NY BON Application Status Wait Times

Idealista · Apr 30, 2023

I submitted all my paperwork to the NY BON, including CE class certifications, etc. two months ago. Their processing "calendar" is stuck at 3/9/2023 (and has been for weeks) for anyone who attended an out-of-state or country school - although NY nursing schools are processed the same day! I am a U.S. citizen living in NY and attended a school in CA with a high NCLEX pass rate. I have given up and applied for a Massachusetts ATT and license. I am planning to move to Nova Scotia once I have my license in-hand and my BSN complete (10 months).

Honestly, if NY cannot get the budget to their job in a timely and expeditious manner - they should outsource the work. That is what MA has done, using an organization called the Professional Credentialing Service. They collect the information and documents and then work with Pearson to issue the ATT.

Since I can take the NCLEX anywhere - I will just take it in NY - for an MA license.

Really, seriously disappointed in my home state.

kriskey2022 · May 18, 2023

The NYSED Office of the Professions is awfully / painfully slow. I moved to NY at the beginning of the year and applied via endorsement from a compact state (Pathway #3) back in Feb of 2023.
A month later I received an email saying there was an issue with my application, so I had to send in repeat documents of pretty much everything. However, when I asked for an update to ensure they had everything, they literally never responded; I emailed 1x per week for 4 weeks. What I later learned is that every time you request an update, they pull your app out of the que and you basically start over at the back.
After 76 days waiting (now in May), and multiple 2+ hour phone calls on hold waiting to speak with someone, an employee told me they needed documents I already sent back in March. I literally forwarded the email I previously sent w/my documents while I was on the phone with her. The employee said they now had all of my documents and I should have my license within a week.
BUT.... Less than a week later I got another email again, requesting documents I already sent back in Feb. I called and waited for an 1.5 hours and spoke to another employee. I told her I already sent the documents they were requesting and that if she needed proof, she could pull the other license I was just recently granted from another NYSED licensing profession.
The employee said she was able to pull my paperwork and put it with my application and that they had it and it would be another 1-2 weeks until I had my license. At that point I had been waiting for 81 days. I had to keep my cool but explain that they kept making mistakes and that I was sending in duplicates of everything. In the end, I waited a total of 84 days for my NYSED license to be granted.

FYI—NYSED Nursing Unit 4:

E: [email protected]

P: 518-474-3817, nursing extension #280

I highly advise making detailed documentation of all your interactions; screen shots, ask who you're speaking with, keep emails and receipts/numbers etc. I was on the verge of contacting my local legislature's office to see if I could get some help.

This appears to be a trend, NPR did a story on it last year: https://www.npr.org/2022/03/10/1084897499/nurses-are-waiting-months-for-licenses-as-hospital-staffing-shortages-spread

Sorry to anyone who is waiting so long, we deserve better.

Idealista · May 18, 2023

kriskey2022 said:

Sorry to anyone who is waiting so long, we deserve better.

Thank you SO much for this post. I applied for Licensure by Examination on March 29.

I have resisted calling, trying to be (very uncharacteristically) patient - and reading what you said about a call pulling you from the queue made me glad I resisted! I also got a form sent via email (Moral Conduct Form) that I had to sign and have notarized and then send in again. (They said that I had "forgotten to answer some questions"...but, I know this is simply not true. I triple-checked everything - especially THOSE questions to ensure they were complete and correct. I was actually wondering if this was another part of fall-out of the FL schools - since my school is in California.) That, or they are using it as a stalling mechanism to buy more time. Since once your application is submitted, you have no access to see it or its status - you are absolutely sitting in the dark wondering what's going on.

Other states have outsourced the document collection to third-parties who seem far better set up to deal with this kind of workflow process. MA, in particular, has a process where you have a portal that lets you know instantly when a form is received and what your status is at all times. I think it's time NY consider such a process. When the file is complete, then a dedicated coordinator from the state reviews the file and if it is complete, notifies Pearson and your ATT is released. At this point, I have no idea when I will get my ATT from NYS - but I am pretty sure my review Qbanks, review courses, etc. will have expired and will need renewal because I will probably need more review at that point. So, more expense. Thanks, NY.

