses that come from the Philippines, there was no other choice.

[dizzydean]

I just hope for the best for the June 2006 passers and this problem be resolved soon.

[suzanne4, RN]

They just need to retake the exam and then there are no issues. Nothing is going to change until that is done. CGFNS represents the US government, they are not going to make any changes. The government of the US will not permit it.