nurses who didn't take local boards, but were able to take NCLEX

suzanne4, RN · Mar 2, 2008

You do not apply for the NCLEX exam, you are applying for licensure, and need permission from a BON to be able to sit for the exam. It is 100% dependent on the state that you apply thru.

And be aware that it does not matter what happened in the past, rules and regulations are always changing. And with about a five year wait for a chance at a green card, where are you going to get experience during that time without having taken and passed the NLE? You need to be aware that you are going to be going up against many from your country that also wish to work in the US, and they are going to have experience, and therefore have a much better chance of getting hired, as well as getting thru the interview with US immigration.

There is already much on this topic, just suggest that you have a good read here. And it does not matter if one is a physician, that has no bearing on getting approval to sit for the NCLEX exam, they have to go thru the same training in order to be able to get licensed in the US.

lenjoy03, RN · Mar 4, 2008

You know, I really don't know why some people just prefer asking same questions over and over again rather than reading other threads that can already answer their questions.

According to other threads, you can take NCLEX as long as the BON permits you even if you haven't taken the board yet. But this is not applicable to all states. If you want to work in US and dont have a greencard yet, better work here first. Take the board and experience. Immigration will take longer than expected with so many applications everyday! There are already many people infront of the line. But if you already have a greencard or an American Citizen, I guess you can go to US and take NCLEX directly depends if the state does not require a license from the country where you studied. Because some of my classmates went to US after graduation and didn't take the NLE anymore.

Whether he was a physician, architect, engineer, lawyer, policeman who took nursing but don't have a license here in the Philippines depends on the state if he will be allowed to take the NCLEX or not without a license.

lawrence01 · Mar 4, 2008

And just to add and emphasize what Suzanne and lenjoy03 already posted, each State has their own policies and req'ts for foreign-educated nurses.

An applicant has to go to the respective websites of each State BON/BRN and look for it themselves first and then ask for anything that seems to be confusing.

They need to personally go there and read the instructions and req'ts themselves as the req'ts for foreign-educated nurses changes very often and I mean often. Application forms are also downloadable from the website and so there is absolutely no excuse not to go to their website.

suzanne4, RN · Mar 4, 2008

And to top this off, does not matter anymore what a state requires. The issue is now that there are no visas available and you are looking at a five year wait for a chance at a green card.

If you are on the other side of the table and the one issuing a visa, why in the world are you going to even consider giving one to someone that has never worked in their field and completed school five years before or even longer? Your country requires a local license to work there, as well as most other countries also require the local license.

Each state here can set their own requirements for licensure. Licensure and immigration are two very different things, and we are expecting to see immigration require the local license, especially because of the number of applicants from your country and a limited number of visas available per year, when they are available.

Getting experience someplace is the number one priority. And it does not matter what someone did last year or the year before, the issue is that we are under a retrogression and things have changed.

spongebob6286, BSN, RN · Mar 5, 2008

this is only my opinion,whether a state requires you to take nle or not why don't just take it? don't you want to be licensed in your own country?

redranger · Mar 10, 2008

this is only my opinion,whether a state requires you to take nle or not why don't just take it? don't you want to be licensed in your own country?

If one planned on leaving PI for another country say USA in the next few months, then it would be a waste of time and money to study and take the NLE in PI.

Be better to start studying for the NCLEX only.

redranger · Mar 10, 2008

, and we are expecting to see immigration require the local license, especially because of the number of applicants from your country and a limited number of visas available per year, when they are available.

I don't forsee local license being required for immigration purpose.

If a Philippine is going to immigration and they are on a K1 Visa and just happen to have a Bachelor of Nursing in PI, they would not deny her a visa because she does not have local license.

That would create a legal loophole.

The NCLEX will be the Gold Standard, in my opinion.

silicaRN · Mar 13, 2008

i have a batchmate who happens to live in california for 3 years and came back to the philippines and finish her degree..

to make the story short,she took the nclex rn exam without taking her local board.she passed!!

Silverdragon102, BSN · Mar 13, 2008

I don't forsee local license being required for immigration purpose.
If a Philippine is going to immigration and they are on a K1 Visa and just happen to have a Bachelor of Nursing in PI, they would not deny her a visa because she does not have local license.
That would create a legal loophole.
The NCLEX will be the Gold Standard, in my opinion.

K1 is different than using nursing to emigrate. Things are always changing and many countries require local license if you are to meet that country's nursing requirements and work. More and more I expect state BON's to go the route of requiring local license and if you are looking at a few years + wait before moving to the US surely it makes sense to gain nursing experience

lenjoy03, RN · Mar 13, 2008

To sum it all up: Each state has there on requirements that requires license and some do not, but these requirements likely to changed. When? Only the BON can decide that.

If one planned on leaving PI for another country say USA in the next few months, then it would be a waste of time and money to study and take the NLE in PI.

What Spongebob trying to point out dearest is that, if your still not sure that you wont be in the US after a few months, why not take the NLE. If your living for US after a month or so and the BON does not require a license, then dont take the NLE.

Mind you, if you study for NLE though not all info from NLE are applicable to NCLEX, studying for it is not a waste of time!

suzanne4, RN · Mar 17, 2008

The local license was actually required by all states until a few years ago, as the CGFNS exam was a requirement for all. And in order to sit for the CGFNS exam, you must hold a local license.

So this is not something new at all, but going back to how things were in the past. And with the increase in the number of applicants from the Philippines by an exponential number, there needs to be another way to verify nurses, or weed out others as the exam was used for in the past.

And with the suspected five year wait for a visa, if one does not have a local license, then they cannot work in that role in PI, nor can they go to any other country to get experience. Every place else requires a local license before they will let you work there, including Canada,

And when the time comes for an interview with US immigration, how readily do you think that they will wish to offer a visa to someone that has not worked in the field since they graduated because they could not.

Immigration and licensure are also two very different things and one does not help the other. And we are seeing more states going back to requiring the local license before they will even permit one to sit for the NCLEX exam.

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There is also a difference if someone did not write the NLE and came here in the past, but those that did write it and did not pass it, will have major issues with getting to do anything here. Why in the world would someone want to issue a license here to someone that could not pass their own local exam in the first place?

Visa Screen Certificate will not be issued if the exam was written and not passed either.