USRN License Meaning and Endorsement

Hello everybody, my name is Holly Musselwhite and I'm the clinical educator for Connetics USA. I am joining you today from Tennessee and excited to be hosting my first show but I have big shoes to fill normally Tanya Freedman, our president is the one who hosts these shows. And I very much admire, how great a job she does. So I'm looking forward to giving it a shot. I see some of you are already posting some questions. So that's great. This show is going to be a Q&A style. Fireside chat with myself and a couple other members of our of our team our am in team member Amanda Krupa is on today, I'll introduce let her introduce herself a little more in just a moment. And we should also be joined by Carla from Connetics in the next couple of minutes. 

But we want to make sure that we try to get you some good basics and maybe help you understand some of the specifics of endorsement. And so we have some key concepts we want to talk about to start the discussion out. Hi, Emma bola and Solomon, Jane Frances and Magua. Welcome. We're glad you're joining us today. I'm sure we're seeing nurses from all over the world. So if you want to put maybe what country you're signing in from that would be awesome. Let's see. So, Amanda, I'm going to just give you a moment to introduce yourself. So if you want to just share a little bit. Go for it. Morning, everybody. Can everyone hear me? Okay. Very good. My name is Amanda. I work with a man healthcare. I've been in the healthcare staffing industry since about 2012. But I have moved over to our international division. So I'm very happy to be with you guys today to be able to talk through endorsement in the NCLEX process because it is tricky. And so really, we have these sessions to help navigate those questions. And I do see a lot of questions starting to populate, so we're gonna get through as much as we can. And then we'll also help drop in contact information at the end in the chat. So if anybody does have questions, they can reach out to us individually as well.

Okay, thanks, Amanda. And we're glad you're here with us today. So let's see we have Jane Francis says she's from Nigeria. Solomon is from Ethiopia Allah is from Suriname, but she is currently in the Netherlands. And Philip is currently in India interested to study nursing in the United States. Okay, Philip. So you're starting even further back in the in the process, but that's awesome. Ismail from Kenya, and at least US it looks like you're connected. So that's awesome. She lives watching from the UK. She lo welcome. All right. So um, like I said, this is a Q&A or chat style session. So we will be kind of screening through your questions and trying to get some information. But I while you're posting those questions, we're going to just talk a little bit about some basics of how you become a nurse in the US to begin with. So that starts with taking a licensure exam. And Amanda, most of the nurses here have heard of the NCLEX. But they may not know exactly what it is. So can you share a little bit about what the NCLEX is?

I can, yes. So NCLEX is the National Council Licensure Examination. But essentially, what it is, is it allows you to take an examination to determine equivalency as a registered nurse in the United States. So you have to take and pass this exam in order to be licensed by any state board in the US. Right. And so should they expect that this is going to be a process that's quick? Or does it take a little bit of time to apply to be able to take the exam, so it does take a little bit of time to apply? And I do highly, highly recommend studying, look through the study guides that they provide. And then you get a test date and as your test date approaches. Again, take your time. Do not be nervous. You guys do know this information, but look through the study guides to help in order to pass the examination. And then once you do pass the test, they do post results after the fact. So it's not an instant, you see your results right that on there, you do take the test, they send out the grades after the fact. And then the NCLEX is actually taken by state. And I think we'll get to that probably next. But again, how you select your NCLEX application and start that process is actually very critical, long term. So that'll also be something we help talk through to make sure that you have the easiest path to success once you are interested in taking and passing NCLEX.

Thanks, Amanda. And I do see that Carla has joined us. So again, like I mentioned earlier, Carla is one of our Connetics USA team members, and we are also a part of the AMN family. So we certainly consider Amanda, to be a wonderful partner. And we're glad that we're part of the family together. Carla, can you introduce yourself? Hello, um, hopefully, you guys can see me I'm having difficulties. I see every kind of slow motion on my end, but I'm not sure what's going on. But my name is Karla keyless and I have worked nine years with the International nurses. And I have a total of 20 years of experience in the in the staffing industry, in the health staffing industry. And currently, I'm working with Connetics on their the licensure and a case specialist. Thank you, Carla, we're glad you were able to sign in, we can hear you wonderfully. There's a little bit of a screen delay. But other than that, it's working well. So thanks so much for signing on. All right. So let's see, what point does an RN need to take the NCLEX exam, Amanda,

I would say before an immigration process has started, it is important that you take it and pass it early. That way you are able to apply for your immigration status here in the United States. Mostly, in order to get your immigration pass and green card interview, you do have to have your visa screen. And they do check the equivalency of NCLEX status and things like that throughout the application. So before you are looking for position the United States or even a state to work in, you have to have already passed the NCLEX. So it's important to sign up early register, and then look through the content to make sure you're prepared to take the examination. Thank you, Amanda. And one of the things that we know with this process is that many nurses don't actually take the NCLEX through this state that they are going to be working in. And so we're going to talk a little bit about that in just a moment. But since we know that the next question is, what do we do with that license, and we're going to be endorsing it. So once they pass in their NCLEX state, most likely, they're going to be working in a different state. And we're going to endorse it. We use that word we kind of throw it around really quickly. But Carla, can you explain to us just a little bit about what endorsement is.

