I am wondering if any RNs have gone through the CGFNS Visascreen process recently. I am hoping to get an average for the processing times for Canadian nurses. I submitted all documents and had all my transcripts/documents from my university as well as licensing information, sent off right away, which was around July 15th. I also applied for a CES report for my Washington State nursing license.
Just curious if anyone can give me a heads up if this process is a couple of months or if I'm looking at more like 3 or 4 months.
I have already written my NCLEX exam in Canada, so really I am just waiting on CGFNS to process and issue the certificates.
Any additional info from anyone who has gone through this recently would be appreciated!
how long did it take (approximately) for the CGFNS to upload the documents to your profile after being sent? My Michigan license was mailed out about a month ago and sent electronically a week and a half ago, while my school documents were submitted almost two weeks ago, and it still says "waiting for initial documents to be received.”
I'm from Ontario, and my CNO license verification was sent and added to my profile the next day.
When I call the CGFNS, they say they can't do anything about this.
how long did it take (approximately) for the CGFNS to upload the documents to your profile after being sent? My Michigan license was mailed out about a month ago and sent electronically a week and a half ago, while my school documents were submitted almost two weeks ago, and it still says "waiting for initial documents to be received.”
I'm from Ontario, and my CNO license verification was sent and added to my profile the next day.
When I call the CGFNS, they say they can't do anything about this.
That seems really long. I didn't keep track of exactly how long it took before they received my documents, but the whole process from start to finish was just over a month. I wonder if your mail was lost? Someone else might be able to comment also since I don't remember a lot of the time frames.
It's hard to be patient about it; I remember looking every day for updates, so it could just be that your mail is in a huge pile of stuff they are working through.
Hi there. My wife and I are currently in Vancouver, BC, Canada. She's an RN and is looking to make a 13-week contract, maybe a few, in Washington state and maybe later in California after doing the required coursework. For now, though, Washington State is the place she's like to start.
She gets a bit anxious/stressed reading about stuff, and because the information is so scattered and differing from various different Reddit threads, travel nursing blogs, and various travel nursing agencies, I tried to compile a step-by-step guide as best I could. I probably made a mistake or three along the way, and if there's anything I'm missing that is glaringly obvious, it would be most appreciated if someone could correct me!
For a bit of context, she's an NCLEX-certified nurse educated in a non-Quebec Canadian school. She's been at it for 5 years and currently works in a hybrid cardiac cath lab + IR floor for 0-18-year-olds. I think she'd be most interested in the IR side of things. She's also got years of NICU experience, but last worked in the NICU about two years ago. She's also aware this isn't a path to a green card which is alright, and I also know I'd only be entitled to a TD non-working visa which is also okay as I'd stay and work in Vancouver. I'd be visiting every couple of weekends as there's a daily Amtrak from Vancouver to Washington State being resumed, keeping the work/life sanity intact as best as possible for her.
If someone who's been through this or is familiar with this can tell me what I'm missing or wrong on, it would be most appreciated. We're both aware it won't be an overnight process. Below is the information I intend to share with her once I finalize or get confirmation of its accuracy. I've read this thread from start to finish, and it's been very helpful, but I'm mostly looking for a sanity check before sharing the below with her.
————-
Step 1:
Requirements - CGFNS Visa Screen and Credentials Evaluations Service (CES)
Requirements for Visa Screen & CES - high school diploma (?), nursing license including previous provincial licenses, academic record or transcript, a passport-style photo, NCLEX proof
1) Reach out to travel nurse agencies for jobs (mention you're Canadian and have a state license + Visa Screen)
2) Accept the job offer
3) Within two weeks of the start date of the first job, bring the job offer, Visa Screen/CES, proof of state nursing license, nursing degree, and ID to the border for TN Visa to be stamped at the border
4) Once in America, apply for SSN. Once SSN is delivered, provide it to a new employer.
Hi there. My wife and I are currently in Vancouver, BC, Canada. She's an RN and is looking to make a 13-week contract, maybe a few, in Washington state and maybe later in California after doing the required coursework. For now, though, Washington State is the place she's like to start.
She gets a bit anxious/stressed reading about stuff, and because the information is so scattered and differing from various different Reddit threads, travel nursing blogs, and various travel nursing agencies, I tried to compile a step-by-step guide as best I could. I probably made a mistake or three along the way, and if there's anything I'm missing that is glaringly obvious, it would be most appreciated if someone could correct me!
