Hushdawg

Celestial2311; the best thing you can do is immigrate to the USA and then apply for a license once you have obtained via immigration. The information the person told you from the Social Security Administration is incorrect. Individual states have the ability to discern who is and is not qualified for licensure as a healthcare professional in their state. While NCSBN provides an administrative network to unify the states via the standardized NCLEX examination and many states have joined the Nurse Licensure Compact it still does not override the sovereignty of each state. As an Australian, you are not bound by the same retrogressive process that countries such as China, India and the Philippines are. You should speak with a migration professional about your options, if you've been working for at least 5 years or have a master's degree then you qualify for a professional migration visa which completely bypasses retrogression as retrogression only affects employment-related and lottery-based visas.

I cannot recommend that anyone use their services. A few years ago when I first became aware of their services they really were a full-service oriented organization but now the full burden of gathering and completing documents still falls upon the nurse applicant and so all you are really getting for your money is them filling out the state form and checking to see if you have all the papers and then use of their express shipper discount (which they should discount further since I have learned that they bundle multiple applications in a single packet yet charge each applicant a full shipping rate). Seriously, take a day to focus on the application and you can do it yourself. NEAC staff won't go to chase after all your documents in the Philippines, you'll still have to ask family to do that so what is the point, really?

The full text is: "2. **Validation of English Language Proficiency If you have graduated from a nursing program in a country or territory where the principle language is English, i.e. Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada (except Quebec), Ireland, Trinidad, Tobago, South Africa, Ghana, Jamaica, Barbados, or United States/territory, you are NOT required to validate your English language proficiency skills to obtain a license in Nevada. If the principal language of the country where you completed your nursing program is a language other than English, you are required to take and pass any ONE of the following options. You are required to complete an English proficiency exam regardless of your country of citizenship or language of instruction. " Officially speaking, the Philippines has TWO official languages according to the Philippine government: Tagalog and English. It can be argued that English is a principle language of the Philippines especially considering the large volume of English education that is incorporated in the basic levels of education. THE 1987 CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES Article XIV, Section 7 reads: "For purposes of communication and instruction, the official languages of the Philippines are Filipino and, until otherwise provided by law, English." Therefore, I would encourage discussing this matter with Nevada Nursing Board a bit further. Regardless; English proficiency is needed for VisaScreen certification, so you're gonna have to do it sooner or later anyway for most visa categories. Though in all honesty the proficiency exam results will expire before you complete the visa process anyway. :/

I believe the common solution that most find is to take the LPN course without any reference to the course they took in the Philippines and therefore start over from scratch. Really sad to see it since it means the nursing education in the Philippines was pretty much wasted.

I don't think it's fair or accurate to refer to colleges in the Philippines as "doubtable" since some of the nursing schools in the Philippines have world-class credentials and provide high quality education. UP, UST, UE and Atteneo (to name a few) are highly prestigious universities and many people come from all over the world to attend and gain nursing degrees from them. I think that Mazee needs to analyze the cost-benefit ratio of studying in the Philippines versus studying in the USA. It may be more affordable to do an entire BSN study at UST (for example) than an equivalent university in the States. The added benefit of having life experience in another country is incalculable in my opinion. One major caution though is with regard to licensure in the States, being a foreign educated nurse means that the education has to go through another layer of scrutiny and one may have to submit information to CGFNS for evaluations or even additional exams prior to gaining licensure via NCLEX. Some states, such as Illinois, require that one have licensure in the country that he/she was educated in. IL, for instance, will not even grant a waiver for people who were US Citizens at the time of graduation, in spite of the fact that non-Filipinos are not permitted to sit for local board exams in the Philippines.

They used to be a good service but the service changed over a year ago. They don't provide much of anything and they charge more for the fees. US retrogression is so harsh now that you really do have time to prepare yourself. Take a weekend, research to choose which state you will apply to (where you will live and work in the USA) and then download/read everything on the Board website for that state for international applicants. Read carefully, follow all the instructions and you can do it yourself. Just take a whole weekend to focus on it and save your money.

Login to your account in CGFNS and check your birthdate as they have it recorded to make sure that is correct. I have had many cases where the information is changed somehow in their system from where a nurse I'm assisting had keyed it in only minutes previous. It's a bug in their software and they won't admit it to you but they have no idea how to fix it. If there is a mistake in your DOB in the CGFNS account then you can correct it by sending them an email through the website and they may ask you for a photocopy or scan of a government issued ID to confirm it. If there is not a mistake at DOB then you have to find out why the PRC documents have an incorrect birthday. Unfortunately since I'm not a Filipino PRC refuses to discuss many of these things with me so I don't know how to correct it remotely. It is also possible that CGFNS or PRC got the records switched and sent the wrong documents or filed the wrong documents. if you have a fairly common first and last name (by Philippine standards) then it is likely that this is the case. You can ask CGFNS to double check using your full middle name(s) and PRC ID number. Lastly, when you call CGFNS make sure that you have already done everything you can through the website. You need to call them at 8am EST to get in before the Queue backs up. Have your CGFNS ID number already in front of you and it helps to be logged into your CGFNS account while you are talking to them so that you can look at the information along with them.

