U.S. citizen with Philippine BSN degree: CGNFS vs ERES?

Published Aug 18, 2017

2 Posts

Hello everyone~ I'm new to allnurses.com and I hope my questions could be answered here because I'm really confused...so here it goes!

I am a natural born American citizen who attended a 4-year nursing course in college in the Philippines, graduated last March 2013, and passed the Philippine Nursing Licensure Exam last June 2017. I did not work at all during that time in the Philippines, I just simply went to get my license from the Professional Commission Regulation on July 4. Later that month, I flew home to Chicago to study for the NCLEX-RN and find out how to have my credentials evaluated as I want to be an RN in the State of Illinois.

IDFPR via CTS had emailed me their RN application on how to apply for the NCLEX and it said that for nurses who were educated outside the U.S., I could use CGNFS or ERES. However, I'm not sure which one to choose.

For CGNFS, I chose CES. I haven't completed their online application yet as I'm completely confused as to how to fill up part of Step 1: Update Personal Information. The "I recently worked in the country:" question and the other questions that follow after don't apply to me as I never worked as an RN in the Philippines. I just got my license a month after passing their Philippine Nursing Licensure Exam.

I'd also like to clarify with Step 2: Review your Contact Information. They're just asking for your home address right?

Also, do I have to take the CGNFS exam?

Now as for ERES, their website included 3 pdf forms of their documents to have my credentials evaluated:

Form 101, the official application that will be sent directly to ERES),

Form 101, the application which I will send to my university,

and Form 102, the application which I will send to my licensing agency, PRC. These 3 documents are to air mailed to their respective locations. It seems straight-forward and all, but how will I send Form 102 to PRC? And also, since ERES was recently accredited, is it just as good and fast as CGNFS in evaluating their credentials?

Finally, which evaluation service is best for me?

Thank you very much!