Quickest Way for Getting Things Done and Licensed in US

[suzanne4]

As most of you know, I have been recommending initial licensure in NY for quite some time. And for those of you that did not heed the warning, you now know why.

New York is three easy applications only, next you take the NCLEX exam, then you get a hard license and can endorse to almost any state afterwards. Because of the requirements of the Special Credentials Verification for New York, you do not have to do any of the running around to obtain your documents. CGFNS will obtain them for you....after you sign the release and send them the money.

NY also requires two short classes that can be done on-line, one on Child Abuse, and the other on Infection. Both are available for about $15 each and take only one hour or so.

NY BON application can be found at http://www.op.nyed.gov. You only need to submit "Form 1."

The Special Credentials Verification can be found at http://www.CGFNS.org, as well as the Visa Screen Application.

Once you have received documentation from NY that your credentials have been received and approved, submit payment to Pearson-Vue for the NCLEX exam. http://www.perasonvue.com. They are the ones that will actually send you the ATT letter, upon approval of the Board of Nursing. Be aware that this ATT (authorization to test) is only good for ninety (90) days. You will have onlt that amount of time to get the exam done in, otherwise you will lose your payment and have to start again.

Hope that this helps................ :balloons:

Most importantly, NY will issue you the license without a Social Security Number.

[suzanne4, RN]

Depending on where you live in CT, you may find it easier to just commute to NY to work, and either travel back each night, or just stay there, if you are working twelves, you are going to be very tired at the end of your shifts anyhow. And NY pays more....:)

[Ilia]

Thank you for your mail Suzanne, and for the response. Unfortunately, we live in Hartford, CT, so we are 1.45 hours away from the border - commute is out of the question.

I guess we shouldn't have gone through NY to begin with and should have started right in Connecticut - because we'll end up going through this hell twice. No one here accepts NY license and getting the CT one seems like impossible - so we are stuck. What a waste of time, efforts and resources.

I appreciate your time Suzanne - just let people know that CT is an exception and CGFNS is required even for endorsement - and encourage them to go directly through CT, not NY.

Ilia

[suzanne4, RN]

I have only had one other person contact me wishing to go to CT to work. And they had already passed the CGFNS exam. Most wish to work in NY or NJ.

Your wife can still work in NY and just stay there the two nights, and come home after the third. Many do it here all of the time, even if she works near your home, she is going to be getting home after dinner time and is just going to want to go to sleep.

You are also in the US already, most are out of the US when they are deciding where they wish to work. The issue thatmost have here is having a lciense that they can endorse to another state later on, without major headaches. Most do not offer a hard license if they do not have a SSN#. And most wish to avoid the CGFNS exam.

Sorry. But you already gone the route of NY. Had you checked with CT before?

[starbin, BSN, RN]

hi suzanne,

just a question about compact states...one of my friends told me that if you have a license in one compact state for eg. new mexico, you can work in another compact state without having to go through the endorsement or other licensing process. you can just work with the new mexico license in some other compact state..is that true?

what is compact state? are those the states who participate in nursey's?

[Ilia]

No, Suzanne, we did not check with CT - we were under impression that NY license is good enough for any state for endorsement - and we did not even know about CGFNS certification program (as you correctly pointed out, it is geared towards those, who just want to become a nurse). We had the misconception that NCLEX is good enough. Well, it turned out it is not. It just seems like such a redundancy, to go again through medical exam, after NCLEX and through education verification, which again, has already been done by NY. Even the CGFNS clearly states its certification program is for a different group of people, yet CT seems to require it anyway.

And the whole point of having "good" (i.e. accepted) license is being able to choose a job close to home. She currently commutes about an hour or more each way, so we wanted to get away from it.

She actually received two offers here, but they want at least temporary CT license, which is easy to get, but it expires in 4 months, and there is no chance she would go through CGFNS certification this quickly, so they will kick her out.

Well, there should be places that might be satisfied with NY license, we'll see...

[augigi, CNS]

OK, yet another here we go again question...

I am a Registered Nurse educated in Australia.

I am going to be working in the US on an L1 or E3 visa sponsored by the american division of my australian medical device company (so not as an RN).