For a bit of context, she's an NCLEX-certified nurse educated in a non-Quebec Canadian school. She's been at it for 5 years and currently works in a hybrid cardiac cath lab + IR floor for 0-18-year-olds. I think she'd be most interested in the IR side of things. She's also got years of NICU experience, but last worked in the NICU about two years ago. She's also aware this isn't a path to a green card which is alright, and I also know I'd only be entitled to a TD non-working visa which is also okay as I'd stay and work in Vancouver. I'd be visiting every couple of weekends as there's a daily Amtrak from Vancouver to Washington State being resumed, keeping the work/life sanity intact as best as possible for her.
If someone who's been through this or is familiar with this can tell me what I'm missing or wrong on, it would be most appreciated. We're both aware it won't be an overnight process. Below is the information I intend to share with her once I finalize or get confirmation of its accuracy. I've read this thread from start to finish, and it's been very helpful, but I'm mostly looking for a sanity check before sharing the below with her.
————-
Step 1:
Requirements - CGFNS Visa Screen and Credentials Evaluations Service (CES)
Requirements for Visa Screen & CES - high school diploma (?), nursing license including previous provincial licenses, academic record or transcript, a passport-style photo, NCLEX proof
Source - https://www.cgfns.org/licensure/washington-state/ and https://www.cgfns.org/services/certification/visascreen-visa-credentials-assessment/
1) Reach out to travel nurse agencies for jobs (mention you're Canadian and have a state license + Visa Screen)
2) Accept the job offer
3) Within two weeks of the start date of the first job, bring the job offer, Visa Screen/CES, proof of state nursing license, nursing degree, and ID to the border for TN Visa to be stamped at the border
4) Once in America, apply for SSN. Once SSN is delivered, provide it to a new employer.
Hello! I work in Washington state and also started as a nurse in BC. Your info looks great! You can apply for the CGFNS visa screen and CES report as well as the Washington state nursing license concurrently. CGFNS took just over one month to complete after submitting all my documents, but the nursing license took longer than expected (more like two months). After the CGFNS report was marked as completed online, I received the visa screen in the mail a few days later. It will save you some time to contact the Washington state department of health directly to apply for the WA nursing license since their application process can not be completed online without a US address or an SSN. They'll email you a paper application to mail off. I didn't need to get fingerprinted. And you do need your high school diploma for CGFNS (I went crawling through my parent's attic to find mine, haha). Good luck!
Hello! I work in Washington state and also started as a nurse in BC. Your info looks great! You can apply for the CGFNS visa screen and CES report as well as the Washington state nursing license concurrently. CGFNS took just over one month to complete after submitting all my documents, but the nursing license took longer than expected (more like two months). After the CGFNS report was marked as completed online, I received the visa screen in the mail a few days later. It will save you some time to contact the Washington state department of health directly to apply for the WA nursing license since their application process can not be completed online without a US address or an SSN. They'll email you a paper application to mail off. I didn't need to get fingerprinted. And you do need your high school diploma for CGFNS (I went crawling through my parent's attic to find mine, haha). Good luck!
You really are the MVP of this thread. Thanks so much, Jenny. Much of the steps I compiled were directly from this thread in your posts/replies. I hope you don't mind if I ask some more questions given the similarity of your situation and the one my partner is looking towards!
1) It seems you've been at it for a while. Is your plan to stick around there for a while? How many 13 weeks (or more) contracts have you picked up, how do you find the quality of life (particularly pay vs. CoL vs. quality overall), and which have been your favorite or least favorite cities if you've done more than one in WA?
2) I figured the CGFNS/CES would take much longer, is that 1 month with or without the expedited option? We're planning on it taking 4-5 months, but if it can be done sooner, all the better.
3) Are you planning on sticking around for the long term? We're at a crossroads where she could conceivably make more in WA than both of us put together, so if she does enjoy it, I could take schooling on a TD visa in WA while she works on a TN Visa. This is a bit more personal, so by all means, feel free to pass by this one, but anecdotes carry a lot of weight for us right now!
