Transferring RN license

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Hi all! I will soon be taking my NCLEX but was wondering if anyone had experience in transferring their license? I am in school in PA, a legal resident of AZ, but am relocating and moving to TX after graduating in a couple months. I'm basically trying to figure out where the best place to take the exam would be, or rather, which state to be initially licensed in. I have heard from a few people I know that PA is very difficult to transfer a license from, so I'm just wondering what to do.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

Apply to the TX BON for initial licensure by exam if that is where you are going to be moving. If you aren't going to work in PA or AZ, just stick with TX.

Specializes in PACU.

Yes, If you are moving to Texas apply for licensure there. I went to school in NYS, half of my class was from PA (lived near the border). Our instructors told us to apply fro a NYS license and then transfer to PA if we wanted to work there. Some applied for PA license because it was cheaper then got a job in NYS. They had to take another 200 hour class and do a whole bunch of rig-a-ma-role to get a NYS license.... it's was stupid. Some things are better if the states your going between are compact (NYS is still not compact), but if you don't plan on working in PA at all I wouldn't even bother and go straight for licensure in the state you are going to apply in, it'll save you money, if nothing else.

That is what I was thinking, but I wasn't sure. Thank you both for your advice!

+ Add a Comment