NCLEX USA Exam Application | Processing and Registration

NCLEX RN PN USA Exam Assistance

Know more about the NCLEX exam and other necessary information that you need to know first before processing your NCLEX USA.

What do you need to know about the NCLEX exam?

Let’s go first with the basics, NCLEX stands for National Council Licensure Examination, a nationwide examination for nurse licensing in the United States and Canada. The NCLEX exam is administered by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc., or NCSBN Inc. This standardized test is used to determine if one nurse candidate is eligible to work on his or her chosen state regulatory board in the United States. NCSBN Inc. has more than 50 State Boards of Nursing or SBON that have different sets of NCLEX requirements, qualifications, process of NCLEX registration or regulations, and NCLEX exam fee per state. Therefore, one foreign nurse may qualify to one state while another candidate may not depending on their level of education, work experience and so much more.

What is difference between the NCLEX RN and PN?

The US NCLEX Application has two types, (1) NCLEX RN - for candidates who completed an Associate Degree in Nursing or a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing (BSN) and (2) NCLEX PN - exclusively for practical and vocational nurses who obtained a diploma in Licensed Vocational Nursing or License in Practical Nursing.

What are the steps of the NCLEX exam?

A typical NCLEX RN or NCLEX PN Application process for foreign nurses consists the following phases:

STEP 1: Choosing the best state to apply for NCLEX

  • Since each state in the US has a different set of requirements, qualifications, and processes for NCLEX, the candidate must undergo a pre qualification process that is used to identify which state the candidate qualifies based on their level of education, work experience, and career goals or objectives before proceeding to the application process.

STEP 2: NCLEX Credential Evaluation Phase

  • This phase involves the evaluation of the candidates’ documents equivalence in terms of US education. 

    NOTE: Not all SBON undergoes Pre-Eligibility phase or Credential Evaluation Phase

STEP 3: NCLEX Eligibility Phase

  • The Nursing regulatory body in the US determines this phase if the candidate is eligible to apply for the NCLEX exam to a specific State Board of Nursing. Additionally, completing the FBI fingerprint cards for fingerprinting and criminal background checks is one requirement for proceeding to the eligibility phase.

  • A criminal background check (CBC) is a requirement for the majority of US Boards of Nursing (BON) during the NCLEX exam application. Although some BONs don't require CBC, candidates must reveal any information regarding unlawful conduct.

  • NEAC provides FREE FBI Cards exclusively for NEAC NCLEX applicants.

STEP 4: NCLEX Authorization to Test/ATT Phase

  • After the nursing regulatory body declares you eligible, you will receive an Authorization to Test - ATT notification. This will serve as a notification that you are eligible to take the exam. NOTE: ATT validity varies for each state.

STEP 5: NCLEX Exam Scheduling Phase

  • Once ATT is approved, you are now eligible to choose your preferred NCLEX exam date within the validity dates indicated on your ATT. Make sure that you reviewed enough rationales from your NCLEX RN/PN practice test or NCLEX RN/PN book materials before scheduling your examination.

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STEP 6: Take your NCLEX exam

  • The NCLEX passing rate of foreign nurses was around 46.68% for RNs (First time - Internationally Educated) and 51.49% for PNs (First time - Internationally Educated) last 2021, and no matter which state or testing site you chose, everyone takes the same NCLEX test.

STEP 7: Claim your NCLEX exam result

  • Some candidates may access their unofficial NCLEX results two business days after taking their exam. However, the NCLEX results in the Quick Results Service do not authorize you to practice as a licensed/registered nurse and only the nursing regulatory body to which you applied can release your official results.

STEP 8: Get your license or apply for a license application

  • Not all BON will grant you a license immediately after you pass the NCLEX exam; some will ask you to complete a license application beforehand. For some states that require a license application, there are options for submitting that you can choose. These include - mail-in or applying online depending on your BON requirement.

From searching the most suitable NCLEX state that you qualify, checking the NCLEX requirements by each state compatible with your work experience and other qualifications can be overwhelming especially to foreign nurses who are not acquainted with or had no knowledge in applying for NCLEX. Due to this licensure application process for NCLEX, candidates are advised to seek assistance from a specialized application preparation center like 'NEAC Medical Exams Center'. NEAC‌ is an innovative pioneer medical exams application center that offers easy and fast exam applications for NCLEX exam application and will do all the work for your NCLEX application for the best price to avoid financial losses and delays that may cause rejections of your application.

For further inquiries about the requirements, qualifications, and fees for the NCLEX USA Exam Application, kindly email us at inquiry@medexamcenter.com

FAQs

There is no difference between a compact license and a multistate license. This terminology is used interchangeably to reference the Nurse Licensure Compact license that allows a nurse to have one license, with the ability to practice in all NLC compact states.

Yes, a candidate can take the NCLEX at any Pearson Professional Testing location, regardless of where the candidate is applying for licensure/registration.

Nursys is the only national database for verification of nurse licensure, discipline and practice privileges for RNs and LPN/LVNs licensed in participating boards of nursing, including all states in the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC).

The NCLEX score transfer process allow candidates who have passed the NCLEX but are not yet licensed in the jurisdiction, making them eligible to transfer their score to another jurisdiction via NCSBN.

"A Candidate Performance Report let the NCLEX takers know their performance in each exam content area and only intended to provide indications of the candidate's strengths and weaknesses. If you did not answer at least the minimum number of NCLEX RN/PN questions, you would receive an abbreviated CPR, which tells you how many questions were answered and how many must be evaluated. Some states require the candidate to request a copy from the BON or Board of Nursing to be able to receive it."

Yes, as some states in the US do not require a license from the candidate's country of education as long as they meet all other requirements by their preferred Board of Nursing.

Not all states are members and participating in the Pearson VUE Quick results service, and the candidate will wait for the board to email or mail their official exam result.

Yes, not all states require the English exam before taking the NCLEX, as each State Board of Nursing in the US has different NCLEX requirements.

The NCLEX RN is a computer-based exam that only Pearson Professional Centers can administer. The majority of the questions are multiple-choice with four answer alternatives.

Yes. For 2020, the test's duration has been changed. Test takers will answer 75 to 145 questions (rather than a maximum of 265), and the exam will take five hours rather than three hours to finish. The exam still contains 15 experimental test questions that have no bearing on scoring.