Which first VISA Screen or Endorsement?

smuggy · Jul 2, 2009

Good day to all! Hope everyone's doing fine.
Anyway, I have this sort of dilemma. I passed my NCLEX-RN examination for California November last year and took the IELTS just this May (got a TBS of 7.5 and no grade lower than 6.5 for all the categories). But since there's this retrogression going on, I don't know what procedure is best to do first. I am also planning to endorse my NCLEX-RN result to another State which would not require an SSN for me to have my license.. Which is best to do first endorsement or VISA Screening? :uhoh21: Is it true that VISA Screen has a validity of 5 years? If I would be able to process my VISA Screen in 2 years (uhm before my IELTS exam expires), do I still need to take the IELTS exam again?
Sorry if I asked a lot.. Thank you in advance for those who would reply. It's so nice to have a forum like this for nurses. Keep it up! Godbless us all!

There are state boards (such as Oregon) that can grant you a valid active license. The process is not called "Endorsement", some states call it Licensure w/o Examination. If this is what you are going to do, then I will suggest you apply for a VisaScreen first. Why? Because the Oregon state will need to verify your local license & educational transcripts. Actually, CES Report from CGFNS will do ($378), they also have a language verification form too (meaning IELTS or TOEFL is not required). But, since we foreign nurses will eventually need VisaScreen ($400+), then you might to want to accomplish two processes w/ one credit card payment :) You will also need to download the License Verification Form, send it to California Board who will then fill it up and send it to Orgeon State Board. This process is not available online. You might want to call or email the Oregon State Board of Nursing for further instructions. Just make sure that you will specify to your email that you are a foreign nurse who passed the NCLEX from California but do not have a license because of SSN, and that you are seeking licensure in their state.

smuggy · Jul 2, 2009

Hi again! NJ is another option. Although I haven't run thru their procedures so I'm not really sure. With regard to the visa screen, I haven't started anything about it yet. Will need to pass my IELTS first before I can start the visa screen application. Hope everything will turn out well.

You are right, NJ does not require SSN prior to license issuance. However, you have to undergo CGFNS-CES evaluation, and they only accept TOEFL for English proficiency.