held to ransom by CGFNS

[beckbray2]

I am a UK registered nurse who has recently moved to Ohio and am being held to ransom by CGFNS. Without the Credentials Evaluation Service (CES) Report from CGFNS I can't get nurse registration, without nurse registration I can't take the NCLEX exam and get a job. When I first applied to CGFNS 8 months ago I was lead to believe the process of reviewing my credentials and formulating a CES report for the State board of nursing would take 6-8 weeks.

Since then CGFNS repeatedly informed me they need more information from my school but have been vague about why they are unable to formulate the report with the information they have. My school has been as helpful as they can repeatedly providing additional documentation to support my transcripts of education. We are now at the point where they have all the information my school can give them and they still haven't issued the report.

I ring regularly to check on progress and am told my application is in review status or they are awaiting manager's approval to issue the report. I can't truly believe my transcripts are that difficult to review, there must be other nurses from the UK who got through this process smoothly.

I have been in the US for several months now, unable to even think about applying for jobs I am at a total sticking point. Is anyone else in my situation? Has anyone else had similar problems with having their transcripts of education reviewed by CGFNS? Any advice or suggestions appreciated.

[JessicRN]

Welcome to the US. It took me 8 months and I am a canadian who was living and working in the USA on a nafta visa for the past 12 years when I was told I had to do it .(I originally was exempt from doing the NClex as I had a degree and I passed my canadian boards with flying colors)

They are extremely backed up so it takes awhile. Be patient.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

Yep, I had been in the US 2 years before I got my CGFNS certificate. I felt darn lucky to have escaped taking the English exam. (dumbest requirement ever!) Then once I got the darn thing no one wanted to see it! The border guys said that yes , it was required to renew my visa, but no, they didn't need to have or see a copy. I'm still puzzling over that one.

[Kangaroowho]

i am an american living in australia. previously, i was an engineer and 4 years ago i went back to school for nursing. i am now an rn working in the local hospital. i applied to cgfns 14 months ago. they have requested two things from my school and as far as i know have been given the information requested-- but i got an 'inactive status' email from them two months ago and am unable to contact anyone on the phone to find out what it means. i am certainly assuming that it is not good in terms of resolve within this decade.

i am extremely frustrated with it, and while i am happy nursing here- i applied to have that option to return to the states if needed. no luck for me and truthfully, i am sick of dealing with it!!

[chavelle1124]

Hello.

I, too am from the UK.I have encountered the same problems with CGFNS.I had to threaten to contact congress to have them act on my behalf.I did not finish high school due to bereavement in the family.I, however, went to college and completed a two year course as substitute (similar to high school diploma).I submitted this as my secondary diploma,it met all program requirements for the service.However, when it was time to issue my report,I was told that they need to research the document. This is after waiting for almost six months (they had the document in question since November last year .)I was really mad at the evaluator who was responsible for the mess.A day later,my report was issued.I went online to check my status and saw: "Meets all program requirements for the service" for my secondary diploma,my transcript and license.Still not sure what this means though.

You have to contact customer service and ask them for the extension of your evaluator,if this doesn't happen then ask for the QUALITY ASSURANCE TEAM when you call.They also made a lot of errors with the evaluation of my transcript.The director at my nursing school was fuming with them for their incompetency.This is a long story so I won't even bother to go into it.

Which university did you do your training?

Good luck.

Chavelle.