lr1234

Suzanne, For many people the reason for wanting their CA licenses with the ITIN is simply because they want to know if they passed the NCLEX as soon as possible after the test by checking for their license info online. Waiting 3-4 weeks for the results in the mail is just too much. If CA participated in the quick results system I'm sure many would be happy to wait until the SSN to get their hard licenses. Working illegally on ITIN and getting deported is another thing. I'm surprised that there are lawyers who advise their clients to do that!

Typo, I got 265 not 256 questions. My AOS is pending and I'm waiting for my EAD (I'm a dependent of my husbands AOS on EB2 and the PD was current when we filed). I got ITIN because I'm on H4. If nothing else, at least the ITIN helped me get the actual license even if I can't work. Otherwise I would have had to wait for the EAD and then apply for the SSN which usually takes several weeks and then send that to CA BRN and wait for the license. LR

I passed! I took my NCLEX on 26 Aug and got 256 questions. This morning (1 Sept) I found my name on the CA BRN website so they did issue me a license even though I had an ITIN number instead of SSN! LR

PS. Make sure you fax them your SSN number as soon as you get it even if you got your license using your ITIN so that they can update your file. They accept ITIN/SSN numbers only by fax or mail, not by telephone.

I just called CA BRN and they said they will issue an RN license with an ITIN number if the person doesn't yet have an SSN. This is good news for people who are already in the US on a dependent visa, but are ineligible for SSN (for example H4 visa holders). The downside is that the IRS requires that you file the ITIN application together with your tax return, so you can't just apply for the ITIN without filing your tax return at the same time. LR

Don't get me wrong, Saunders and Kaplan are great books. Saunders especially has great content review. ... but the answer choices in Saunders are pretty different from each other so it's usually straightforward to choose the most correct answer. I can't say the same for the actual NCLEX, where usually all the choices were very close to each other so picking the most correct one was much harder. I got 265 questions in NCLEX today. When doing Saunders (3rd ed compr review) from the CD and book I got about 75-80% correct, so the Saunders questions were pretty easy for me. I really can't say the same for NCLEX. Maybe studying prioritization and care strategies a lot would make more sense instead of studying all the details of all the different conditions (skin, oncology, endocrine, eye or ENT for example)...

Took the NCLEX-RN today. The questions were so far away from the practice questions in Saunders comp review and Kaplan books/cd-roms! Most NCLEX questions were about prioritization, delegation, some meds and labs, psych, infection control. The Saunders book was very useful review book for general nursing knowledge, but I don't think it prepared me at all for the type of questions in the actual test... I could have skipped most of the Saunders chapters (all adult chapters like respiratory, cardiology, and ob/gyn etc and pediatrics) and done equally well. Question for NCLEX takers: what books/courses do you think would be the best for preparing for NCLEX? (maybe prioritization, strategy, delegation books). Saunders and Kaplan were thorough, but they were nowhere near the actual NCLEX questions... LR

Has anyone been able to get the CA license by using an ITIN number instead of the SSN? I don't have an SSN (I'm on H4 visa). I gave CA board my ITIN, is that enough to get the actual license and get the NCLEX results displayed on the board license verification website? LR

Hi Suzanne, thanks for information. I called the CA board and they said it is not enough to just take the pediatric rotation, but I need to take university classes and clinical practice in pediatrics. I'm confused... This is frustrating as I had enough classes in pediatrics in my foreign BSN degree, but only the amount of clinical practice was not enough for the CA board. Has anyone else received similar decision from the board, and how much did you have to study to meet the CA requirements? LR

Hi, I sent an application for licensure by examination to CA BRN. I received a letter saying that my BSN education does not meet the CA requirements in Pediatric content. This is because I had very little pediatric clinical practice (only 18 hrs) in my home country, even though I had enough theory courses in pediatrics. How much pediatrics do I need to study (how many credit units) and how much clinical practice goes with that? CA BRN just sent a list of accredited nursing schools, but didn't give any details as to which courses are needed. How much can I expect the pediatric courses to cost and how soon can I expect to have them completed? I'm in San Diego area, any suggestions which school to pick are appreciated. Thanks, LR

As for the IELTS you need the Academic test. You need to get 7.0 for the spoken section and 6.5 for the others. I've read IELTS Academic may be more difficult than TOEFL ibt. You should submit one fingerprint card together with the application to the same address. But when you have your fingerprints taken by the police (or wherever), you'd better have two fingerprint cards taken. In case there is a problem with the one fingerprint card you have submitted you can always send the other one. It's estimated that it takes 4-6 months for California Board to process your application, but this depends on whether you are the first applicant from your nursing school ever to have applied for California licensure and other things. Your fingerprint submission to the california board should have nothing to do with immigration or your tourist visa. LR

Hi, actually I just got the CGFNS ID by email :-) It took them 2 weeks to email the ID number after having received my VisaScreen application and payment. Now the ID number is also visible in the upper right corner of the personal information and test link pages :-) LR

It's not there! There's nothing on the upper right corner of the test link page or the personal information link page! There's no CGFNS ID for me anywhere in the online status system. I guess they haven't yet given me the CGFNS ID. It's been about 2 weeks already since I submitted the online application and it was accepted. But shouldn't I have gotten the ID right after submitting the application? LR

Well the "Tests" link on my cgfns account is related to the English proficiency test information, doesn't have the CGFNS ID or anything related to it. LR

Yes I did, no emails were received from CGFNS at any time. I even contacted them twice thru the online system, but have received no replies whatsoever so far. My Personal Information shows that they are supposed to send correspondence by both email and conventional mail. I doublechecked that the email address on the "Personal Information" page is correct. And checked my gmail.com spam folder but there were no emails from CGFNS. Either they have their hands full with too many applications or there's something seriously wrong with their online application system. LR