212(r) Certified Statement: An Alternative to VisaScreen® Certification for RN’s Who Meet Certain Criteria

The 212(r) Certified Statement is an alternative to standard VisaScreen® certification for those Registered Nurse applicants who meet the following criteria:

  • Licensed (active) in one of five states: Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, or New York.
  • Passed the NCLEX-RN® exam.
  • Educated in one of the following countries: Australia, Barbados, Canada (including only the following approved Quebec schools: McGill University and Dawson College in Montreal, Vanier College in St Laurent, John Abbot College in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, and Heritage College in Gatineau), Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, South Africa, Trinidad/Tobago, the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) or the United States.
  • Language of instruction and textbooks was English.

To be eligible for the 212(r) Certified Statement, the above criteria must be officially verified.

Your school should complete the CGFNS Request for Academic Records form and indicate the language of instruction and textbooks, as well as verifying your dates of attendance and whether you graduated.

Verification that you passed the NCLEX-RN® exam should be requested of the nursing board that authorized you to sit for the exam. The board needs to send this directly to CGFNS International.

Verification of your active license in one of the five 212(r) states should be sent directly to CGFNS International by that state’s board of nursing.

For some applicants, there are several advantages to the 212(r) Certified Statement. If the above criteria can be verified:

  • No additional validations of license are required. For standard VisaScreen® certification, validations of all licenses you have ever held is required, whereas for the 212(r) Certified Statement validation is needed only from the 212(r) state in which you are licensed and from the state that authorized you to take the NCLEX-RN® exam.
  • Exemption from the English proficiency requirement is granted. For standard VisaScreen® certification, exemption from this requirement is available only for those educated in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada (except Quebec), New Zealand, Ireland or the United States. The 212(r) certified statement English exemption applies to graduates from schools in five additional countries and five English-speaking schools in Quebec. NOTE: CGFNS does not accept the at-home versions of English Language Proficiency exams.
  • Education is automatically deemed comparable. For standard VisaScreen® certification, your comparability is assessed after a review of your transcripts and additional information provided by your school, whereas for the 212(r) Certified Statement you need only request that your school submit the completed Request for Academic Records form or an official letter verifying your completion of the program and the language of instruction and textbooks.