Carla, are you still on with us? Oh, you got to get us a meal. Yeah. This is my first time hosting and Carla's first time on the show. It's not cooperating for you to an out there we go. It worked. Good. Yes. Okay. Sorry. It says a mute a muted on my end. So let me go. Okay. So, um, endorsement process is a process of transferring your current license from one state to another, like applying for NCLEX. The endorsement process and requirements can vary state by state. But there is one requirement they all have in common. If you do not possess an NCLEX pass, you will not be able to apply by endorsement. All right. Thank you, Carla. So again, keep posting your questions. I'm going to take a look because I know we've got a lot of people that are that have already they started almost before we started this meeting. So Kayla, you said, Hello, at what point should license endorsement be done? And so I'm gonna let Amanda chime in a little bit on that and we may dig a little deeper later on.

Okay, so licensed endorsement, right, you've already taken and passed NCLEX from that state, and I'll talk through which states are good to pass through and which ones I do not recommend doing your NCLEX examination through. But really, if you were to pass through the state of Illinois, get an active examination license for that state. And then you would use that to apply by endorsement to the state you'd like to work in. So if you're going to apply for a position in Nevada, you would use that Illinois license application, submit over your application for endorsement once you have a position. So depending on each state, their guidelines how long it takes for the application, and whether or not you need to be here in the United States to get that endorsement. Really differences state by state. So some applications, you do not need to be here to get licensed in while you're able to get here quickly start a job. But other states, it can take months and months in order for an application to process and a license to be issued. So depending on where you would like to go, the endorsement application process is really different for each state. So I do see we have a lot of questions. So we're gonna keep moving down. But if you do have more follow up questions, Kayla, just let us know.

Yeah, so um, the next one that I see says, Can I apply directly to hospitals in California from outside the US, then arrive there and endorse my license? So I'm gonna take that one really quick? And the answer is yes, you can. However, California has some very strict requirements to deer when it comes to the education that the nurse has to have completed in order to qualify. So typically, before you apply or intend to work in California, you need to make sure that your education is going to meet the California board's requirements. When you do look to endorse, you will be waiting for several months to get a license from the time that you started endorsement process with California, which is why many nurses find it difficult that you know, coming in and waiting for several months to be able to earn a good income as a nurse is frustrating. And sometimes, if there are small discrepancies within your file that need to be corrected, and you're here, and you're trying to get information from your home country or your country of education, it can be challenging, and it can prolong that process further to get a license.

So just be aware, it is possible, but there are some things you want to work through. Usually, international nursing agencies like Connetics or teams like AMN, if you're partnering with them, we would certainly be able to help you through that process. But if you're doing it on your own, you need to look very closely at the resources available from the California Board or any state board that you're looking to apply through, you definitely want to try and be familiar with that. Okay. So I'm gonna take one more question Jeric, we're gonna come back to yours. But let me see. Just scroll down here and see your license endorsement chin, my license endorsement to Tennessee took some time as my fingerprint cards were rejected twice. And now it was not released two identical. So Amanda, can you tell us a little bit about what are some of the avoidable challenges when it comes to fingerprinting because the boards are going to require you to get fingerprinted as part of your background check to get a license.

And I will say sometimes people just have a hard time with fingerprints going through, if you use a lot of hand sanitizer it does or to use down the scannable part of your fingerprint. So sometimes it does take a few times for it to go through. But truly, it just needs to get processed by data go in order for it to be submitted over to Tennessee, I recommend when you do go in for fingerprints. Get a couple of sets done, right. So if you've already been rejected twice, the next time we were to go back in, maybe get three other sets done, and just have it ready to go in case they are rejected again, because you don't want any other delays. So you're always able to sit over those prints and then have other ones set aside in case it happens again. Again, it might not be the case for everybody. But in this particular circumstance, they've been rejected twice now. I would have backups ready to go that way. You don't have any more delays.

Yeah, that's a great bit of advice to give people. So the other there was a second part, can I renew my license to NMI and endorse it to Connetics since I am hired there. So the short answer. Carla, what do you think about that? Can they renew its sorry, chin is asking can he renew an NMI license and then endorse it to Connetics? No, that will be the right thing to do. They have to always maintain their  current license. So if he has an NMI and his current Yes, he could endorse it to Connetics. Yeah. So I'm gonna go back into I think we've talked through some of our key concepts already. So that's good. Amanda, before we get too far down the endorsement line. Let's talk for just a second about which states are good to apply for NCLEX and set NCLEX through for international nurses because some are definitely better than others.

Yes. And I will say some of the questions I see outlined some of the states I don't recommend taking examination shines through. So states I do recommend or Illinois, Texas and Michigan, they are easy because I'm able to print off fingerprint cards online, you're able to go in pretty much done over the US or internationally, you don't have to have a social security number in order to be able to apply eye examination for these licenses. So you can easily get an examination license issued quickly. And the processing time on these boards is very low, you can get a license within a couple of months after you pass NCLEX and start their examination process. Other states I highly do not recommend, please do not apply through the states are California, New York, Florida for months, Nevada, New Mexico and Hawaii, they have a lot of delays at their board. Sometimes I have to request several times for them to release NCLEX scores. Sometimes they don't have a pass letter that comes with it. But really just they'll send an electronic receipt showing that you have taken NCLEX.

