Canadian RN moving to california

blondeveronica · Dec 9, 2013

I am a RN from Alberta, I wrote my nclex and got licensed through minnesota (with no intention of ever working there). I did this so that I could go to California. I think the best way to do it is to sign with a travel company, they will help you get your work visa, and then from there you get a SSN easily... and then from there you send all of your paperwork to the California board of nursing and wait for your license... Unsure about the practicum hour requirements as i'm still waiting for my license.

sdeirish · Jan 15, 2014

hey! so i also went to York and am now trying to get my California license, they say that all i am missing is pediatric clinical hours, but i've called every where and you can not just do that course you gotta retake the entire program!!

so im wondering if anyone was able to get their license if this happened to them this year or last! please help!!!

godfatherfreak · Jan 20, 2014

Hi, I'm a RN in Canada moving to California to do travel nursing. I have my licence in Minnesota and I am looking to work in Southern California. I have applied for my licence to be transfered to California through Nursys. I got confused when I applied for my licence in California, because I noticed you need to send school transcripts, licence validation....I figure I didn't have to do that, since I have my visa screen with CGFNS and my licence with Minnesota?? I've tried calling the California board of nursing, but I can't get through. Also, how long does it take before you get your licence when transfering from Minnesota?
Thanks!!!:)

Hi i like this thread as it has infor regarding travel nursing and doing the nclex!

stephaniern12 how is it going with your travel nursing? We would love to hear what happened and how are you doing

to everyone: im a canadian rn but i have no idea where to start in obtaining the nclex. So there are states that are 'easier' to apply in/to get your license? Could somebody give me a breakdown via here or PM with the visa, ssn stuff? Iam really confused thanks

YassKween, BSN · Apr 1, 2014

Hi Yassi and others who were having problems with their clinical hours. I am wondering what was the outcome of your application for licensure in California? I was looking at the requirements for nursing education and realized that my nursing education did not have microbiology. However my anatomy and physiology class was a full year. Did anyone experience this before? Do they scrutinize it as much as the clinical hours?

Positive.Vibes · Dec 16, 2014

Hi Everyone,

Just going through the above posts.

I am Canadian and did my BScN from York as well. I passed the NCLEX and have the Minnesota licence.

Looking to get my NY licence through endorsement. Anyone out there gone through this process recently?

Also looking into Grad schools. Anyone out there who has used WES vs CGFNS academic evaluation and found it to be faster / more efficient?

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

saraselliott · Feb 9, 2015

Hello,

I am a Canadian RN, who did my BSN at Univ of Ottawa in 2004. I have a license in MN (because they let me take the NCLEX with less hassle than FL - the state I was living in at the time). I passed then got my FL license by endorsement. I worked briefly in FL. Now we have moved to CA (for my husband's job) and I am being told I do not have enough clinical hours to get a license here (which I find hard to believe), so they want me to take a Nursing psych course here. Funny thing is their nursing psych courses are the same length or less as mine was?! This makes no sense to be and I am extremely frustrated! I started this process in July of 2014 and now it's February. I am appealing this decision but anyone who has any advice I would greatly appreciate it! Living in East Bay area. I really don't want to spend/lose any more money on what seems to be unnecessary.

saraselliott · Feb 9, 2015

I used CGFNS for my VISA Screen and my credentials verification for my licenses. As far as I know it was helpful/useful.

frangelicag · Mar 19, 2015

Hi all, so I am a Canadian RN working in the US and FINALLY got my Cali license as of today! It was a long process but if the goal is to live in california, totally worth it. This is my experience.

I registered for license by examination with Minnesota to write the NCLEX. This is the easiest state to do this in. You send in your application first and they start the process that eventually getsyou an ATT (authorization to test) for the NCLEX.

Once I had written and passed, I started contacting travel companies because the goal for me was to come to Cali and I wanted to do this right away. HOWEVER, there is no way around the SSN. I tried everything and spoke to multiple companies. I even interviwed with a hospital in San Francisco but without a license it was going to take too long even though they said I was a great candidate for their program.

So, I ended up taking an assignment in Houston, Texas. I applied and had a temporary in 10 days.

To even get there first, all Canadian RN's wanting to work with the TN visa, needs a Visa screen certificate. The most commonly recognized is CGFNS. This document takes months. I had to call multiple times and resend multiple documents. Make sure you send with tracking and get a signature upon arrival or they will say they never received or cannot find it. They do let you do an escalated service for a fee but they still need to find your documents so GET TRACKING!!

So with my CGFNS visa screen, texas license, offer letter etc I crossed the border and got a TN visa on my way down to Houston. Once I was settled here, I applied for my SSN. They mail the card to you, they do not issue an number at time of application.

