Anyone please share your experience or knowledge on the license requirement of the California Board of Nursing. California BON requires a copy of the local license from the country where the course is finished. However, in the absence of such license, as stated on its website, they only require an explanation letter for the absence. I sent an explanation letter together with my application form stating that I still do not have a license since I just graduated. I took the June local board and awaiting the result. Despite the explanation letter, I just received a letter from them asking for a copy of the local license.
I would highly appreciate anyone who can enlighten me. Pls send reply to email: Thank you and regards. George
Please read the posts, no waivers are being granted, you will have to sit for the NLE. As a rule of thumb, all grads should take the local boards then they won't have to worry about these issues.
The issue here is that I am not eligible to take the NLE even if I wanted to. And before graduating, I readied all my RLE (Related Learning Experience) requirements just in case I would be allowed to register for the NLE after all. While all my other classmates were able to register, my college told me that they can't process my registration since I was not a Filipino citizen. The very first requirement they needed was a birth certificate from the Philippine National Statistics Office, and since mine was issued in Maryland USA, I couldn't even fulfill that first requirement.
I just got off the phone with the PRC's International Affairs Office, and they told me that they would issue a Certificate of Ineligibility to take the licensing examination and mail it to any recipient that requires it. All I had to provide is a copy of my passport and a copy of my nursing transcript of records, along with the necessary processing fees. If the CA BRN is going to require me to furnish that waiver, now I know what course of action to take. Hope this information would help other nursing graduates from the Philippines who did not take the local NLE due to them not being Filipino citizens.
If the nurse holds dual citizenship, then they are not exempt from the exam. Just wanted to add this into things.
suzanne, i would like to clarify on this. im a green card holder. just graduated BSN last march 2008. flew back here in CA without taking the local boards. sent them my expalnation and my diploma too. after 8 days, i received my LOE then registred at VUE and now i have my ATT.
CA will not permit you to sit for the exam if you do not have a local license. Being a green card holder here does not exempt you from this requirement.
You are going to have to write the NLE to be able to get licensed here.
i am a green card holder too but CABON still sent me my eligibility. anyone can sit the nclex ( i mean green card holders and us citz). please be aware that u have to give them a valid reason why u didnt take the exam. but u can still take it.
please. do not spread false news. peace out... i myself was victimized by this. but i still sent my applications to the bon and then they approved my reasons. and they waive my local license which i do not have.
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
i am a green card holder too but CABON still sent me my eligibility. anyone can sit the nclex ( i mean green card holders and us citz). please be aware that u have to give them a valid reason why u didnt take the exam. but u can still take it.
please. do not spread false news. peace out... i myself was victimized by this. but i still sent my applications to the bon and then they approved my reasons. and they waive my local license which i do not have.
I am sorry but we have had many post that Ca will not allow them eligibility to sit NCLEX unless they have an exempt letter from the PRC. If you send a letter it is up to them if they accept it but we have had like I said many write that the Ca asked for local license. We even had USC post that Ca was requesting local license and they had to get a letter from PRC stating they could not sit NLE. Just because you was OK with Ca does not mean it will be the same for others
Sorry, but you slipped by, nothing more than that. As a green card holder, you are still a citizen of the Philippines and are under their passport. So that means that you are not exempt from the requirement for the local license to be written.
Please be aware that CA still has the right to require the NLE before they will issue the license. The other thing that you have to take into account is the fact that there will be a reviewer that will be reviewing your file before the license from CA is issued and if they do not see the NLE and license from the PRC, they have the right to ask for it.
There is no explanation that would be acceptable to them as for the reason that you did not sit for the local exam.
Best of luck to you, but you are not out of limbo as of yet.
i am a green card holder too but CABON still sent me my eligibility. anyone can sit the nclex ( i mean green card holders and us citz). please be aware that u have to give them a valid reason why u didnt take the exam. but u can still take it.
please. do not spread false news. peace out... i myself was victimized by this. but i still sent my applications to the bon and then they approved my reasons. and they waive my local license which i do not have.
Victimized? You make it sound like people intentionally mislead others into applying with a list of "wrong" requirements. I don't think that was anyone's motive. This is a forum to exchange ideas and information. People talk about what they experienced or the experience of others we know. Several classmates did not believe in the NLE requirement and left for the USA to take the NCLEX. They were denied by the CA BRN and have since returned to Manila to take the November NLE. Unfortunately they are at least 6 months behind the rest of us.