And sometimes their information is not fully acceptable by other states. And if you take through the states, it often will limit where you can apply by endorsement. So if you wanted to get licensed in Washington, and you pass through any of these states, you would have to have the state licenses in order to have a Washington state license. So if I pass through California, I would have to wait till I was in the US get a social security number, apply. That's usually a six month process. And then it would be able to apply over to Washington once a California license was issued. That could be you sitting here in the United States for well over seven months. So certain states because of that, please avoid and I really do not recommend using those. Again, the main seats that I do recommend are Illinois, Texas and Michigan, they are the friendliest to go through. And they are very quick to process and issue an examination license.

So when we when we look at checking the box and making it easier than it sounds, but once you've got the gun and you're successful, and you're like okay, what we know that now there's you know, you're going to be looking at immigration processes and things like that. But that passive NCLEX is not something that once that's done, you just walk away. So Carla, after the nurse passes NCLEX, is there anything left to do? Or do or should they just wait and be like, hey, when I get to the US, I'll work on all the rest of this stuff. No, once they have their NCLEX, they should try to activate that license off possible and also maintain that license active, it doesn't matter how long you are internationally leaving, you need to make sure that you have that active license active. So whenever you come to the US or you have to endorse to another state, you have an active license, and it will make the process a lot easier.

So that's really valuable advice. And we know that you know, some nurses may not have a lot of finances. So they may be looking at the renewal requirements and thinking, Well, I'm not there yet. And so maybe, maybe I'll just wait and maybe I'll let it be inactive for a little while. But as Carla said, if you have the opportunity to keep it active while you're still overseas, if you're given that option by doing continuing education credits, and paying a renewal fee, in some cases, that is a relatively small thing to do. That makes things much easier when you get to the US and you begin or complete the rest of the endorsement process. As Amanda said, there are some states that will allow you to achieve your US license before you get here. And that is ideal because it means then that your ability to start work and start earning that nursing salary here in the US is going to happen that much faster. So we want you to be able to take advantage of that. Alright, I'm gonna go back to some of the questions ladies. So hello, Rana. Is it possible to admission a master's in nursing program without a US RN license? You have a Bangladeshi RN license. Okay, So Amanda, do you want to talk a little bit about what Soheil is asking and some thoughts that you might have.

So what I'm looking at is for the next level program, you don't have an active US license, which is fine so you can apply to the school. Typically there is the NCLEX process as well to see the equivalency and they do need to see information from either CGFNS or Joseph Sony to determine the equivalency of units in order to be eligible for a program whether it's in the US or not. So in order for that to happen, even if you don't have a US license, you are able to do that, but they do need to look at the unit's equivalency and then make a determination that you are eligible for that Next level program. Thanks, Amanda. So, Carla, Amanda mentioned CGFNS. And Joseph. Can you tell me a little bit about what those two organizations do, and why they might be important for this process?

Okay, from my understanding, because I just kind of started this, and Amanda and Holly can correct me, they just verify your education, your international education, and also they verify your licenses internationally. And they put it all in one report for you. So you could just go ahead and submit that to the board's as you know, if it's required. So CGFNS calls that report a CES report, and Joseph calls it an F c e report. But basically, it is the same thing that Carla described, they're reviewing your education, which means your school is going to be sending transcripts to that organization at your request, they will verify the authenticity of those documents and your education, they will also need to verify or receive information about your overseas international license that needs to be active. My other advice to you since we're talking about keeping licenses active is until you've achieved your US nursing license, do not let your overseas licenses lapse, keep them fresh, because if you have something that needs to be verified with CGFNS or Joseph Dhoni or a state board after you're here, but before you've gotten your US license, you need to make sure that you're able to verify your oversea licenses.

And some boards have even more specific directives about that information. We won't get into that just yet. Okay, so I'm a dual says from Pakistan or technologist, what should I do to move to the US? So Abdul, if are you, a nurse? Were you trained as a nurse? If not, the process that we're talking about right now for you is going to be different Connetics may be able to answer a little bit more, based on what we understand of your education and training, you can always go to Conneticsusa.com/application, and put your information in and someone from our team will reach out to you to kind of review your credentials a little bit more, and see whether we have a pathway for something that we can help you with. Alyssa is you asked is Connetics is hiring certified nurse assistants. So we do have a couple of pathways where nurses may be offered a position as a certified nurse assistant. The process for that is a little bit longer. But again, if you're interested in in a different pathway, besides coming as a nurse, that's not as common a process for our nurses overseas to want to go through certified nurses assistants do not make the same salary, they make quite a reduced salary compared to what nurses make.

So most nurses don't usually choose that pathway. There are some times where it might be the right thing for you. So if you want to know more, you can again, I'm going to reference you back, go to Conneticsusa.com/apply. And put your information in and we will get back to you about your interest in that and see if it's something that might work for you. But be aware there are definitely salary differences. Evangel liens question Amanda. I'm gonna look at this, and then maybe have you respond. So she's watching from Doha, Qatar. So hello, Angeline, you wanted to ask? You've passed from New York in 2008. Congratulations on getting that milestone and haven't renewed your license. You sent an email to the New York board, but still no clarity. How can you process an expired license to Tennessee? You've asked IPASS we know IPASS is an organization that does help nurses to process their applications, and was told Tennessee accepts this expired license. Excuse me, is this. How true is this? So it is true but Amanda all like a little more detail.

