Canadian RN moving to California - Licensing help please!

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My wife and I are Canadian and I'm moving to California for work. She is an RN who passed the NCLEX in 2016, and has worked for about a year in a Canadian hospital. We're trying to navigate the process of getting her licensed in California but it's been a bit challenging. Our understanding:

  1. She can't apply to be licensed in California with out a SSN.
  2. She can't get an SSN without a job.
  3. She can't get a job without being licensed.

The work around we've read about is that you get licensed in another state that doesn't require an SSN to become licensed, and then obtain licensure via endorsement.

The odd thing about the application forms for licensure via endorsement is that they explicitly support a transfer from Canada, but require an SSN or ITIN. Would a simpler way of doing this be to apply for an ITIN and then apply directly to the CA BON? We have one friend who recently applied to the CA BON without an SSN or ITIN and their license was granted, and they seemed to think it was no big deal.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

I am surprised if your friend got through the BRN with no US SSN As CA have been strict about this rule for several years. ITIN are usually issued for tax reasons when not residing in the US or with a valid work visa so no guarantee you can get one. Generally for CA most just apply to another state then look for a CA employer willing to employ TN visa then once in US with visa apply for SSN then sort endorsement out

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I am surprised if your friend got through the BRN with no US SSN As CA have been strict about this rule for several years. ITIN are usually issued for tax reasons when not residing in the US or with a valid work visa so no guarantee you can get one. Generally for CA most just apply to another state then look for a CA employer willing to employ TN visa then once in US with visa apply for SSN then sort endorsement out

Thanks for the feedback. I'm curious why an employer wouldn't just straight up hire a Canadian? The licensure via endorsement is the same process whether it's a Canadian or from another state (i.e. Minnesota), and in both cases it would be on a TN visa. Does having a license in another state make it easier in some way?

It sounds like our friend got their Minnesota license, didn't work there, then applied via endorsement to CA without an SSN and got through somehow.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

We have seen some Canadian nurses denied license in CA despite receiving licence in another state . CA makes their own assessment. Employers can make their own hiring but you still need to meet nursing requirements

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Nursing goes through surplus and shortage cycles, we have seen posters who are experienced American nurses living in California and they are having difficulty getting hired in California. It's unlikely that a California employer can justify hiring a Canadian nurse under a TN visa in the current surplus market.

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So I was in a similar situation as your wife is in right now. My husband moved to California to work while I was finishing up nursing school, and I had also passed the NCLEX as that was the exam used in Canada when I did my licensing. But I did the move the California a different way, albeit taking a much longer and more frustrating route.

Honestly, I have never heard of the CA BRN processing an application without an SSN. The endorsement forms start with your SSN, and your entire file is tied to it. I applied through endorsement with my Canadian license and another US license I had.

The quickest way to do it is probably as you wrote in your original post, apply to another state, take a travel position and get an SSN, then apply to the California BRN. Then see if you get a license granted as that isn't always a guarantee. From there, you can decide if you want to stay here long term and then proceed through immigration if that is your long term goal.

But bear in mind, that the CA BRN has been very picky with education requirements from Canada right now, and many people have been found "deficient" in courses, and have needed to repeat them in California in order to gain the license. From what I gather, this has only started happening to Canadian RN's in the past 5 years or so. It is also not clear to me whether this happens to every Canadian applicant or whether it depends on which processor you have on your case. It also takes the CA BRN months to even look at your file.

My advice is that if you are not planning on making the move to California for more than a year or permanently, then it may not be worth her time and sanity to go through the process of getting a license. Why not just have her work in Canada and fly down to vacation here every couple of weeks? I did that for a while until we decided that we did want to be here for the foreseeable future.

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Hello, I am wondering how this issue was resolved? I am in the same situation - A Canadian RN attempting to become registered in California via endorsement (I am currently registered in Michigan) however still do not have a US SSN.

Please let me know what you ended up doing.

Thanks

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Hello, I am wondering how this issue was resolved? I am in the same situation - A Canadian RN attempting to become registered in California via endorsement (I am currently registered in Michigan) however still do not have a US SSN.

Please let me know what you ended up doing.

Thanks

Until you have a US SSN there is nothing you can do

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I am having this exact issue and I was wondering if OP was able to come up with a less convoluted solution?

Hopefully they (or others) can share what steps were taken to receive Work Authorization, SSN, and Cali License.

I just received my CGFNS Visa Screen Certificate and TN Letter. Will I be able to receive a TN Visa with those two (in conjunction with my Canadian License)?

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6 hours ago, Momo6370 said:

I am having this exact issue and I was wondering if OP was able to come up with a less convoluted solution?

Hopefully they (or others) can share what steps were taken to receive Work Authorization, SSN, and Cali License.

I just received my CGFNS Visa Screen Certificate and TN Letter. Will I be able to receive a TN Visa with those two (in conjunction with my Canadian License)?

I believe so.. Those are the main requirements. What kind of facility are u gonna work. Have u found an apartment there already?

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On 10/30/2017 at 11:58 AM, Kirbypineapple said:

My wife and I are Canadian and I'm moving to California for work. She is an RN who passed the NCLEX in 2016, and has worked for about a year in a Canadian hospital. We're trying to navigate the process of getting her licensed in California but it's been a bit challenging. Our understanding:

  1. She can't apply to be licensed in California with out a SSN.
  2. She can't get an SSN without a job.
  3. She can't get a job without being licensed.

The work around we've read about is that you get licensed in another state that doesn't require an SSN to become licensed, and then obtain licensure via endorsement.

The odd thing about the application forms for licensure via endorsement is that they explicitly support a transfer from Canada, but require an SSN or ITIN. Would a simpler way of doing this be to apply for an ITIN and then apply directly to the CA BON? We have one friend who recently applied to the CA BON without an SSN or ITIN and their license was granted, and they seemed to think it was no big deal.

Hi, nlcex pass letter is enough to have a job offer. And as long as you have endorsed it and just waiting for ssn. My frend from vancouver moved in california. She only get her license after crossing the border because she was given an SsN.

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2 minutes ago, tosca rose said:

Hi, nlcex pass letter is enough to have a job offer. And as long as you have endorsed it and just waiting for ssn. My frend from vancouver moved in california. She only get her license after crossing the border because she was given an SsN.

Can you provide more information? Are you saying that she was able to get her SSN before her license?

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