NC-CLEX is a Philippine business which registered in California AS A BUSINESS. It's not licensed as an educational facility in California and is not recognized by CA BRN as anything more than a "continuing ed provider". http://www2.dca.ca.gov/pls/wllpub/WLLQRYNA$LCEV2.QueryView?P_LICENSE_NUMBER=14406&P_LTE_ID=820 Notice there under licenses/registrations/permits they have none. CA BRN provides this as information, this is NOT an endorsement of NC-CLEX by CA BRN as they would like to claim. If you want American Heart Association accredited ACLS you should check out CHEERS which can also give Australian licensed EMT courses and all sorts of other neat stuff. I recently learned about CHEERS and I've checked out their license claims over the last week. They seem to be on the up and up. See for yourself: http://www.cheers.gowideweb.com

very reliable. The NCLEX passing is not with CABON exclusively so even if your licensure documents are destroyed, your NCLEX passing is still active. If your license expires or documents are destroyed then you can have it "re-activated" so to speak once you have SSN. However if your goal in the USA is a different state then you should go ahead and endorse your NCLEX passing to that other state to keep from having to go through extra steps and expenses later.

Fight for your rights! Unionize! Join Ang Nars! FIGHT the system!

Agreed and disagreed. Be careful that you are getting steps and information directly from the source. NZ's policies have undergone major changes since this time last year and a lot of second and third tier sites hosting NZ information and forms have not been updated. http://www.nursingcouncil.org.nz/index.cfm/1,25,html/Home That is the NZ Nursing Council website. Don't get your info on processing from anywhere online except there or you'll be led down a back alley and clubbed over the head with a reality check from using outdated information. If the information on this website confuses you then there are CONSULTANCIES (not agencies) that can help you for minimal fees. Additionally, if you do use an agent for your visas make sure they are a licensed agent (not just an offshore visa processor) with a current NZ license. Ask for the license number and check it with NZ to make sure it is authentic, current and that they are AGENTS. If they aren't agents then don't waste your money.

The passing rate of NCLEX by foreign RNs has a lot of factors in place and only one of which is the quality of education. Bear in mind that if the education has not been determined to meet minimum standards for the USA then they would not be permitted to take NCLEX in the first place. Factors include the comprehension of English as well as the delay between graduation or registration and taking NCLEX. Lag time studies by NCSBN and CGFNS have proven this lag time issue to be the largest single factor since foreign nurses must undergo years of processes before taking NCLEX (Local licensing, fulfilling state requirements, then finally the actual licensure application and then taking NCLEX). NY state, for example, takes approximately 18 - 24 months for a foreign RN to become eligible and be able to schedule for the NCLEX exam. Imagine a US graduate waiting 2 years to take NCLEX and consider the chances of his/her passing the exam. For US citizens planning to come to the Philippines to study nursing there are a few things to keep in mind. Some states DEMAND a local license in the country where you were educated. In the case of the Philippines you will not be permitted to become licensed as a non-citizen, therefore it will limit your ability to work in the USA if you do not have a local license in states such as IL and TX. NOT ALL COLLEGES ARE CREATED EQUAL. Review PRC's list of top nursing colleges ranked by the % of nurses who pass the local board. The top ten list from there will dramatically narrow down your selection process for which one you should attend to ensure that you have a quality education.

I've done research showing exactly where the nursing shortage is and exactly why and how there will be a shortage of 1.9 million nurses by 2020. You cannot wait for the shortage to be crippling before making adjustments in the nursing licensure applications sine retrogressed occupational visas (which require passing NCLEX) are on a 5-6 year wait. My research is based on studies done by US Dept of Labor, US Bureau of Health Resources and Services Administration and AACN. It shows that the growing population will need 41% more nurses in the workforce within the next 10 years and coupled with 35% of the currently employed nursing workforce that will be above retirement age by that time we have a crippling nurse shortage in the USA that the US nursing schools are not equipped to handle at all. Something has to start NOW to keep this from happening; we cannot sit around and wait for it.

Actually it doesn't make sense. An overwhelming majority of nurses coming into the USA are relying on Employer nomination; even for the EB-2 Migration category visa they still need an employer nomination. It is illogical to demand that an employer nominate a nurse for a visa in order for her to get an SSN before she has, in fact, passed NCLEX and is therefore eligible to work as a USRN. The SSN policies are a back door to closing off nurse migration completely and it is only going to cripple the US healthcare system as the nursing shortage grows to cover every area of the USA within the next decade.

My advice is to consider the state you wish to live and work in. If that state will not allow you to apply directly due to SSN requirements then seek out a state which will issue a license number without SSN and permit you to renew it while in the Philippines.