And I did see another question on this. Tennessee is the best state to apply to if you have a lapsed US license. So for New York specifically, you do still have to transfer over and NCLEX information. New York is one of those states where they're not very timely getting back to us, which is why I don't recommend passing through them only because the response time does slow us down a little bit. You have to stay on them. So you really have to call they do have a customer service chat that you can try and open up and ask a question through. But you do have to order the NCLEX scores to be transferred over to Tennessee, and then you'll by examination to Tennessee. So essentially, when you start your application, you'll let them know you pass through New York and then they will help monitor that once it does get submitted over to Tennessee because they do know New York is very slow to send that over. So as soon as they see mail from New York work for any electronic messages, they do open to match to candidates because they're one of the states that are just not very responsive. So when they do see it come through they Tennessee is very good about making sure that they match that to your profile to get you licensed in their state faster.

And I'm sorry, Amanda, can you clarify for me again, so if this nurse has an expired license, when she applies to Tennessee is she playing by exam or by endorsement. So you can apply by exam because you have a lapse license. So when you do submit over, you'll let them know, they'll send over the NCLEX scores again, and then they help you navigate that process and the application. Because when you were to go in, find verification online, it's not going to populate. And because it's not possible online, that's why we're able to apply by examination, if you're able to see your license status online or via nurseries, which is where we usually will reference any active us licenses, that's usually our standard, you would use that to submit over an endorsement application. So since it's expired and lapse, it will not populate, and you'll be able to apply by examination for them. But again, Tennessee is the best state if you do have expired licenses, and they are able to process your application quickly. So that is another good state to apply through.

Thank you. So while it had a secondary question after he was he was the nurse with a Bangladeshi license and looking at a master's program in the United States. He's trying some universities, but they're asking for a state RN license. So I can't speak to all US universities for a Master's of nursing programs. It doesn't surprise me that they would ask for that. What I'm wondering is have you queried whether they will accept a credentials evaluation that lists that you do have the education and equivalent of a entry level nurse? If they're if they're very, very specific that it must be a US RN license? Again, that doesn't shock me, but I don't know there may be some universities out there that would allow you to begin a program. If you at least were able to present some credentialing information that might show you have a matching background. So that's my two cents, Rosana. Hi, I'm trying to get your NCLEX scores from California to Illinois sent applications to both Board of Nursing and applied for a CES. Fingerprints are completed. I don't have a social you're still in India. How much time does both Board of Nursing take to complete the process? So Amanda, do you want to talk a little bit about what you've seen with this? Carla, I'm in if you want to share as well.

So for California, you do have to have a social security number in order to start an application with them. Once you have fully submitted over requirements to the state of California, it is roughly six months until you will be licensed because of the timeframe and their social security requirements. It is tough to get licensed in California. They do have a status where you can check online, they'll put in your last name, the last four years social security number, and then your date of birth, and then it'll let you know deficiencies. And that's their best way to keep you updated of their license status. Illinois is so much easier because it takes two months on average, in order to get licensed, you do have to have your NCLEX course transfer from California, which does take a little while. For them in particular, you do have to mail off checks. I often send multiple requests to them because they do not process timely. And then they will physically mail off to Illinois. With that, that's usually the last thing Illinois is waiting on is the NCLEX verification from California to get you licensed. But with the fingerprint verification being done, I would highly recommend Illinois will probably get issued much sooner than California since you've started both application processes. California probably will have your application on hold if you don't have a whole security number to proceed you forward. So once you do have a social, you can reapply and get your application started again.

And, Carla, do you have anything to add? I know you've worked with some of our California Nurses. Not really it's just California sometimes is a waiting game because they take a long time to process their documents. So sometimes you just have been patient and also you know there's a length of time that is a long, long, lengthy period of time. It is good to follow up. But it will take time. Yeah, that's very true. California and time. We know that it does take from the time you get a delivery confirmation that the payment that you sent in the request were actually delivered to California. them actually moving that in to a reviewed status and caching that payment and proceeding can be several weeks from the point that it is delivered. So you want tracking of any documents, many delivery tracking information, you want that it's worth the money to know for sure that it did get delivered. And you also want to be able, if you have to go to the board and ask for something, you want to be able to have a little bit of background and be able to verify that.

The one other thing I will add is that you can request California to email the information to Illinois. And they will do that. So when you put in your request letter, if you have an email address for Illinois that you provide to California, say, I'm giving you my permission to email this information, then once they've received and processed your payment a few weeks after that, they should send that information over to the Illinois Board. What they don't do is notify that you that it's been sent. And as Amanda said, there's no there's no online account, if you don't have a social security number and an application, there's nothing that you can do to online track this. So I know it gets very frustrating for nurses, they feel like they're sort of very much in limbo. And, again, if it's if you're working with an organization like ours, AMN Connetics, we certainly will try to advocate on your behalf. It doesn't mean they're going to be any faster to respond to us. But we'll certainly add our voice when we can to try excuse me help move that process along for you. Right, we got more questions.

