2004 News

CGFNS offers two Special Administrations of the CGFNS Certificate Program Qualifying Exam in 2004 for Trade NAFTA Nurses

PHILADELPHIA, PA — FEBRUARY 18, 2004 — On July 25, 2003, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published its final rule related to Section 343 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA). Section 343 requires that certain foreign health care workers have their credentials evaluated and certified before they will be allowed to work in their profession in the United States. Although the final rule became effective on September 23, 2003 the DHA created a transition period that will end on July 25, 2004.

The final rule applies to temporary and permanent employment based visas as well as Trade NAFTA (TN) health care workers from Canada and Mexico.

In an effort to assist Canadian and Mexican nurses (who are eligible for Trade NAFTA Status) obtain the required VisaScreen^® Certificate CGFNS will be conducting two special administrations of the Qualifying Exam for eligible nurses seeking TN status only.

In addition to the usual requirements for eligibility to sit for the CGFNS Qualifying Exam, applicants for these two exams must be Canadian or Mexican citizens and be eligible for Trade NAFTA status.

CGFNS can accept only on-line applications for these two exams to be given on May 12, 2004 and June 9, 2004. In addition, CGFNS must receive the nurses' license verification and the required education document prior to the exam deadline date. CGFNS recommends applicants provide their licensing agency and educational institutions pre-paid courier envelops (such as Fed-Ex or DHL) to help meet these deadline dates. This will speed up the process of sending the required documents to CGFNS.

All documents should be sent to:

CGFNS
3600 Market St., Suite 400
Philadelphia, PA 19104-2651
CP Program, NAFTA Nurse

The exams will be held on:

The deadline date for the May 12, 2004 special administration of the qualifying exam has been extended to April 16, 2004.

The deadline date for the June 9, 2004 special administration of the qualifying exam is May 5, 2004.