Visa Screen Certificate / CGFNS

World Registration

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Visa Screen Certificate is required by all foreign nurses wishing to obtain a green card to work in the US, as well as any type of temporary work permit, such as the Nafta TN Visa for those from Canada and Mexico.

It requires that you pass either the NCLEX-RN or the CGFNS exam, as well as the series of English exams if you are not exempt from them.

The CGFNS exam is only required now in about five states, and rumor is that one or two will be removed from that remaining list as well. Do not bother with that exam if you are not going to work in a state that does not require it, or you have no way to be able to take the NCLEX exam from where you are currently located.

The application for the VSC is now only good for one year.........please do not apply for it until you have passed at least one of the required exams, or you may need to pay an additional fee.

(This thread is replacing the original thread that was from more than 2 and 1/2 years ago, and has updated information.)

suzanne4 and silverdragon102, thank you very much for responding to my queries. i hope you don't mind because i have another set of questions (and i'm sure i'll have more in the future ;) )

1. one of the forumers here asked about how to go about accomplishing the signature for the visascreen application. i'm not quite sure if it was answered. i also have the same concern. the person was concerned because his signature from his passport was his full name in script except that he did not expand his middle name and just put his middle initial instead. i plan to apply for a passport this week (hopefully). of course, a signature is required in the application form. hence my current dilemma. from what i know, the signature in the visascreen application form as well as to be able to sit for the nclex exam, has to match legal documents. would that be a correct interpretation? my signature in all my legal documents such as prc id and school requirements before is not my full name in script. so i don't know if i'm going to sign with a full name in script in my passport application form. so there. any advice on how to deal with this?

it has been suggested by suzanne4 before to just put a slash between the scripted full name (including the middle name) and the usual signature. will that be ok?

like this:

full name with middle name (in script) / usual signature.

won't the cgfns interpret the above as my signature. i mean like, they would think that i always sign like that, with full name in script then a slash then another signature (which is my usual signature).

perhaps my query is really confusing. but i still hope to get inputs from you people. thank you very much for the hard work!

in the us when you are at work, a full legal signature is usually just the first initial and then the last name written out. middle name is not required to be included in the signature. just make sure that you use the same thing on all documents and you will be fine.

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hi suzanne4!

I passed the nclex and cgfns and received my visa screen certificate. Id like to ask you what is the next thing for me to do after receiving the visa screen certificate? I know it is still retrogression and right now im applying in another country while waiting.Please advice me. Thanks!

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
hi suzanne4!

I passed the nclex and cgfns and received my visa screen certificate. Id like to ask you what is the next thing for me to do after receiving the visa screen certificate? I know it is still retrogression and right now im applying in another country while waiting.Please advice me. Thanks!

Nothing to be done until retrogression is over. Do you have an employer already for the US?

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Nothing can be done any further without an employer to start the petitioning process for you. But as you are aware of, with the retrogression in place, it is going to be hard to find someone that will start it as there is no definite time of when you would be able to start or if ever. Employers do not issue visas, that is done only by the US State Dept and as long as there are many more applicants than there are visas, it is going to be hard for anyone to get a visa. Chances go down with each and every new person that wishes to get a visa for here.

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Hi!

Since retrogression is ongoing, and a rough estimation of 5 yrs or more before retrogression will be lifted, what will happen to our NCLEX and IELTS results, as well as the Visa screen certificate? Like in my case, my IELTS result will expire next year. Do I have to take another IELTS exam? What about my VSC I have with me right now? By the way, my papers are currently under consular processing. I'm just quite confused. Thanks ahead for the reply.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Hi!

Since retrogression is ongoing, and a rough estimation of 5 yrs or more before retrogression will be lifted, what will happen to our NCLEX and IELTS results, as well as the Visa screen certificate? Like in my case, my IELTS result will expire next year. Do I have to take another IELTS exam? What about my VSC I have with me right now? By the way, my papers are currently under consular processing. I'm just quite confused. Thanks ahead for the reply.

