Visa Screen Certificate / CGFNS

[suzanne4]

Visa Screen Certificate is required by all foreign nurses wishing to obtain a green card to work in the US, as well as any type of temporary work permit, such as the Nafta TN Visa for those from Canada and Mexico.

It requires that you pass either the NCLEX-RN or the CGFNS exam, as well as the series of English exams if you are not exempt from them.

The CGFNS exam is only required now in about five states, and rumor is that one or two will be removed from that remaining list as well. Do not bother with that exam if you are not going to work in a state that does not require it, or you have no way to be able to take the NCLEX exam from where you are currently located.

The application for the VSC is now only good for one year.........please do not apply for it until you have passed at least one of the required exams, or you may need to pay an additional fee.

(This thread is replacing the original thread that was from more than 2 and 1/2 years ago, and has updated information.)

[anittajohn]

Suzanne Please, Please help!!!!!!!!

I have been going to millions of site to look for a way out...not found a single one so far....

sorry...lemme give the background....

I came here on H1 visa in 2003. I had a travel visa valid till July 31st,'06. I got married in 2005, my wife joined me here in Jan, 2006 on H4. In March 2006, I changed my company and got an new H1 visa that was valid till 2009. Meanwhile, my wife wrote and passed the NCLEX RN (Nursing Lic) and a Nursing Home agreed to sponsor her for EAC & GC. So I went to an attorney and he filed for I485 end of October 2006. We both got a EACs in November and my wife started working based on the EAC\EAD. I also used this EAC to join a company that offered me permanent job. Now, for Nurses, in order for the Gov: to issue a GC the primary applicant (in this case my Wife), needs the NCLEX licensure & a VISA screening certificate. Unfortunately my wife is yet to get the VISA screening certificate due to the fact she has not yet taken the IELTS\TOEFL exam (She is taking the exam next week). Immigration office asked for this certificate aprrox 15 weeks back and since we did not have it, on May 2nd they denied the application & with that both our EAD\EAC were withdrawn and has told us to leave the country immediately. They also have said that there is no appeal in this case. After going through various sites, I came to realize, actually my attorney had made a terrible mistake because the law had changed about 5 months prior to our application date....the law says that in order for the application to be successful, one needs to have NCLEX & VISA SCREENING CERIFICATE issued before you make the application ...

Pleas go to the following link for more reference

http://www.rreeves.com/news_article.asp?aid=413

Please guys...attorneys.....anybody....if you guys know some way out of this...please advice.....I am now looking for a Plan A,

Can I go back to my H1 which was originally set to expire in 2009??

We had a Baby on April 14th...Can we stay back based on the fact the Baby is a US citizen?

while I am also looking at my Plan B which is to leave the country as I have been asked to do. If anybody knows, please let me know how long I have to leave the country.....Thanks a lot

Sanish John

[suzanne4, RN]

I responded to your e-mail.

But for others reading this:

Your wife should have been notified months ago about not having the English exams completed, and her attorney should have been aware of this. She has not even taken the exams required as of yet, and this is more than six months after the petitions were submitted. The EADs have been cancelled. And it is true, there is no appeal, as you do not have a visa at present. When you started the AOS process, the visa that you were on then was essentially cancelled. So the US can make any decision on this, and you need to abide by it.

Even with taking the exam next week, the scores are not issued immediately. She should have taken the exam as soon as you were notified months ago. And the petitions can be submitted without the VSC, but that needs to be submitted as soon as possible, as there will never be an approval on the I-485 without having the VSC in hand. Even if she would have completed the English exams before you got the final letter, that you would possibly have been okay. But with the final letter to leave, that is what needs to be followed.

An infant cannot petition you, they cannot petition anyone until they are 18 years old. So that aspect does not play a part. You did have an H1-B visa in the past, but you have been given a letter to depart the US, so there is not one thing that can be done about that. Once that is written, it is now on file with US immigration. Jusr be very careful. You are not subject to being deported at the will of US Immigration.

[want2wearscrubs]

Hi Suzanne, this is a little off topic. In the previous post you wrote "An infant cannot petition you, they cannot petition anyone until they are 18 years old." I always thought it wasn't until the child is 21 that he can petition his parents? Has it changed recently? :icon_question:

[mateo_jr]

Good day to everyone. I am asking this question in behalf of my friend. He has already passed both the NCLEX-RN and the IELTS exam early this year. He then eventually applied for a visa screen certificate. My friend used the New York BON application when he took the NCLEX. Both results have already been forwarded and received by CGFNS/ICHP since the passed status is shown in his profile at the website of CGFNS/ICHP.

Now, CGFNS/ICHP is asking for the license validation form from NY, USA. How will that be possible since he still has to receive his license? He's here in the Philippines and does not have a US Social Security Number. Any information on how to handle this situation is highly appreciated. Thank you very much!

