California license by endorsement

[L&DWendy]

Any advise would help! I have order a fingerprint from California BON three times over the past six weeks. There is a form to submit on their website. After each submission it says allow two weeks for delivery. Still no card!! I have tried calling the BON a dozen times. Every time it says we are having a large volume of calls, we can not accept your call. Try again later and then it disconnects. I am so frustrated. I want to take an assignment the first of the year so I wanted to getting everything settled early knowing it can take a while to get my license.Is anyone else having the same issue?Has any got a license by endorsement by using a fingerprint card from their home state?Thank you for any help you can offer.

[BluntForceTrauma]

Be prepared to wait at least 4-6 weeks even if you take a short trip to Sacramento and do the live scan fingerprints and go to the board office in person...I know several nurses that took a trip out there because they were told it would be quicker and only got their license 1.5 weeks before I got mine (I sent everything via mail).

They cannot issue a license until the background check has been fully completed by the FBI (which can take as long as 6-8 weeks or longer). Also, since there have been many strikes in CA in the past few months, the board has seen a tremendous increase in applicants.

[RNFiona]

Well I am licensed in NY and educated in NJ so hopefully I won't have an issue

[jhayroe]

Wow that is ridiculous! However I shouldn't be that surprised with what a hassle it is to get a license from California. I am licensed in AZ. I applied beginning of September (I got my fingerprint card within 2 weeks, no issue with that). I noticed they cashed my check 3 weeks after I submitted (obviously, always the first thing they will do is cash your check!)

They say the license typically takes 2 months to come through. So by by December I finally had time to call and check in with the progress. I was able to get through to someone who told me that they needed my transcript for Anantomy and Physiology. Which I had taken through dual enrollment while in high school through a community college. Seems crazy to me that 1. it wasn't copied from my college transcript 2. that they would really need the transcript for 1 class, especially since I am licensed in another state already and obviously graduated from nursing school and must have taken A&P.

Oh well, at least I was able to get that sent in and finally just got my license... 2.5 months later, but with only one phone call. But I'm very glad I called to find out what they were missing, otherwise I would still be waiting and I want to sign up for my next travel assignment there!

[RNFiona]

I applied for California nursing license nearly 3 months ago and have not heard anything. So I tried calling the California Board of Nursing and the answering machine basically yells at you and tells you they are busy and that by calling them you are taking them away from processing applications. Then you have an option to speak to an actual human where you get another answering machine that also yells at you and tells you to call back at another time. What the hell?

[NedRN]

Was your check cashed? Did you apply for a temp?

[RNFiona]

Yeah check was cashed a long time ago. I didn't apply for a temp

[NedRN]

The temp would have allowed you to practice until the perm came through. The question now is what is the hold up? It is either verifying a current license, or your transcripts haven't come through. Possible a background check problem. Did your school(s) cash your check? Of course, it could be the board's fault and California is not alone in not telling you about some problem that you can fix. Keep trying the phones. You might also check the website and see if you've been issued a license (try verifying your license by your name).

[RNFiona]

I wasn't in a rush so I didn't do the temp. I don't know if there is a problem because I have not heard anything and it is impossible to get through on phone. So annoying

[RNFiona]

And I did try the website. Nada

[BluntForceTrauma]

The only time I could get through to them was when the board first opened at 8am. If you have any background issues...even from 100 years ago, that will hold you up along with verification of your original license to CA if they don't participate in Nursys

[RNFiona]

I finally was able to speak to someone and found out that my initial application was destroyed because I waited too long after submitting it to send in the supporting documents. They said they had everything else, including fingerprints and that all I had to do was resubmit my application. However I couldn't do it online because it said I already did it. So I overnighted it. That was nearly a month ago. Still...nothing. Sigh:(

[NedRN]

How did you get through on the phone?