2004 News

CGFNS Re-opens Exam Center in Cochin, India

PHILADELPHIA, PA — JUNE 22, 2004 — The Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) is pleased to announce that it is re-opening the exam center to conduct its Qualifying Exam for nurses in Cochin, India, beginning with the November 10, 2004 exam.

CGFNS administers its Qualifying Exam four times each year for nurses educated outside the United States who wish to practice nursing in the United States. The exams are offered at over 40 locations worldwide in March, July, September and November.

The exam center in Cochin will be open for the November 10, 2004 exam and all exams thereafter. The exam center number for the Cochin location is 851.

Applicants wishing to sit for the November 10, 2004 Qualifying Exam in Cochin, India, or any exam thereafter, should designate the exam center 851 on their Certification Program application.

The dates and deadlines for the Qualifying Exam in 2004 are as follows:

The Qualifying Exam is designed for first-level general nurses educated outside the United States, who wish to become licensed in the United States.

Forty U.S. states require that foreign-educated nurses pass the CGFNS Qualifying Exam^SM before they will be authorized to sit for the NCLEX-RN^® examination, (the U.S. national licensure exam for registered nurses).

In addition, United States law provides that nurses seeking to obtain permanent work visas to the United States to work in their profession must obtain a “VisaScreen^® Certificate” from CGFNS. This certificate attests to: 1) the comparability of the nurse’s education and training to that offered in the United States, (2) ability to speak and write English at an appropriate level, and (3) possession of a currently valid and unencumbered nursing license.