If others would like to take the chance and submit their application to the US BRN without the NLE then so be it. Some will get through and others may not. The worse case will be a delay in their application process and a delay in that USA nursing job.
Didn't your school advise you prior to admission, that you would not be eligible for the NLE? That is who I would be upset with.
There is no rush to sit for the NCLEX since jobs for newly licensed nurses are hard to come by. Second there are no visas. As an employer if I was interviewing for a nurse and had a choice of one nurse who had no experience but graduated several years ago or a new nurse who just graduated I would choose the very new graduate since their school experience would still be fresh.
I would also expect many more changes in Boards of Nursing, the conditions will be harder for all nurses.
Sorry, but you slipped by, nothing more than that. As a green card holder, you are still a citizen of the Philippines and are under their passport. So that means that you are not exempt from the requirement for the local license to be written.
Please be aware that CA still has the right to require the NLE before they will issue the license. The other thing that you have to take into account is the fact that there will be a reviewer that will be reviewing your file before the license from CA is issued and if they do not see the NLE and license from the PRC, they have the right to ask for it.
There is no explanation that would be acceptable to them as for the reason that you did not sit for the local exam.
Best of luck to you, but you are not out of limbo as of yet.
i have a question for you guys ( moderators and staff). sorry but i would like to know where you get your answers, where do u base them. does anyone of you work for the CABON? or has inner contacts inside the Board of Nursing?
do u know anyone who was denied of his/her license even though he/she passed the examination?
i would like to quote a part of the letter i received from CABON..
" this is to inform you that the CABON has evaluated your application and you have been found eligible to take the nclex".
eligible - i believe it means only one thing, they have evaluated and approved yuor aplication. they are letting u take the exam. and i think they wouldnt give you false hope after passing ur exam they would just take away ur chance of getting ur license. and i think it is unfair to re-evlauate an application coz one dont hold a license. and someone already evaluated my case and she said that she would let me take the exam if i pass a certain document. then i did then i received my eligibilty.
and please guys, im not criticizing u all. i just want to share that not everyone are required. there are "exemptions too". like my reasons y i didnt take my exam - my evaluator accepted it so as my three friends who have the same cases like mine.
Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
All you have to do is search for previous posts on California especially from Jan onwards and you will see threads on where people have been denied until they pass NLE and some even had their applications returned to them. I even remember a couple of USC members posting that Ca had been questioning their application and they had to get a letter from PRC to confirm they was exempt from taking the exam and just receiving a letter from applicant was not good enough.
At the end of the day the decision is with the BRN but all we can do is comment on what has been happening and what people are posting
I base my answers on my experience with my home state BON ( MA). The board often does inservices and one can question the board member in person. My board states they are working for the public not the nurses, and they are duty bound to protect the public from unsafe nurses. The Board can render decsions anytime, they can remove or suspend your license if they think you will harm the public.
They can deny me a license if I have outstanding taxes or fail a criminal inverstigation. I am assuming that view foreign nurses to be at risk due the fact they had no control over the school or the ability to check criminal matters.
My experience is with my own state BON. They do outreach to the nursing community and you can question them in a public or private forum.
The board is empowered to keep patients safe and not focused on the needs of the nurses. The board reviews complaints. I have to wonder if foreign grads have a higher rate os complaints, which is causing them to be so careful.
My license can not be approved if I have outstanding taxes even though I am an "approved" nurse. How does my ability to pay local or state taxes effect my nursing? I don't think there is any relationship between tax paying and nursing, but my state does.
Mobiusrain
45 Posts
The issue here is that I am not eligible to take the NLE even if I wanted to. And before graduating, I readied all my RLE (Related Learning Experience) requirements just in case I would be allowed to register for the NLE after all. While all my other classmates were able to register, my college told me that they can't process my registration since I was not a Filipino citizen. The very first requirement they needed was a birth certificate from the Philippine National Statistics Office, and since mine was issued in Maryland USA, I couldn't even fulfill that first requirement.
I just got off the phone with the PRC's International Affairs Office, and they told me that they would issue a Certificate of Ineligibility to take the licensing examination and mail it to any recipient that requires it. All I had to provide is a copy of my passport and a copy of my nursing transcript of records, along with the necessary processing fees. If the CA BRN is going to require me to furnish that waiver, now I know what course of action to take. Hope this information would help other nursing graduates from the Philippines who did not take the local NLE due to them not being Filipino citizens.