A way to the States for a foreign nurse

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I've been reading a lot about different programs on CGFNS and thought I'd go through with the VisaScreen but it seems that they assume you would pass NCLEX separately through the desired state where you wish to locate. (My destination would be Maryland and to enter the NCLEX there I should of course be living there already and have a tax or social security number.) My problem is that I'm not living in the States and I'm just trying to find a way to get there. Could someone please help me and explain a bit what would be the way to get there? Should I just first find an employee who is willing to sponsor my visa?

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

What visa will you be looking at for living and working in the US?

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Depends on where you are coming from. TN is easiest, but only available to Canadian and Mexican nurses. As for a sponsor, you can give it a shot but the process takes forever and many employers dont want to sponsor in this economy.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.
I've been reading a lot about different programs on CGFNS and thought I'd go through with the VisaScreen but it seems that they assume you would pass NCLEX separately through the desired state where you wish to locate. (My destination would be Maryland and to enter the NCLEX there I should of course be living there already and have a tax or social security number.) My problem is that I'm not living in the States and I'm just trying to find a way to get there. Could someone please help me and explain a bit what would be the way to get there? Should I just first find an employee who is willing to sponsor my visa?

And as far as visascreen and NCLEX go, the way it works is that you need to send required documents to cgfns and the appropriate board of nursing. When cgfns gets what they need, they will let your BON know. The BON will then send you your authorization to test. You can take the nclex from MANY countries, not just the state you want to be licensed in. You just make sure.Pearson Vue sends your results to your BON. I have never heard of this idea of needing an address where you want to test.

When I tested, I was told to look at dates. There were dates that fit near where I was, but if not I could have just gone the next state over.

If you have questions, PM me. I dealt with the geniuses at cgfns a few years ago lol.

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Specializes in ICU,ANTICOAG,ACUTE STROKE,EDU,RESEARCH.

You need to apply for CES AND visa screen through CGFNS. As Jeweles says, there are some genius' there.

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Thanks a lot for your answers.

I'd also like to know your opinion if I really have any chances of finding a job as a foreign newly grad RN? I graduated last December. I'm just wondering if I should try to find an employer at this point and/or start the process with CGFNS? In a lot of job offers they require a lot of experience which I don't obviously yet have, but just to be able get to the States as fast as possible should I start the application process already?

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

A lot will depend on what visa you are going to apply/qualify for? Green Cards take about 6 years.

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