I am a newly grad and REALLY confused!

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Hi there!:specs:

I will be a foreign graduate in the BSN program this coming September 08.My school is an accredited university in the BSN program in the Philippines that taught the subject in English.I have dual citizenship from the U.S. and the Philippines.I plan to take the NCLEX in the state of Texas God willing, some time next year.I have been reading the requirements for foreign graduates who plan to take the boards in the state of Texas and can't really decipher what category I fall in.I was just wondering what I should follow?I have been told several things regarding this.

1.) I do not need the CGFNS because I am a US citizen.

2.) CGFNS is required only for foreign schools that taught in a different language other then English.

3.) I do not need the local boards in the Philippines and can take NCLEX

in Texas without a nursing license of the country I graduated in.

I am really lost as to what I should do or follow. Please update me with current requirements in the state of Texas and any clarifications about anything I've just mentioned would be great. Also, any information on other special papers,documents or requirements I need that I do not know about would be of much help.I'm really confused!:confused:

Please help!Thanks!

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Good morning and welcome. I will move your post to the international forum as you plan to move back to the states. Good luck.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Hi and welcome

For Texas you need CES. Regardless of being a duel citizen because you trained outside of the US then you will always be regarded as a foreign trained nurse. You will need to follow Texas requirements for foreign trained on their website. You can not start CES without completing your course and have a full set of transcripts. Average license processing times before you can sit NCLEX is approx 4-6 months

It is also recommended that you take local boards, some states have started requesting this and make no exceptions unless there is no way they can take it ie do not have Philippine citizenship as you are not allowed to sit the exam unless you have that citizenship. Even then we have had members have to show categorically that they can not sit it by getting paperwork from the Philippines. We expect more and more states to follow the ones that have started making local boards mandatory

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Any requirement for the foreign trained nurse and you need to meet them. CGFNS also does not waive anything if you trained in English, even the US government does not make any exceptions to those that trained in your country.

Licensure and immigration are two very distinct items and even with US citizenship, you still attended school out of the US. You also need to be aware that we are seeing more and more states require the local license, and since you are also a citizen of that country, then you are subject to the requirements that are set, the exam is not waived for you as you would be able to write it.

Best of luck to you, but you need to be aware that you will need to meet all of the same requirements as if you did not have US citizenship. And it will also be months before you will be able to get licensed in the US, you are unable to even start the process until you have a completed set of transcripts to submit to CGFNS for the CES.

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Hi. Thanks a lot for the clarification! It was really confusing with all the hear-say things I was getting from other people. God bless.

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Thank you so much for the info!It really helped to clarify things.God bless!

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xchelox,

I wouldn't worry about the test. This will just give you a chance to prove yourself to all those program administrators who are concerned about your knowledge and skill set. Consider it another way to cement your standing in the professional community.

Good luck; I'm sure you'll do great!

Alan

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Hi! I'm pretty much in the same boat as xchelox, except for the fact that I've already graduated and I just received my CES report today. I'm planning to apply to the Texas BON, but I don't know where to start. Can anyone tell me if the Texas BON requires a local license for a foreign graduate? The last time I was here, people told me that they didn't, but now it seems that it's not sure. I do not have a local license. I've been reading the Texas BON website and now I'm even more confused. I don't know which application to use for my application and where to go from there. Can anyone tell me the requirements that they need because reading the website has gotten me confused and I'm not exactly sure which is the ones that I need. I know the fingerprinting and CES are definite and of course the application itself, but the others I really don't know. I need help and any help given is much appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read this and replying...

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
hi! i'm pretty much in the same boat as xchelox, except for the fact that i've already graduated and i just received my ces report today. i'm planning to apply to the texas bon, but i don't know where to start. can anyone tell me if the texas bon requires a local license for a foreign graduate? the last time i was here, people told me that they didn't, but now it seems that it's not sure. i do not have a local license. i've been reading the texas bon website and now i'm even more confused. i don't know which application to use for my application and where to go from there. can anyone tell me the requirements that they need because reading the website has gotten me confused and i'm not exactly sure which is the ones that i need. i know the fingerprinting and ces are definite and of course the application itself, but the others i really don't know. i need help and any help given is much appreciated. thank you for taking the time to read this and replying...

i can not see anything that mentions local license but it does state this

if you have not worked at least two (2) years as a first level, general nurse within the four (4) years preceding the filing of the application, you will not be licensed until you complete a foreign educated nurse (fens) refresher course consisting of 120 hours of classroom instruction and 120 hours of clinical practice under direct supervision of a registered nurse. the applicant required to take the fens refresher will be given a six (6) month permit to complete the refresher course.

you are probably looking at a long wait due to retrogression so would recommend you take local boards and gain some nursing experience whilst waiting otherwise you may end up having to meet this requirement. number 6 on this link explains everything for international nurses including the quote above

http://www.bon.state.tx.us/olv/examination.html

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Well, the thing with that is I'm already here in Texas and I'm US Citizen, so will I still be affected by the retrogression? I don't think i would be right? No, I don't have any any experience as a nurse because I am not licensed. So, if I were to apply, then I would need to take that refresher course even if I just graduated this past March? Is that what you are saying?

About the application process, do you know what to do first? Do I get my fingerprinting done before I apply online? Thanks for your quick reply.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Well, the thing with that is I'm already here in Texas and I'm US Citizen, so will I still be affected by the retrogression? I don't think i would be right? No, I don't have any any experience as a nurse because I am not licensed. So, if I were to apply, then I would need to take that refresher course even if I just graduated this past March? Is that what you are saying?

About the application process, do you know what to do first? Do I get my fingerprinting done before I apply online? Thanks for your quick reply.

If you are already a USC then you will not be affected by retrogression. Retrogression is affecting all foreign nurses. The refresher course as I read is is if you have been a nurse over 4 years but have no nursing experience from your application. I don't think it matters if fingerprints are done just after you send your application in. Not having it done will delay the process

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hey xchelox!!!

i just graduated from a school in manila and i've just registered for the NLE. i plan to move back to texas right after that. i know this was posted like 3 years ago, but i need some guidance and clarifications as well. i understand now i have to take the CGFNS (which is a drag since it'll take me close to a year to become a USRN). so thanks for that!!!

i would just like to know your progress and if your working as an RN in texas now.

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