I hope to then work as an RN in Pennsylvania.

Should I wait until I have a working visa in the US, then try to switch to an immigrant visa, or should I just go ahead with the foreign-educated RN process and try to get initial licensure in NY state and then endorse to PA?

Thanks for any guidance, why is this all so confusing?????????

[suzanne4, RN]

hi suzanne,

just a question about compact states...one of my friends told me that if you have a license in one compact state for eg. new mexico, you can work in another compact state without having to go through the endorsement or other licensing process. you can just work with the new mexico license in some other compact state..is that true?

what is compact state? are those the states who participate in nursey's?

that license is actually only good for compact states if you actually live in the state that issued you the license and continue to keep your legal residence there. if you do not keep a residence there, or move out of state, the compact part of the license becomes null and void. if your friends get their initial license in nm but never live or work there, that license is only good in nm, the compact part is no longer valid.

the compact states are a group of states that got together to make it easier on nurses that work in one state and live in the one next to it, or travel between several states. you still need to meet the requirements to maintain a compact license for it to remain valid. and essentially for any foreign nurse coming to the us that gets a nm license, but never lives and keeps an apt or house there, the compact license won't work for them..

nursys is something completely separate and is used just for license verification. it is a computerized service, you pay a fee and can use the service for three months or so.

[suzanne4, RN]

No, Suzanne, we did not check with CT - we were under impression that NY license is good enough for any state for endorsement - and we did not even know about CGFNS certification program (as you correctly pointed out, it is geared towards those, who just want to become a nurse). We had the misconception that NCLEX is good enough. Well, it turned out it is not. It just seems like such a redundancy, to go again through medical exam, after NCLEX and through education verification, which again, has already been done by NY. Even the CGFNS clearly states its certification program is for a different group of people, yet CT seems to require it anyway.

And the whole point of having "good" (i.e. accepted) license is being able to choose a job close to home. She currently commutes about an hour or more each way, so we wanted to get away from it.

She actually received two offers here, but they want at least temporary CT license, which is easy to get, but it expires in 4 months, and there is no chance she would go through CGFNS certification this quickly, so they will kick her out.

Well, there should be places that might be satisfied with NY license, we'll see...

Sorry, but a NY license is not a valid license in CT. There is no place that can legally accept it.

Again, the NCLEX exam is universally accepted in all states to meet that requirement of the exam, and you only need to take that once. But that doens't mean that a state cannot have other requirements.

NY works the best for most foreign nurses because they will actually issue a hard license that can be endorsed. They are one of the few states that will give the license without a SSN#, which is required to endorse. And they do not require the CGFNS exam.

But having a NY license doesn't give automatic endorsement to every other state.

[suzanne4, RN]

Where exactly are you going to be working and for what length of time with this contract? Are you planning on staying in PA to work afterwards?

When are you supposed to be going to the US?

Without knowing the above, it is hard to give you an educated answer.

[augigi, CNS]

I will be working from home in Pittsburgh and traveling to other hospitals/states as a clinical support person for the medical device. Once I have my RN in US, I would like to take a position I have been offered at UPMC in Pittsburgh.

I am already in the US doing this on a consulting basis (paid out of Australian office) and will be switching to the US office as employer. I will have a SSN and my company will secure me an L1 or E3 visa. They will start this process as soon as I sign the contract and it is meant to take effect (ie. change my status) in May/June.

I just wondered if it would be faster/less complicated to wait until I have a SSN/work visa and then do the RN process, or start it all now.

I appreciate any assistance, thanks.

[suzanne4, RN]

The hospital is going to hire you on a part-time basis? Usually, you are going to be required to go thru a full-time orientation for six weeks or so.

It really doesn't matter which route that you follow. You still have to get the exams done, and get a Visa Screen Certificate, if you are going to go the route of getting a green card. It is only a year or so with the nursing, the other way, about four years.

[Ilia]

Suzanne, thank you for all your time. We'll either go through CGFNS for this exam, or she will go work in retail or elsewhere - if the CGFNS exam will seem like too much and not worth the effort. You are right - we should have checked before starting this with NY. Anyway, you were real help. Thanks again. Ilia