Can you dm can you still get an emergency California license while waiting for endorsement to process. So the emergency license is actually not coming from the State Board of California, it is possible to work with a facility if you have an active US license in another state. And that facility has been approved to have workers there. So the facility has paperwork to file to be able to get that emergency waiver, if you will, those will end according to the State of California's emergency declaration end date of February 28. Most facilities are not continuing to use this option because they don't want somebody to start on that, and then lose their ability to continue to work once that waiver is ended. So just keep that in mind, I will add on to that you usually have to provide proof or evidence that you've already submitted your application to California. And based off of the timeline, your license should be issued prior to the end of that state of emergency. So even if you were to apply today, in certain application to California, you will not be licensed by February. So most facilities will not sign off on any new state of emergency unless your application has already been submitted previously. Correct.

So we've seen, we've seen that most facilities that we work with are like, there's really no reason to do that. Let's go the normal process, make sure that everything is submitted properly, that you've fulfilled all the requirements. And unfortunately, they just take quite a while. So Mohammed says, Can I start the process with you and complete papers and also prepare for NCLEX? While I study for OET, who you're going to be a busy guy, Mohammed. So the first thing I'll tell you, please don't. Don't double study, if you will, when you're preparing for NCLEX prepare for NCLEX when you're preparing for OET prepare for OET some organizations require that you do NCLEX before or sorry that you do your English proficiency exam before you join their organization. If you're going to partner with an agency, whether it's direct hire staffing, Connetics does have a scholarship that we that we have and some of our clients also will offer jobs to nurses who are pre NCLEX. But again, the expectation is one thing at a time. So get the NCLEX done in the case of our program, and then move ahead. So again, if you're interested in something like that, you can go to Conneticsusa.com/application, and hopefully that answers your question. For real is it true that the Maryland Board of Nursing is now accepting PTE  English exam for license endorsement aside from IELTS and TOEFL. So Amanda, what have you heard?

And I can actually drop in the line for that. So you can see all the new updates because they often have quite a bit per state so I can drop a little helpful guide that lets you know which states are taking which because it is not something that all the states except the same English test, which is difficult. But if you were trained with English tax taught in English, you might wind up being exempt from an English exam once you're here in the US or doing an endorsement application. So it truly depends. But Maryland specifically, I can get you an answer in just a few minutes. Okay. And that rumor is floating around I've been keeping up are trying to keep up with their official announcements. So I have to tell you personally, I have not seen that. But I have heard that. That is the expectation. So again, you want to make sure that you that you keep up with what the board announces and not what somewhat some other organization may tell you. So Amanda, if she can get an official announcement, while we're on here, she will do that. If not, we will follow up later in the chat and share more information about Maryland and where that stands. So yes. Let me see zadt Zeb. Be Zab. See Zeb Sam, I'm sorry, I'm really not sure how to pronounce your name, and I apologize. But I'm doing my best i It says you applied in Connetics, but no response.

So it again, that's not something I would expect to hear. And I'm sorry, if that's the case, please make sure to reach out, I would say to our to our team, if you want you can send a message to us directly, I will get you an email address that you can do that to connect with someone at with our recruitment team. And then hopefully, you can get a direct response, maybe something didn't quite work with your application. But I will also jot down your name and see if it's something that I can research after this and get someone to reach out to you. Okay. So be San Juan says, Hello, Team. Has anyone from your agency successfully processed a Maryland license? So that's kind of the same question. And the answer is, we haven't had anybody who's actually done that yet. So many times, once the official announcement is made from a board, there's a little bit of a lag time before people start applying and sending in those particular scores and things like that. So it's not to say it hasn't happened yet. If you're on a blog, and you see that, you know, somebody on a chat or whatever has done it. I'm not saying that that's not true. It's just that, you know, sometimes there's a little bit of a lag between when the change happens, and when we start to see those outcomes occur. So joy is asking about the  NCLEX process. Amanda, do you have any experience with Utah? I certainly don't. Because it's not one of those top states for us to get through in NCLEX.

No, we don't often have NCLEX endorsement or examination through Utah. But I can definitely look for information to see, the biggest thing I look for is whether or not they need a social security number for application. And whether or not that score transfer will be problematic. If you're looking to work in Utah, then it is less problematic for the location you would like to apply in. But I can certainly take a look and the drop some information in the chat. Sounds good. Thanks, Amanda. So let's see. Or Mira says what service should I apply and CGFNS for you evaluation for New York CES or CVS for New York State. So, America, you've probably heard that if you send your transcripts directly to New York, that takes a very, very, very long time for them to review and process. Manda I think your team does do some New York applications. Can you share a little bit of that with us? Yeah, so I will say New York is currently processing about five months for a license to be issued. And I see a lot of questions around New York specifically.

So I'm going to just give a little bit of a guideline of why I also don't recommend New York for the examination process. It is because of how backed up they are in their application time. You're welcome to apply to New York submitted your documentation. But again, your licensed processing times going to be about five months before you're able to work in the US. It's the second longest besides California, California is about six months, which is why we don't recommend it just because of how long you'll be waiting for a license where if you're ready to go and you're able to do an examination or endorsement application, I don't recommend it and then getting the score from New York. It's also the same issue problematic for the response time. You can spend it over information but And when you request stuff from them, or whether you submit electronically or via mail, their processing time is weeks before they even review, Process Payment, and then send that out to the board, you might be looking for getting an application or licensed in. And so because of that, we don't typically recommend New York. And then facilities within New York might require additional credentials specific for their state.

