Quickest Way for Getting Things Done and Licensed in US

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As most of you know, I have been recommending initial licensure in NY for quite some time. And for those of you that did not heed the warning, you now know why.

New York is three easy applications only, next you take the NCLEX exam, then you get a hard license and can endorse to almost any state afterwards. Because of the requirements of the Special Credentials Verification for New York, you do not have to do any of the running around to obtain your documents. CGFNS will obtain them for you....after you sign the release and send them the money.

NY also requires two short classes that can be done on-line, one on Child Abuse, and the other on Infection. Both are available for about $15 each and take only one hour or so.

NY BON application can be found at http://www.op.nyed.gov. You only need to submit "Form 1."

The Special Credentials Verification can be found at http://www.CGFNS.org, as well as the Visa Screen Application.

Once you have received documentation from NY that your credentials have been received and approved, submit payment to Pearson-Vue for the NCLEX exam. http://www.perasonvue.com. They are the ones that will actually send you the ATT letter, upon approval of the Board of Nursing. Be aware that this ATT (authorization to test) is only good for ninety (90) days. You will have onlt that amount of time to get the exam done in, otherwise you will lose your payment and have to start again.

Hope that this helps................ :balloons:

Most importantly, NY will issue you the license without a Social Security Number.

Hello Suzanne ,

Once again , Thank you so much for your help , i really appreciated it...

You are awesome...

Bye Jas

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Hi there, I have just spent a week of night duty shifts searching this thread for the answers to my questions (which are many!) but have not found a response to anyone with a scenario like mine so please bear with me.

I am currently living in Melbourne, Australia where I have completed a Bachelor of Nursing and a Graduate Diploma in Critical Care. I have five years critical care experience and work as a clinical nurse specialist (CNS) in a major Melbourne hospital.

My husband has accepted a job transfer to California, USA for a period of two years. As part of his tranfer package I too will be granted a working visa. From reading this thread I can appreciate that the visa is like gold and I should count my blessings, however it puts me in a different position than most. I am keen to get moving in the process of US registration but I am not sure if, given that I only plan to live and work in California I should apply there for my licensure or if it is still a better plan to apply to New York as per Suzanne's recommendation.

Also, though I would love to work in my chosen specialty I am beginning to wonder if the registration process may take such a long time that the money, study for NCLEX, and time may not be worth it (given that we anticipate arriving in April this year!) and if I should consider working outside my profession. This is compounded by the apparent need to study generalist nursing in depth for the NCLEX when I am now quite specialised in my career. I plan to continue to work in ICU, where I have limited need for skills in obstetrics, paediatrics and psychiatric nursing in ICU. Is there any other options for specialist nurses?

I would be so appreciative of any tips on how to proceed from here and of any information I may need to consider as part of my decision making process.

To work as a nurse in the US you have no option but do the NCLEX. Going through NY instead of CA may be a quicker option for you and then endorse to CA. The process is still going to take months.

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Hi Suzanne ,

My name is Jas , i already contacted you , hopefully you remember!!!

I have a question Suzanne , i`m still preparing myself for the NCLEX-RN & TOEFL , is their any possibility to work in a Hospital to get more involved with patients and so on??? Well , right now i am not allowed to work because i`m still waiting for my Work Authorization papers and SSN#...i heard about Volunteering but i guess you don`t get paid for it right? Another question the State Board of Nursing in Maryland sent me an Application Packet from CES , do i have to go thru CGFNS??? , nobody can really answer me that , i even asked the State Board via email but no answer yet...hope you know sth about it...and they sent me a Register Form for the ILA OPI , do i really have to do this??? Actually i planned to do the TOEFL...Thank you so much for your help...Have a great day.

Bye Jas

For Maryland, you must go thru CGFNS for the CES, there is no way around that. Make it easy on yourself and just do what ever they wish you to do. There is really no difference in one English exam from the other, and if that is what they want, then that will be the easier route for you to go.

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Hi there, I have just spent a week of night duty shifts searching this thread for the answers to my questions (which are many!) but have not found a response to anyone with a scenario like mine so please bear with me.

I am currently living in Melbourne, Australia where I have completed a Bachelor of Nursing and a Graduate Diploma in Critical Care. I have five years critical care experience and work as a clinical nurse specialist (CNS) in a major Melbourne hospital.

My husband has accepted a job transfer to California, USA for a period of two years. As part of his tranfer package I too will be granted a working visa. From reading this thread I can appreciate that the visa is like gold and I should count my blessings, however it puts me in a different position than most. I am keen to get moving in the process of US registration but I am not sure if, given that I only plan to live and work in California I should apply there for my licensure or if it is still a better plan to apply to New York as per Suzanne's recommendation.

Also, though I would love to work in my chosen specialty I am beginning to wonder if the registration process may take such a long time that the money, study for NCLEX, and time may not be worth it (given that we anticipate arriving in April this year!) and if I should consider working outside my profession. This is compounded by the apparent need to study generalist nursing in depth for the NCLEX when I am now quite specialised in my career. I plan to continue to work in ICU, where I have limited need for skills in obstetrics, paediatrics and psychiatric nursing in ICU. Is there any other options for specialist nurses?

I would be so appreciative of any tips on how to proceed from here and of any information I may need to consider as part of my decision making process.

