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The chief executive officer of the
Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS
International) rejected a Philippine appeal on behalf of June 2006
Nursing Board passers.
In a February
20 statement posted on the CGFNS website, Barbara L. Nichols said
the June 2006 passers would qualify for a VisaScreen certificate
only by taking the equivalent of the leak-stained Tests 3 and 5 in a
future nursing exam.
Nichols
pointed out that a VisaScreen is required to apply for a US work
visa, regardless of state. She also said passing tests would be
useless without a VisaScreen.
“Some
stories in the Philippine media have confused the VisaScreen
Certificate—issued pursuant to US immigration law—with the CGFNS
Certification Program (CP), which is provided to facilitate the
licensure of foreign-educated nurses in the majority of US
States,” Nichols noted.
“The
VisaScreen Certificate is required of all foreign-national nurses
who seek occupational visas under US immigration law—regardless of
which state in the United States that they intend to practice,”
Nichols stressed.
The CGFNS is
designated by US immigration law to administer this program.
Nichols said
the organization acknowledges that the June 2006 board passers are
validly licensed in the Philippines.
“US
immigration law, however, requires CGFNS to make a determination as
part of the VisaScreen process about several elements of the visa
applicants’ education, training, license and
experience—including their comparability to US nurses,” she
noted.
“After
reviewing the circumstances concerning the irregularities of the
June 2006 nursing licensing exam, CGFNS concluded that the licensure
process for the June 2006 licensure exam is not comparable to that
required of US nurses and that US immigration law therefore
prohibits issuance of a VisaScreen Certificate to individuals who
passed this exam.”
Nichols
emphasized that the VisaScreen certification process is an
Immigration process—not a licensure process—that must be
satisfied to obtain an occupational visa to work in the United
States.
“Passing
NCLEX is a licensure requirement to practice nursing in the United
States, but it is not a substitute for the federal VisaScreen
rule,” she said.
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