Transfer nursing license

KalipsoRed · Jul 1, 2011

Well when you sit for your test you should be able to state that you want to get a Texas license. It has something to do with how you fill out the forms that you need to fill out to apply for your NCLEX exam, thus you will never have an Illinois license to begin with.

However, if you ever see yourself going back to Illinois it may be easier to get an Illinois license and then get an endorsed license in Texas. I'm a traveling nurse and it was a PAIN in my butt to get my Illinois license. I started with a Missouri license and I plan on getting a Texas license because that is now the state that I claim as my residence now.

To get a Texas license you also have to take a jurisprudence exam. It is an exam of Texas nursing law, it's not to hard, mostly common sense stuff, but you can find all you need to know about that by looking up the Texas Board of Nursing.

Here's what I've also found out about licenses in states that are part of the compact states. If your legal residence is in a state that participates in the compact then your license is good for all the compact states. If your residence is in a state that is not part of the compact states then your license is only good for that state and not the rest of the compact states. For example:

I started with a Missouri license and my permanent home at that time was in the state of Missouri. When Missouri became a compact state my license was good to work in all the compact states. However, when I decided to move back to Texas and changed my permanent residence back to Texas my Missouri license was only good for Missouri and could not be used to work in any of the other compact states. I have to use my Texas license for that purpose now.

So when you graduate and if you choose to get a Illinois license then get endorsed to Texas the only way you will be able to use a Texas license in one of the compact states is to make sure your permanent residence is listed as being in Texas. If you ever move back to Illinois you will not be able to use your Texas license to work in a compact state (like Missouri). It all has to do with the mailing address you give the Boards of Nursing for the endorsement applications.

I hope this makes some sense.

cgines · Feb 5, 2013

Hello I know you posted this a long time ago, but I was wondering how it went for you. I graduated here in Illinois and am considering moving to texas. I have recieved my Illinois license but have not yet worked as a nurse in Illinois. I'm having a really hard time getting a job. I was wondering if it's any easier for new grads in Texas? I really apperciate any information you can provide me. Please e-mail me: [email protected].

studentnurse1985 · Nov 12, 2013

Well when you sit for your test you should be able to state that you want to get a Texas license. It has something to do with how you fill out the forms that you need to fill out to apply for your NCLEX exam, thus you will never have an Illinois license to begin with.
However, if you ever see yourself going back to Illinois it may be easier to get an Illinois license and then get an endorsed license in Texas. I'm a traveling nurse and it was a PAIN in my butt to get my Illinois license. I started with a Missouri license and I plan on getting a Texas license because that is now the state that I claim as my residence now.
To get a Texas license you also have to take a jurisprudence exam. It is an exam of Texas nursing law, it's not to hard, mostly common sense stuff, but you can find all you need to know about that by looking up the Texas Board of Nursing.
Here's what I've also found out about licenses in states that are part of the compact states. If your legal residence is in a state that participates in the compact then your license is good for all the compact states. If your residence is in a state that is not part of the compact states then your license is only good for that state and not the rest of the compact states. For example:
I started with a Missouri license and my permanent home at that time was in the state of Missouri. When Missouri became a compact state my license was good to work in all the compact states. However, when I decided to move back to Texas and changed my permanent residence back to Texas my Missouri license was only good for Missouri and could not be used to work in any of the other compact states. I have to use my Texas license for that purpose now.
So when you graduate and if you choose to get a Illinois license then get endorsed to Texas the only way you will be able to use a Texas license in one of the compact states is to make sure your permanent residence is listed as being in Texas. If you ever move back to Illinois you will not be able to use your Texas license to work in a compact state (like Missouri). It all has to do with the mailing address you give the Boards of Nursing for the endorsement applications.
I hope this makes some sense.

Say I moved form ILLINOIS (my permanent residence) to texas where I got license endorsement. Say now that I live in TX I want to make it my permanent residence so I can take advantage of the compact state deal. How do I go about doing this when my IL license is still active? How do I go about changing where my permanent residence is? from IL to TX and where and who do I contact to make these changes?

Thanks for the help in advance!

happybird · Dec 13, 2013

[COLOR=#003366]studentnurse1985 similar situation here.

I have a FL single state license. I wanted to have the benefit of the compact state license, so I applied TX license. However, it is only single state license, aslo, due to my primary practice resident is FL. Does anyone know how to change the single state TX license to multistate compact license?

If I get a job in another compact state, such as South Carolina (SC), should I apply the multistate compact license in TX and later apply the SC licensure, or just apply the license of SC? Thank you so much in advance for your help.