I sometimes feel that BONs in general have too much power. I completely understand their overriding mission is not to serve us as nurses, but to protect the public...but this chaos doesn't seem to have anything to do with public safety. We are simply at their mercy and they know it. The lack of communication, respect and transparency they demonstrate - simply shows a great deal of disrespect for professional nurses.

Thank you again - and you are so right. We deserve better.

airease · May 23, 2023

Oof. I applied April 24th and graduated May 13th, so applied before graduation in hopes I'll have everything in time. I'm still not gonna hold my breath.

I really wanted to test the week of June 18th, doubt that will happen. Their site says its backed up to March 29th

Idealista · May 24, 2023

@airease Hi there -

It really depends on whether you graduated from a NY school or not. Applications from grads from NY schools are processed almost immediately. As you can see from the image (taken just now from the BON website - the April date is for "other educational programs" processing. NY Education programs show processing on today's date...it always has the current date for those applications...

So - you may make your dates after all! Good luck!

airease · May 24, 2023

Idealista said:

@airease Hi there -

It really depends on whether you graduated from a NY school or not. Applications from grads from NY schools are processed almost immediately. As you can see from the image (taken just now from the BON website - the April date is for "other educational programs" processing. NY Education programs show processing on today's date...it always has the current date for those applications...

So - you may make your dates after all! Good luck!

I went to school in PA unfortunately ? thank you so much for the info though

canegirlrn · Jun 21, 2023

airease said:

I went to school in PA unfortunately ? thank you so much for the info though

Have you received your ATT? I also Graduated May 13 and my school did not send my verification paper until end of May after my degree was conferred.

Idealista · Jun 21, 2023

It seems that the New York board of nursing takes almost 2.5 - 3 months on average to process an exam request application. I applied for mine on March 29 and got it on June 19. Higher in this thread someone applied and it took her 84 days just for an endorsement.. It took me 83. if you applied from an out-of-state school in May, I wouldn't be surprised to not see anything until mid to end August. Just my experience, of course. I am not affiliated with the New York board of nursing.

canegirlrn · Jun 21, 2023

Idealista said:

It seems that the New York board of nursing takes almost 2.5 - 3 months on average to process an exam request application. I applied for mine on March 29 and got it on June 19. Higher in this thread someone applied and it took her 84 days just for an endorsement.. It took me 83. if you applied from an out-of-state school in May, I wouldn't be surprised to not see anything until mid to end August. Just my experience, of course. I am not affiliated with the New York board of nursing.

Okay. I just checked the website and it says they are processing papers from May 10. I applied for my license back in April it's just that my school didn't send their part until I graduated.

If they are already on May 10th then I would hope it would not take an additional 2 months from now to get to paperwork submitted end of May right?

Did you ever contact NY BON or did you just wait to get your ATT via email?

Idealista · Jun 21, 2023

@canegirlrn Once they change the date (to May 10, for instance) - it can stay on that date for weeks. It is supposedly updated every Thursday, but I know it stayed on March 9 for a month and the same with March 29th. It was stuck on March 29th for over a month.

I did email them, as they suggested, at 10 weeks,mentioning that this was my first inquiry. I never got a response. Apparently, calling them can cause your application to be sent to the end of the queue (another nurse mentioned this). So, I thought it better to simply be patient. That worked. But it took 83 days....

Chelseaannb · Jun 22, 2023

Yeah, so I applied in December and apparently they never got my form from my Canadian nursing school that they were supposed to send in. I didn't know this obviously and was just being patient because they told me it could take up to a year for international nurses. I finally decided to inquire in April and no response. I then replied to an ongoing chain I had with them before I applied with general questions. That they replied to and informed me they didn't receive anything from the school. I contacted the school again last week and they told me it can take up to two months for them to fill out the form and send it back. So I applied in December 2022 and now I'm probably looking at august 2023 at minimum just for the BON to receive the rest of the documents. Extremely frustrating.