International student question

Published Nov 14, 2018

4 Posts

Hi guys! So I'm currently in my last year of nursing school in Canada - about to graduate in the spring. I'm a dual citizen of Canada and the US, and grew up in the US, so I plan to move back there once I graduate to start my nursing career. I'm moving to California for more context.

Anyway, because I'm graduating internationally, when applying to take the NCLEX there's the extra step of mailing my school a form to request that they send my transcript to the California BON in order to verify I've met the criteria to be a nurse in CA (meeting the criteria isn't an issue - according to my school they process requests from CA frequently and have never had an issue of rejection). I wanted to ask advice on two things, for anyone who has experience with this:

1) Can I apply to take the NCLEX online? From what I gather, I can still apply online, but I also have to mail the physical transcript request forms to my school so that they can mail them to the BON. Alternatively, should I apply in the mail because the mail packet gives more explicit instructions on the transcript stuff?

2) Has anyone been in a similar situation that can give me advice on wait times? From what I understand, processing time in CA for international students in the spring is usually around 2 months. Then on top of that how long is the usual wait to actually schedule the test?

I realize this is a super specific situation, and I appreciate you reading all of the above! I would very very much appreciate anyone who has advice on this.

Thanks!!