They also have continuing education units, you have to take for equivalency in order to submit your application. And I do see questions about lops licenses, including New York, to endorse over to Tennessee, it will be the same process, you would submit that information over to Tennessee, you will still need to request your NCLEX information in order to start your application process. But again, that will probably be several weeks before you see that information from New York to the board you'd like to apply to. And your team recommends that they do the CGFNS review of the credential. So I think the question that Amuro also had was New York, ces or CVS for New York State. I think she's saying which of those to choose?

Yes, we do CES. And actually, if you have the order for CES and say you want to apply anywhere else, you can reorder that ces to other states, as long as it still meets all the requirements. Not all states in most states don't take the CVS. And so because of that, we actually do recommend the CES report from CGFNS. So if you've met the requirements, and you're able to submit, they do still hold your documents electronically for three years. So from that, I do recommend the CES report. And the CES at this time, I want to say is processing about just over a month in order for it to get issued. But CGFNS is about to have holiday closure. So keep that in mind if you're applying and requesting documents today. All right, thank you so much. Carla, the next question is do I have do I need to have my license in this state I am registered current, or is passing the NCLEX. Okay. My license is up for renewal. And I am unsure whether to renew it.

So that depends on the state that you pass your NCLEX. Through, you're able to renew that license, make sure that you renew your license. And if not, it will also depend on what state you're going to be endorsing to every state requirements are different. But I will, I would just suggest to maintain the urine NCLEX pass licensure very up to date at all times if it's possible. And then it would also depends if it expired, if you're able to renew it before you get here to the US, or if you'll need to do it once you're here. But then we'll need to know what state you're going to see what the next steps are. Right because every board is different. Yeah, and I think a lot of nurses are not really aware of how much work may need to be done depending on where they took NCLEX and where they want to go to work. So for instance, if you end up going through New Mexico, and it was many, many years ago, and now that license has been expired more than four years, some of the states that you're going to apply to, you won't be able to renew your New Mexico license, if you're overseas, you would have to go through a re what do they call that course a refresher course, usually requires some clinical hours be done here in the United States, you're not even here to do that.

So what we would advise then is that you transfer that and activate still activate a license before you get here. And most boards other than Tennessee, most boards do require you to actually have an active license when you're applying by endorsement. There's very few that don't. So again, that's why we advise always try and keep a license active. And sometimes if you maintain your NCLEX license as being active, instead of moving it over and over again to different places and letting each one lapse and starting another one, which we've seen, you're gonna you're gonna set yourself up for only having to do one verification when you apply for endorsement, so the board that you endorse to is going to typically ask you to verify your NCLEX pass information in some way, whether it's the license verification, or a letter or something from the board. It depends on the process and the requirements. But they may also say if that's not active, we need a verification of an active license.

So if it's one in the same meaning your NCLEX pass, state license was active, stayed active, now you're applying to a new state and you're using that license, you're doing one verification instead of your original NCLEX license. State. And now your current active license state, it's about a savings of $30. US, but at the point that you're trying to look at all your costs, sometimes that's important is trying to, you know, just maintain what you've got. All right, so let's see some below. Uh, hello, my I-140 was an was on approved stage my primary licenses NMI. When is the best time to do my license endorsement to Texas prior to or once I reached the US. So Carla, I'm gonna let you speak to that one. As soon as possible. Texas is a really easy board and you could get your temporary license pretty quickly. And then while you're doing internationally, you could get your permanent license. So I would just do it right away. You don't have to wait.

Yes. And that is, that is one of the things that's really nice, is some people are thinking, well, I'll get to the US and then I'll do all of that stuff, you are going to be very, very busy. And you're going to want to start work in a reasonable timeframe. So at least if you arrive in the US and the license is not something you have to work on. That's wonderful. You have plenty of other things that you're going to have to address. So congratulations on your Texas placement and keep it moving. Let's see so lovely. It says you're currently licensed in Montana. I think you had asked us about renewing your license or not. So yes, please keep a if, again, any state that that allows you to renew while you're still overseas, keep it active. Absolutely. Okay, Amanda says is California accepting PTE.

They are they except isles and PTE only. But there are additional English requirements that they need on your college transcripts, they need to see at least 30 equivocal units of English speaking courses in order to be eligible for a California license. And you would need to have your social security number to start an application. So they review very detailed information. And that's one of the reasons they take so long. So it's not just the English test, but making sure that your transcript reflects English courses as well. Very important. And that's only part of what they're going to review before you would even think of applying to California or planning to work there. Make sure that that review is done very carefully, because there are some other requirements. However, that's one of those that we tend to find is one of the more common areas of concern for people who don't qualify Katchi is a registered nurse midwife, can you get a job with your country license? So catchy? I think you're saying you want to apply to go to work here in the United States on just your Nigerian license? And if that's the case, the answer short answer is no, you would have to apply sit the NCLEX get a US license. And then if that if the state that you want to work in is not where you took your NCLEX you would have to endorse. So I hope that answers your question. But if I didn't quite get to it, just to give us a little more information or context? How about Ohio? How long does it take for requirements? What are the requirements for international nurses? So I'm Amanda, you.