If you are coming over that quick, the fastest route for you will be to go thru Vermont for licensure then just endorse to CA. With all of your ICU experience, it should not be hard for you to get ready for the NCLEX exam, you are already very good at proritizing and this is what the exam focuses on. What you would do first, who would you see next? Biggest issue for you will be drugs and some lab values, as we have different systems in place here.

Which part of CA will you be living in?

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Thanks so much for you quick replies.

I am currently in L.A. now, just flew in for a week long orientation trip.

When we move permanently will be living around Pasedena/Monrovia, close to my husbands new office.

I have begun making enquiries at local hospitals with ICU's and have been very warmly received. I plan to visit some units this week as well as obtain live scan fingerprints to speed my licensure application. Please confirm whether vermont or new york is your first recommendation to apply through.

What else should I do while I am here?

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Vermont wil definitely be the fastest for you, then you can just endorse to CA. CA will take you about 4 to 6 months before you get permission to sit for the exsm, Vermont should be about one month or so.

When are you going to be in town until? I have a few days off later in the week and would be happy to show you around. You are going to be very close to where I am right now.

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Vermont wil definitely be the fastest for you, then you can just endorse to CA. CA will take you about 4 to 6 months before you get permission to sit for the exsm, Vermont should be about one month or so.

When are you going to be in town until? I have a few days off later in the week and would be happy to show you around. You are going to be very close to where I am right now.

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Suzanne I so appreciate you and your help!

Will direct my application to Vermont, what process and cost is involved in endorsement to CA.?

I will be here through til Sunday, how can I contact you offline? Thanks a million.

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hi everybody.. im sorta new here.. this was my solace while i was going thru my emotional breakdown of passing that darn nclex..

nway, i passed already.. been a nurse for almost 2 years now.. but i just recently went back and read the forums here...

this forum, and ms suzanne, is by far the best resource there is on the web! ok.. for my dumb question that has probably already been answered:

my cousin passed her board exam in the philippines last july '05. she then took her ielts and passed that this year, i think... now, she wants to work in the hospital that i work in.. i still haven't asked HR if the hospital sponsors foreign nurses but i'm pretty sure they do.

i was gona have her apply for licensure here in CA, but then after reading all the posts here, i'm having second thoughts.. all because of that darn SSN#. i know you will not have a hard copy of ur license but is that really necessary in order to process the green card? they give you ur RN#. (i mean, i was vacationing in the philippines when i found out i passed the test. all i did was look my name on the license verification site. no need to pay to see, in advanced, if you passed or not.)

cuz if my cousin applies to the NY BON, she still has to be endorsed to CA. and CA requires the breakdown of education.

OR maybe, she applies to NY, send the breakdown to CA BON already, so that when it is time to get the endorsement, everything will be in place... ?

ms suzanne, am i making any sense?

- send application for CVS, pay the fees, etc..

- send application to NY BON, pay the fees, etc..

(in the section where it says "intended state of practice," put NY and not CA?)

- THEN send application for the VISA SCREEN?

i have never dealt with immigration issues before.. thank u so much for all your help... we really need to be paying you for all your advice.. hehehe..

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another question:

ok, lets say my cousin passed the nclex and now has a license in NY.. she applies for endorsement to CA, but how can that happen cuz CA is still requiring a SSN#? how can she get the SSN#?

i'm lost... i'm so glad i already live here! :uhoh21:

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Dear Suzanne4 and everybody in the forum,

I am right now a nursing student in South Dakota. I already have a bachelor's degree in Biology from University of Alabama at Birmingham and now i am pursuing the second degree BSN in south dakota. I have already used my opt period after my lst degree so its obvious that i will not get second opt after my second degree (BSN). I went through the forum and realized i do not need to get any TOEFL or TSE. Anyway, before i realized that i already took toefl and scored 637 in TOEFL. My question is: when should i apply for VISA SCREEN , i am graduating in fall. How long it would take to get done with that visa screen after i apply it? Will i be able to work after i will have that visa screen certificate. I am an international student in F1 visa. Or there is some condition that i have to go back home and apply for visa again. Thank you very much.

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Dear Suzanne4 and everybody in the forum,

I am right now a nursing student in South Dakota. I already have a bachelor's degree in Biology from University of Alabama at Birmingham and now i am pursuing the second degree BSN in south dakota. I have already used my opt period after my lst degree so its obvious that i will not get second opt after my second degree (BSN). I went through the forum and realized i do not need to get any TOEFL or TSE. Anyway, before i realized that i already took toefl and scored 637 in TOEFL. My question is: when should i apply for VISA SCREEN , i am graduating in fall. How long it would take to get done with that visa screen after i apply it? Will i be able to work after i will have that visa screen certificate. I am an international student in F1 visa. Or there is some condition that i have to go back home and apply for visa again. Thank you very much.

You are correct that since you are attending nursing school in the US for your initial training, you do not have to write the English exams. You cannot apply for the VSC until after you have actually graduated. As soon as you take and pass the NCLEX-RN exam an employer can start the petitoning process for you. The issue for you will be when your F-1 expires and if you can get the NCLEX-RN done before then. You never want to fall out of status.

To get the AOS, adjustment of status filed, you need just the NCLEX-RN. You can get the VSC afterwards.

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