4) What sort of pay do you consider to be "worth it"? The $3300-4000k/week contracts seem relatively common there and would be a pretty big bump over what she's making, even specialized, in BC
5) For Canadian taxation, is it basically the difference between what you get taxed there vs. what you would be here? My understanding is that, for example, if you were taxed 20% on your annual income in WA and that tax would work out to be 33% in BC/Canada, you'd pay the 20% on payroll taxes in WA/US then pay the difference of what you'd get taxed on @ 33% in Canada come T4 season.
You really are the MVP of this thread. Thanks so much, Jenny. Much of the steps I compiled were directly from this thread in your posts/replies. I hope you don't mind if I ask some more questions given the similarity of your situation and the one my partner is looking towards!
1) It seems you've been at it for a while. Is your plan to stick around there for a while? How many 13 weeks (or more) contracts have you picked up, how do you find the quality of life (particularly pay vs. CoL vs. quality overall), and which have been your favorite or least favorite cities if you've done more than one in WA?
2) I figured the CGFNS/CES would take much longer, is that 1 month with or without the expedited option? We're planning on it taking 4-5 months, but if it can be done sooner, all the better.
3) Are you planning on sticking around for the long term? We're at a crossroads where she could conceivably make more in WA than both of us put together, so if she does enjoy it, I could take schooling on a TD visa in WA while she works on a TN Visa. This is a bit more personal, so by all means, feel free to pass by this one, but anecdotes carry a lot of weight for us right now!
4) What sort of pay do you consider to be "worth it"? The $3300-4000k/week contracts seem relatively common there and would be a pretty big bump over what she's making, even specialized, in BC
5) For Canadian taxation, is it basically the difference between what you get taxed there vs. what you would be here? My understanding is that, for example, if you were taxed 20% on your annual income in WA and that tax would work out to be 33% in BC/Canada, you'd pay the 20% on payroll taxes in WA/US then pay the difference of what you'd get taxed on @ 33% in Canada come T4 season.
Thank you again so much!
I remember struggling to find info when I was going through this process, so if I can be of help, I'm glad to do it!
1. I took a staff job, so I have never been a travel nurse and therefore can't speak to it! I do work with lots of travel nurses, though. I absolutely love where I work, but for the sake of not disclosing too much personal info on a public forum, I won't share my workplace here. If there's a way to share more with you privately, let me know. Travel Nurses at my workplace have consistently renewed their contracts, and some have even left travel nursing to take staff positions there as well, so that's saying something.
2. yes, I looked back, and I submitted my application end of July and had my visa screen in hand at the end of August the same year. It could be different from person to person, though! The hardest part is just submitting all the right documents.
3. I truly love it here and have no plans to leave my current job. TN visas can be renewed indefinitely at 3-year intervals, which is great.
4. I am staff and not contracted, so I can't speak to this.
5. taxes are definitely confusing, and I'd suggest talking with someone who is a professional and not taking my advice on this since my knowledge of it is minimal.
I remember struggling to find info when I was going through this process, so if I can be of help, I'm glad to do it!
1. I took a staff job, so I have never been a travel nurse and therefore can't speak to it! I do work with lots of travel nurses, though. I absolutely love where I work, but for the sake of not disclosing too much personal info on a public forum, I won't share my workplace here. If there's a way to share more with you privately, let me know. Travel Nurses at my workplace have consistently renewed their contracts, and some have even left travel nursing to take staff positions there as well, so that's saying something.
2. yes, I looked back, and I submitted my application end of July and had my visa screen in hand at the end of August the same year. It could be different from person to person, though! The hardest part is just submitting all the right documents.
3. I truly love it here and have no plans to leave my current job. TN visas can be renewed indefinitely at 3-year intervals, which is great.
4. I am staff and not contracted, so I can't speak to this.
5. taxes are definitely confusing, and I'd suggest talking with someone who is a professional and not taking my advice on this since my knowledge of it is minimal.
The keeping it private part makes total sense. Thank you again very much!
Hi There! Can I ask how you were able to submit proof of NCLEX to CGFNS for the VisaScreen? I have received my Wa License, and I am waiting on this dreadful Visa Screen process! Hopefully, it doesn't take too long. Thanks in advance!
jessie09
5 Posts
Yes, you emailed CNO the CGFNS papers with your sign and date.