QUALIFYING CREDENTIALS

To work as a nurse in the United States, you must:

• Graduate from a general nursing program at an accredited school of nursing. This program must be equivalent to a United States Bachelor's degree in Nursing.

• Hold a current nursing license for your home country.

• Pass the qualifying exam of the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS). For more information, please go to www.cgfns.org.

• Foreign healthcare workers must demonstrate competence in oral and written English by taking and passing one or more nationally recognized tests. These test are standardized assessments of English language proficiency. Foreign-educated nurses who are applying for a Visa ScreenTM must satisfy these requirements by doing one of the following:

• Take each of the tests listed below and administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS):

A. Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with a score of 540 or higher

B. Test of Spoken English (TSE) with a score of 50 or higher

C. Test of Written English (TWE) with a score of 4.0 or higher

• Take the following tests administered by the English Language Institute (ELI):

A. Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB), Section 1, 2, 3 with an average of 79 or higher

B. Oral test with a score of 3+ or higher

 

EXEMPTIONS:

Nurses who have graduated from a nursing program in Australia, Canada (except Quebec), New Zealand, Ireland, and the United Kingdom are exempt from this English language requirement.

For more information about taking the TOEFL, TWE or TSE exams, please contact:

TOEFL/TSE Publications
Test of English as a Foreign Language
P.O. Box 6151
Princeton, New Jersey 08541-6151
Telephone 609-771-7100
http://www.toefl.org

 

ADDITIONAL LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR A SPECIFIC STATE

To work as a Registered Nurse in the United States, you must be licensed in the state in which you plan to practice. Initial licensure is awarded by receiving a passing grade on the National Counsel License Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). Once you pass the NCLEX-RN and are licensed in a state, you may apply to other states through a process referred to as endorsement. For more information on the NCLEX-RN, please visit www.ncsbn.org.