1/10/15 - I mailed my California application for endorsement. I also contacted my school and requested transcripts to be sent. I would actuallly advise you to do this maybe sooner because my school took forever sending them. I applied for a temporary and a permanent. I also used a person cheque (has to be from US bank account) so that I could track when it was cashed.

1/23/15 - My application showed up on the breeze website. I guess the date they cash your cheque is roughly the date the post and open your application. They use this date as the start of your wait time, NOT when it arrived.

2/6/15 - I flew into LA to do livescan for fingerprints. Has to be in California or you can request card fingerprinting to be mailed to you but have to request at the time of application because the cost is different. Livescan is faster and also decreases chances of getting fingerprints rejected. Livescan can also be done anytime, even if you haven't applied yet BUT you need the us SSN number.

3/2/15 - I started calling the board of nursing to follow up on my application. I used the 1 800 number and the longest I ever had to wait was maybe 20min and got through everytime. I was told that they had received everything and should get my temporary by the 8 week mark from when my application was started so from 1/23/15.

3/10/15 - I called again, becasue I was going crazy not knowing. I got different information this time, the person that answered said they were missing my Minnesota verification?? which I had sent via NURSYS. TAke home message is that they dont really know what they are talking about and all give you different answers.

3/12/15 - At this point, I had actuall filed a complaint about the board on the DCA website since they kept giving me different and conflicting information and still no temporary license though apparently they had received all the information they needed. I got a call back two days later, stating they found deficiencies in my school transcripts and emailed me a copy of the letter that had been sent to me but I hadn't received yet. So pretty much I was assigned to an International evaluator which means extra requirments even though educated in Canada.

They were now asking for my oral and written communication class, breakdown of clinical rotations including how many deliveries and dressing changes done and explanation of the academic school year for the program. This is in addition to the transcripts and breakdown that the initial application requested. Also, a copy of my SSC, my nursing degree and candian RN license.

I was now able to email my evaluator at the board as I had her name. ([email protected]) I emailed her my SSC, degree and Ontario license. I asked if my school could electronically send all that info as they would take a long time but she said no. Hence I had to request all this extra work from my school.

1/16/15 - I didn't want to wait for my school to see if I could speed things up with my file. I compiled a list of all the nursing courses at my school and copy-and-pasted course descriptions with all the links to where I got the information. I also wrote a letter with a list of nursing and non-nursing classes, referenced my school catalog and explained why they covered the oral and written components required since I had not taken a specific communications course. I emailed this and over-nighted a hard copy.

3/17/15 - I had been talking with my recruiter about jobs in LA and I told her to submit me anyway before the weekend and I would disclose that I had not received my license but had everything sent in. CHLA called for an interview and offered me a position. So my recruiter said now that I had a job offer, she emailed a contact they had at the board as well. I'm not sure if this helped my case or not But...

3/18/15 - I received an email from my evaluator saying she had licensed me and wished me luck!!! literally got up screaming as this process has taken forever!! I check online and I am officially licensed! This is just at the 8 week mark from when my application went up.

I will be starting my LA travel assignment April 6 and could not be happier. I hope this helps anyone as I always looked up allnurses to try and get tips on my application process.

*As a Canadian, I wouldn't have bothered paying for the temp license since they require all school stuff to be sent in before they grant it. For US educated nurses, they can get a temp while they look through their stuff.

**Get your school to send in everything! Even course outlines, a letter explaining how your meet their oral/written requirent, breakdown of clinicals etc. in addition to the transcripts and the breakdown sheet from the endorsement application

Good luck!!

mack31 · Mar 25, 2015

Hi everybody,

I have once previously applied for my endorsement into CA from OR via mail and was denied as they said that my maternity hours were not didactic (course and clinical simultaneously) which they were. It took me a year to get everything and I was so frustrated with how they treated people there that I cried and vowed to never want to work in CA ever lol. So here I am again planning on applying again as my boyfriend and I are moving there for his job. I am planning on going to Sacremento specifically to apply as I heard your chances are much better if you go in person. I studied at University of Manitoba in Winnipeg and I am wondering if there are any other U of M graduates that have received their CA license. Its so frustrating to hear everybodies issues with them are just like mine

thanks everybody

joefournier · Mar 31, 2015

Hi there, I am also a Canadian in the process of finding work in California and it is quite complicated. Do you suggest doing all the work now and going straight to cali or going through minnesota first and then getting my california license?

frangelicag · Apr 1, 2015

Unless you have a US social security number, you cannot apply for a license in cali or to write the nclex

danisweetcheeks · Apr 13, 2015

how are you liking LA? i literally had the exact same experience as you! went to houston for my first assignment too! Ive worked in california for one assignment last year but I'm going back, starting may 4!