Okay, so you do have to have a social security number to apply for Ohio. The processing time right now is six to eight weeks, that includes a fingerprint requirement. If you are here and have not started an application for Ohio, what typically happens you will arrive, you have to wait for your social security number that could be two weeks, you'll start an application once you've received your social security number in order to start the application for Ohio. So for them in particular, they do have to have English scores, they must be current English course timeout every two years. So watch your immigration status and how long it took for you to pass English previously. In the circumstances, you'll have to keep your foreign license current, your English scores current, and then all your documentation was CGFNS also current. So if you're already here in the US and anything times out to your foreign license, that is something you have to be very cautious of before you arrive to make sure that everything is current and has been sent over to Ohio beforehand. If not, you might find yourself here and having a hard time getting things renewed or submitted over to Ohio while you're here in the US. So because of the timeline. Ohio's not one of the seats I recommend because you do have to have a social security number. But if you do apply by endorsement, it is a faster process and you're looking at about six weeks.

All right, thank you. So Shea's are Szeged. Lang, can I endorse my past letter, my license is inactive. So the language that you're using, I want to make sure we're careful on saying that a license is inactive, assumes that you did get a license from NCLEX pass. So for instance, if you took the exam through Texas, then you fulfilled all of the requirements, once you pass NCLEX, they will issue you a license within a few weeks to a couple of months, I think Max, you'll have a Texas license. And then if you don't renew it, we would say that it is inactive. If you never got a license, then you're going to do something different from an endorsement in some cases. So Amanda, can you speak a little bit to endorsing past letters versus licenses being inactive?

Yes, okay. So endorsing a past letter also assumes that you have taken passed NCLEX, and you've had a active current license for the state you pass through that's endorsement examination is I've taken a pass NCLEX. And now I have a past letter, and I'll be playing by examination from that state. If your license is inactive, let's say it's timed out, I would recommend submitting over to Tennessee because they do have the fastest processing time for an inactive license. And you can submit over the past letter information to get Tennessee activated. So then you could have a current US license to then apply by endorsement. The lingo is a little confusing. So I want everyone to be sure that knowing that you have an active issued license from NCLEX, would allow that that was an examination license to use that to apply anywhere else would be an endorsement application. So if you guys have questions, we can also drop some Burbidge in the chat just to reference. But if that did not answer your question, let us know and clarify. And I can try and answer again.

All right. Thanks, Amanda. So how to endorse New York license to a state that needs SSN prior to endorsement and you, IRA, you are still outside the US. So unfortunately, if the state that you are going to go to work in requires you to only apply once you have an a social security number, the next question that I probably have is does that board that you want to apply through accept any of your documents that are required ahead of time, there are some boards that might meaning you could get certain things mailed over. Sometimes that's a good idea. And sometimes it's better to just send it all in one package when you apply. Every board is a little bit different. So without knowing where you want to end up, I can't tell you exactly what it is that you want to do. But when it comes to endorsing your New York license, it's less about endorsing New York and more about where you're going to go because that the New York license verification process that's online through nurses if your license is active is very easy. Okay.

If your license with New York is not active, then we go back to the question that Amanda answered earlier about transferring to like Tennessee to activate it. So it won't activate New York, it'll activate tenancy. Now you have an active license. And then when you go to apply to that board that requires you to have a social to apply. You'll be validating I have an active license from Tennessee, even if the original license was from New York. I hope that helps. If Angeline says sorry, I didn't get what exam should I take for my expired? Oh, I think we got her a little anxious. So guess what, there's no exam that you have to take. It's the type of application that you that you use to apply to the board if you have an inactive license. So Amanda, do you want to just touch base on that for just another second?

Yes, I can. Okay, so the states I do not recommend to take and pass NCLEX through one of which was New York, it sounds like you've already taken and passed NCLEX and you have a lapse, New York license. That's different. You're already past that phase. So now you'll submit that information over to Tennessee for an examination, and you'll send that information we call it examination. Tennessee is the only one where you've had a pass us license, but you're able to apply to them. So really, you just send over proof that you pass NCLEX you have a lops New York license. You submitted that information over to Tennessee and then they'll help with your application process and then Right now Tennessee is taking just about six weeks for a permanent license to be issued, usually review and half that timeframe is about three weeks, allowing you about three more weeks for everything else to come in and be submitted.

If you do need anything else, Tennessee is also a really good one. So if you do have any questions, you can call them and let them know your situation. They see this frequently, because we submit a lot of people with expired or lapse licenses through Tennessee, so they know the deal. So when you call them and you explain your situation, they also help guide you through the application process if you're applying on your own. But Tennessee and I would also say Michigan is the other really good state. If you have questions, you want an easy application time, that will be another one, we were able to call them, they pick up in probably 10 or 15 minutes, answer your questions and help you with a submittal for an application.

So just to be clear, every single board has two methods for licensure. Or let me rephrase that two applications that you may use for licensure. One is an application by examination, and the other one is an application by endorsement. And what Amanda is saying is even though you're applying by examination to Tennessee, you are not actually going to have to take the NCLEX again, or any other test. So don't let that stress you out. It has to do with just this is the process and the type of application that you have to do in order to work through activating a license that has been inactive through a state that's very friendly to do that with. All right.