Your VSC is valid for 5 years and then you need to renew it as it will need to be up to date for immigration. If that is the case then you will need an up to date IELTS exam pass

That is my understanding

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CGFNS/ICHP has approved all my documents and is still waiting for the License Validation from California BRN. Yesterday, I noticed that my CGFNS online account has a new entry - a new row:

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT FROM CORRESPONDENCE TO CGFNS WAITING TO BE RECEIVED

It has a note: passed NCLEX per application, but no state

In the online application, I didn't fill out the entries about having a license in California. I don't have a registration nor license number since I have yet to get a US SSN. Does anyone here have the same situation? What does this mean? I'm going to call them sometime next week about this but I would appreciate it if someone could enlighten me about this.

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CGFNS/ICHP has approved all my documents and is still waiting for the License Validation from California BRN. Yesterday, I noticed that my CGFNS online account has a new entry - a new row:

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT FROM CORRESPONDENCE TO CGFNS WAITING TO BE RECEIVED

It has a note: passed NCLEX per application, but no state

In the online application, I didn't fill out the entries about having a license in California. I don't have a registration nor license number since I have yet to get a US SSN. Does anyone here have the same situation? What does this mean? I'm going to call them sometime next week about this but I would appreciate it if someone could enlighten me about this.

You don't have to do anything. They already acknowledge you passed the NCLEX and that is all that is needed to complete the VSC process. You cannot say you are licensed nor does CGFNS can as you only passed the NCLEX and is not licensed in CA but that does not matter for the VSC process, anyway. They only need either A CGFNS exam pass or a NCLEX-RN exam pass to complete the process.

If that was the last req't for you then expect your VSC Cert. to be couriered to you very soon.

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Thank you, Lawrence.

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Hi! Im a licensed nurse in new mexico, recently passed the ielts exam and currently applying for a visa screen certificate (actually Im still working on the papers and application forms)

I just need some clarification on what im doing ^^

So I need to send a request for validation of license to NM. what else should be included to that form? do i have to include a payment to new mexico for this request?

And btw Im a june 2006 passer but i also passed the retake on june 2007, so i need to include the certificate that I passed the retake together with the vsc application form right? or wrong? ^^

And the expiration for the vsc application is 1 year right? But if I completed all the requirements for vsc within that period what will happen next?

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Hi! Im a licensed nurse in new mexico, recently passed the ielts exam and currently applying for a visa screen certificate (actually Im still working on the papers and application forms)

I just need some clarification on what im doing ^^

So I need to send a request for validation of license to NM. what else should be included to that form? do i have to include a payment to new mexico for this request?

And btw Im a june 2006 passer but i also passed the retake on june 2007, so i need to include the certificate that I passed the retake together with the vsc application form right? or wrong? ^^

And the expiration for the vsc application is 1 year right? But if I completed all the requirements for vsc within that period what will happen next?

You need to send NM BON the License Validation Form found in the Visa Screen application packet and include the fee with it. Double check on NM's website for the appropriate fee as each State BON/BRN will have diff. fees from one another. As a perspective, CA BRN's fee for this is $60.

As for the PRC license, it depends. Was the re-take a total re-take or just test 3 and 5? If you waived your license from being a June 2006 passer and have re-taken the whole exam, you are no longer considered a June 2006 passer but a June 2007 passer and so would only need to send the same License Validation Form to PRC and have then send it to ICHP.

For test 3 and 5 re-takers only, most people send in a copy of the DOLE Cert. attached to their VSC application form in addition to having PRC send a License validation to ICHP as well (same procedure as above). However, am not sure if sending the DOLE Cert. is of any significance as the master list of passers for the re-take of test 3 and 5 have been sent directly by DOLE/PRC to ICHP and CGFN's lawyers double check the names on that list.

You have to complete all req'ts within 1 year, so it is advisable to only apply once all req'ts are done already.

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thank you very much lawrence for the reply!

but im a bit confused about the fee that nm charge for validation of license because i just saw a post here saying that its free of charge. i just want to make sure its true and if the policy is still the same, bec. it was posted last 2006.

https://allnurses.com/forums/f75/visa-screen-181433-2.html

last question, i cant find my high school diploma, and when i asked for a copy from my school they said that they no longer give out copies of diploma, its a policy of the DepEd. They can only give me a certificate that i graduated and completed my secondary education there. will cgfns accept that kind of document?

...and yet another edit for another question.. hmm just to clarify. the vsc application fee is $448 right?

im sorry for asking these kinds of questions i just want to make sure of everything im doing. im processing this application on my own. -.-"

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