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

Good day to everyone. I am asking this question in behalf of my friend. He has already passed both the NCLEX-RN and the IELTS exam early this year. He then eventually applied for a visa screen certificate. My friend used the New York BON application when he took the NCLEX. Both results have already been forwarded and received by CGFNS/ICHP since the passed status is shown in his profile at the website of CGFNS/ICHP.

Now, CGFNS/ICHP is asking for the license validation form from NY, USA. How will that be possible since he still has to receive his license? He's here in the Philippines and does not have a US Social Security Number. Any information on how to handle this situation is highly appreciated. Thank you very much!

all they need to do is check NY have sent the license verification form to CGFNS

[suzanne4, RN]

Good day to everyone. I am asking this question in behalf of my friend. He has already passed both the NCLEX-RN and the IELTS exam early this year. He then eventually applied for a visa screen certificate. My friend used the New York BON application when he took the NCLEX. Both results have already been forwarded and received by CGFNS/ICHP since the passed status is shown in his profile at the website of CGFNS/ICHP.

Now, CGFNS/ICHP is asking for the license validation form from NY, USA. How will that be possible since he still has to receive his license? He's here in the Philippines and does not have a US Social Security Number. Any information on how to handle this situation is highly appreciated. Thank you very much!

NY actually issues a license without a SSN#, but did your friend actually complete the two required classes for them to issue a license. Since he has gone thru NY, CGFNS is well aware that he normally gets a license. That is why they are asking for verification of it.

[mateo_jr]

Suzanne, Silverdragon, thank you for the replies!

One very important thing that he forgot to tell me is that he has already sent the license verification form to the NYSED along with the 20 USD fee. He got the confirmation from NYSED by phone that they have already forwarded it to CGFNS/ICHP sometime in March. We called up CGFNS 3X yesterday only to talk to rude, unhelpful customer service agents (sorry for the term. I do believe that not all of them are rude and unhelpful). They keep on insisting that CGFNS has not yet received the forms required.

The confusing part here is just last month, he was able to talk to one of the agents to ask why his NCLEX passing status has not yet been changed from waiting to passed . That agent, after searching for the documents, was able to confirm that they have the passing result that was forwarded to them by NYSED and immediately changed the NCLEX exam status. It's just frustrating right now that they are denying to have not received anything. Is it okay for him to just send a new request for license validation along with the necessary fee? Any better suggestions? Thanks for the help!

[mateo_jr]

Suzanne, sorry I forgot to answer the question on continuing education. Yes, he's already finished with that part. He was able to complete them thru the internet from accredited NY CE providers last February. The results has been forwarded and received by NYSED.

[yfwsz123]

Did anyone have this kind of problem while applying for visa screen? I just graduated from a Nursing school in New York with accelrated BSN (one year) on F1 visa. The other day I was reading the visa screen handbook and found out that we need to ask the school to fill in a form about our clinical hours. However, I don't have the pediatric or maternal and newborn clinical hours required by the CGFNS. I only had on campus labs for those two and according to the handbook that should be under lecture hours. I called the CGFNS center and they told me I need to go back to school to make up those clinicals!!! I just graduated and now I have to go back there? I'm so confused. Could someone with similar experience enlighten me? Thank you!!!

[want2wearscrubs]

Hi, I am applying for my Visa Screen certificate and I was just wondering for the section where I have to put in my schools, do I have to include the colleges/universities that I attended even though I did not complete the program there? For example, for one university I was only there for a year (for a major NOT nursing) and I didn't finish the program. Would I have to include this or just my high school and nursing school?

[kookoo_RN]

Hello All! This is my first post!

I am just wondering if anyone had this kind of question when you did the VS online application. I probably should call CGFNS, but I wonder if someone has already known how to deal with this..

I was trying to apply for VisaScreen via online today, and I input my educational evaluation section correctly (1 high school, 2 post-secondary-nonprofessional schools, and 1 professional school). When I printed out the "Request for Academic Record" form, I found out that the the PDF file is 3 pages which there are not only my professional school but also my post-secondary-nonprofessional schools in the file. I only input one school as my professional education, and my application form, which I printed out at the Step 12, is correctly listed only one. I believe I just need to have only my professional school fill out the form, not nonprofessional schools. Then, photocopies of my certifications/diplomas from high school and nonprofessional schools need to be sent by snail mail to CGFNS with my photo ID card... Am I correct?

And, I also have an another question.

I am a US-educated nurse who obtained my BSN from CCEN-accredited university, so I can use the streamline process. Do I still need to have my school fill out the form and send with my transcript? or just need to have my school send only my transcript?

I know these are very basic questions, but that would be wonderful if someone can answer my questions. Thanks in advance.

[ritaPHIL]

if you pass the cgfns certificate exam or CES, you dont need to send a copy from school. but if you do not have any account from cgfns. you must comply all the requirements.