My US Application Update - Canadian RN

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Hi Everyone. I just wanted to update you on my US application and maybe help some fellows along the way. Please ask questions.

March 2019 :

- CGFNS Visa Screen Application

- Received Maine hospital job offer

- Applied for Maine BON - RN Endorsement

June 2019:

- Received CGFNS - Visa Screen Certificate

July 2019:

- Applied for Michigan BON - RN Endorsement

August 2019:

- Received Michigan RN license - Expires in 1 year

September 2019:

- Due to not having SSN, Maine BON mailed a letter as per request in lieu of RN license to be presented at the US Border

- Waiting for Employment letter

Specializes in ER.

I am happy you got everything sorted!!

My situation on the other hand is not moving along so well. I am so frustrated. I finally got my SSN yesterday in the mail. Sent it to the BON and this morning I had an email from them stating that they now need a letter from my school. I guess the documents from the CGFNS where not clear enough.

I am supposed to start on Monday. The Maine BON is closed on Thursday and Friday this week because of the holiday weekend. So I have until tomorrow for the school to send a letter and for my licence to be processed.

Jokes on me, I thought it would be smooth sailing after I got my SSN.

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Specializes in Surgical/Trauma/Neuroscience/Cardiac ICU.
49 minutes ago, VicRN said:

I am happy you got everything sorted!!

My situation on the other hand is not moving along so well. I am so frustrated. I finally got my SSN yesterday in the mail. Sent it to the BON and this morning I had an email from them stating that they now need a letter from my school. I guess the documents from the CGFNS where not clear enough.

I am supposed to start on Monday. The Maine BON is closed on Thursday and Friday this week because of the holiday weekend. So I have until tomorrow for the school to send a letter and for my licence to be processed.

Jokes on me, I thought it would be smooth sailing after I got my SSN.

OMG. We think that everything is moving on with our application yet there are bunch of requests that keep us from moving forward. My experience.

What kind of letter?

My schools were not even familiar with those letter requests before. It was a customized letter & I needed to pay for it.

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Specializes in ER.

I was going to PM you but I think I am to new on here to access that feature.

Essentially, they are looking for info on my paediatrics, mental health and adult surgical placement hours and theory courses. I guess information about how I was trained in those specialties. Maybe the way placements worked at my school was different than other schools because I didn’t have clinical hours in paediatrics, mental health and adult surgical but I did have theory in those areas. My school placements were;

First year placement: long term care

Second year:

Semester 1: Maternal child or Mental health (you get one or the other, I got maternal child)

Semester 2: Community Placement

Third Year:

Semester 1: Acute care placement: medical or surgical floor etc. (I got a medical floor)

Semester 2: Chronic care placement: stroke unit, rehab unit etc. (I got a stroke unit)

Fourth year:

Semester 1: pre-consolidation (your choice)

Semester 2: consolidation (your choice)

So basically I didn’t have clinical hours in those specialties because of the way my school sets up placements. But from my understanding most school don’t offer placements in all specialties so my school isn’t all the different. Based on the email from the BON (which doesn’t give much detail) they are requesting a letter from the school that provides information on the clinical hours and/or theory that I had.

The CGFNS already outlined that I do not have clinical hours in those areas so I don’t know what will happen when they get the letter from the school regarding that stuff. Maybe they are looking for clarification that I have theory in those areas instead.

It is frustrating that this is a requirement when the school I went to is an Accredited Nursing School in North America and the CGFNS has verified that education and canadian license.

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Specializes in Surgical/Trauma/Neuroscience/Cardiac ICU.

@VicRN

How come they only brought this up late?

You already have TN status & SSN.

From March to November 2019, I was in contact with the BON because they had questions re. my transcript, the issue above, & other stuffs.

Did you have a copy of your CGFNS - forms? I was able to get a copy from my schools so I knew how to build my arguments. I went back to check my syllabus and checked all my clinical hours trying to figure out how to solve this issue.

PN Program Letter:

Quote

During Academic Studies, theoretical content is taught in all Generalist areas of Nursing including Medical, Surgical, Obstetrical, Pediatric,
Mental Health nursing...

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Hello,

Congratulations to all of you on the exciting but challenging journey of getting registered in the US. I was hoping you could share your wisdom with me, pretty please ?

I'm graduating in June and just finished all my courses, I am also an RPN to BSCN (RPN 2011) in Toronto. My husband just accepted a position in WI, and I know the BON requirements are slightly different. However, I was hoping that you could give me an honest review and ANY advice regarding the visa screen process and CFGNS. How early can one start that process, or do I really need to wait until I have my NCLEX, degree and CNO registration in hand?
Also, I'm so confused by the wording on all BON websites, can Canadians be registered by endorsement? It seems vague but the only other option is NCLEX licensing, but I would have already wrote the NCLEX?

I'm sorry if these questions seem silly but I have been reading for weeks and have sent a couple emails to the WI board where they just direct me to a world of random government forms. Any help and advice would be immensely appreciated!!

Thank you so much!!

Can I start the process and get the ball rolling on my old RPN paperwork in the mean time, or do I have to wait?

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

What visa are you looking to work with? Nafta? If so you will have wait wait until you have graduated and according to WI website you need CGFNS exam for RN so you may benefit going to another state first then endorse because for WI you can only endorse from another US state.

https://dsps.wi.gov/Credentialing/Health/fm3087.pdf

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Specializes in Surgical/Trauma/Neuroscience/Cardiac ICU.

@HeatherLems

I would advise to complete BSN with transcript, pass NCLEX, and register with CNO before applying for any required CGFNS services needed by State BON. You may need further reading on this.

It looks like WI has same endorsement policy with New Mexico: RN Endorsement only with other US States and not Canada. My colleague ended up applying for RN license in New York then she endorsed it to New Mexico.

I had endorsed my Ontario RN registration to Maine BON because they allowed reciprocity.

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