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DO INTERNATIONAL RNS NEED CGFNS BEFORE BECOMING AMERICAN NURSES?International RNs need CGFNS for two reasons. Most people are still confused about the difference between Commission on graduates of foreign nursing schools (CGFNS)exam and national council licensure examination- registered nurses (NCLEX-RN). The CGFN certificate (even without NCLEX-RN) also qualifies you, and your family to benefit from occupational immigrant visa.The second purpose for the CGFNS certification is to serve as a screening examination for foreign trained RNs who intend to sit for the RN licensure exam, NCLEX-RN. There is a high likelihood for the foreign trained RN who was successful in the CGFNS exams to pass NCLEX-RN at first attempt. To the best of my knowledge, except 8 states (California, Utah, Arizona,New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Ohio and Maryland), all state boards of nursing request that foreign trained nurses must pass the CGFNS certificate exam before registering for NCLEX-RN. The CGFNS exam is a day's test,and is divided into two parts: Part 1 comprises of 150 questions for 2.5hr duration, then a lunch break. Part 2 comprising of 121 questions for 2 hours, follows after the lunch break. The CGFNS exam is conducted at 50 exam centers worldwide, and 6 centers in USA. Like NCLEX-RN, you will have to meet the basic nursing educational requirements to sit for this exam. The commission will also seek evaluation of your secondary /high school education. In addition, the commission requests for a verification of your current and active RN license from your licensing authority. Validation or verification for the above credentials must be sent directly to CGFN by the licensing/examination authority. The CGFNS certification alone is not enough to practice as RN in the US. Do you intend to practice as RN in a CGFNS-required state but do not want to take two exams? It is possible for you to avoid sitting two exams even if your state of choice says international RNs need CGFNS. All you will have to do is to register and take NCLEX-RN under a non-CGFNS requiring state. And then, acquire the license of the state of yourchoice later. This method of getting another state’s license is referred to as interstate endorsement. Thus,not all international RNs need CGFN certificate in order to practice as US RN. In addition, some states require nurses from non-English speaking countries to pass the English language test, even before your credentials are evaluated for NCLEX-RN registration. Thus, if you were not able to pass your NCLEX-RN and CGFNS within a year and a half, you may need two English language tests as a test is only good for 2years. So one English test before registration with the state nursing board (if your state requires it) and another for the visa screen certificate. The states of California and Arkansas however do not insist on an English language test for non-English speaking nationals before registration. In any case, please contact the nursing board of your choice for the needed pre-registration requirements. The well established nurse travel agencies are on top of the requirements by each nursing board. And if you decided to go along with the recruiting agencies, they will do all these enquiries on your behalf.
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