And the only reason it's like that any endorsement application requires a current US license. So if you do not have one, that will be the examination application for Tennessee only. Correct. We're getting really close to the end of our time today. And I did promise Jerrick that we would look at this scenario. So I've gone back up to sort of the beginning of our chat, you got a Pennsylvania board sent you a discrepancy notice it says education verification, the board received a CES report from CGFNS. Regarding your application to be expected, the following discrepancy was noted in the report. Your Saudi Arabia license is listed as being obtained by examination and registration. As you were originally licensed in the Philippines, the board does not believe this information to be accurate, you will need to contact CGFNS to have them submit corrected documentation. If you have questions, I think they're saying you know you can reach back out to them. Pennsylvania is actually not too hard of a board, at least in my experience to get with as well. So when you call you may be on hold a little bit. But through the online portal, you may be able to do something. So what I would do is I would immediately contact CGFNS about this discrepancy.

Because what basically is probably happened is somewhere along the lines, somebody put the wrong information on the report. You if you work with a partner like Connetics or AMN I don't know who you might be associated with, you can have one of our team look at the report and maybe try and help you as well. CGFNS is unfortunately a little bit backlogged at the moment. But typically, if you call or message through their portal with issues on a discrepancy like this, they should be able to help you get it corrected, I would make sure that they understand it's very urgent, because Pennsylvania has already contacted you about the discrepancy. And ask them to immediately correct it. Hopefully, it's their error and not something that maybe you put in incorrectly. But please reach out to them Jerrick immediately. And like I said, if you work with an organization like Connetics or AMN, or one of those, you can also ask them to see if they can help you connect the dots with CGFNS and get that information corrected. I would hope there wouldn't be an additional charge or anything like that for you. If in fact the error is because of something CGFNS maybe mislabeled or had some sort of a an oops, on and unfortunately, we're not all perfect. So sometimes those things happen. Hopefully they'll help you correct to quickly Amanda, any other advice on that?

I would give the discrepancy report that you got directly from Pennsylvania to CGFNS. So they can see the detailed information. And then from there, if anything was incorrect, they can resolve it, and then resubmit over to Pennsylvania, and at which point you would be able to see which date it was given to Pennsylvania and then you can follow up directly for them to recheck that information. Because that does get sent over electronically. So they might not see you notification. It might just show that you have a CES sitting there waiting to be accepted. But not that there's a new one. So especially if it's the same report, but they have just updated the information or any content. That's something that you'll need to follow up with Pennsylvania once CGFNS does fix that information.

Very good advice. So, I know there may be a few questions we didn't get to. But we're pretty much at the end of our time today. So we can continue to follow up in the chat. After this session, we will do some follow up over the next day or so. And if there's any information that we didn't get to you, as we were conversing today, or we've promised to drop some links, and we'll do that as well. So we do have some upcoming shows. And I want to make sure that I share those with you. So we'll get those popped up in just a minute for you. And let me see, maybe while I'm waiting for that information on what's coming up next, I will, I'll look at some of these other questions. So if you can stay with us for a moment for that I will, we'll see about getting that information for you. So I just received my license from New York, still did not finish visa screen and soon to take PTE, what is the best time to start the license endorsement in Louisiana? Oh, Louisiana. As a very, very specific things to it.

If you work with an organization like Connetics or AMN, I'm going to ask you to speak directly with your team. In the case of Connetics that's Carla, Carla and I work together on the Louisiana board. However, if it's not, again, reach out to them. And please reach out to the Louisiana board. They are awesome. So they may give you some information that's specifically going to help you meet the requirements more easily. But this is a board that has some very specific elements to your overseas licensure. As far as the application goes, you cannot submit an application to Louisiana until you have a social security number. So that means you have to be in the United States and have received the number. They're not looking for your card, but they are looking for your number as part of the application process. There are also fingerprint cards to be done. There is a CES that has to be done. But it cannot be expired. It can't be older than a year. And everything on it has to be current until you get your Louisiana license. So your overseas license verification has to be done and show that your license expiration date that's reported on the CES report is not going to expire before Louisiana issues you your license. And that's just a quick bit of information.

I hope that answers your question. But if you have more need for information and you're not working with Connetics, then you are more than welcome to reach out to the Louisiana board. They are actually they've been wonderful. I call them on a regular basis and email them and they're always very nice and helpful and try and give clarification. If something doesn't make sense, you can always call them back. So all right. I think we had those shows pop up for just a minute. So there was quite a few that I saw coming up. Let's see. So we have an NCLEX class with Dr. Paul Biluan one on December 6, so that's coming up right around the corner. If you're preparing for NCLEX or you're thinking about preparing for NCLEX. I would definitely encourage you to attend that session. We have a PTE class for free. So those of you looking to prepare for PTE our Swoosh team, and grace boozy is going to be presenting on December 12. On December 19, we have another NCLEX class this one with Jay Padang and he's from IPASS, one of the partners that we work with as well as Aspire, and we have a Niners IELTS class coming up with Ervin  on December 26. So right after the Christmas holiday, and we hope that you will join us for future sessions and onwards and upwards. Have a great rest of your day. Thanks everybody. Bye bye