India to United States registered nurse pathway

Step 1

Pick your state and its board of nursing before you order or pay for any credential assessment. There is no national United States RN licence, and every board writes its own rules for foreign-educated applicants.

Step 2

Confirm the board's named report before you order anything. TruMerit CES Professional is accepted by some states and not others. The current Fee Schedule lists USD 125 for the conditional CES English report, and the live payment portal decides the price you pay; do not let older FAQ pricing override it.

Step 3

The board judges education comparability, deficiencies, English evidence, identity, fingerprints or background checks, jurisprudence, recency, and any other state conditions, file by file. Nobody can promise a country-wide outcome.

Step 4

Apply to the state board, register with Pearson VUE, wait for board eligibility and the Authorization to Test, then book within its validity window. You can pass the NCLEX-RN and still have state requirements left to finish.

Step 5

Finish every remaining state condition and verify your licence status with the board before you practise. A state licence gives you no United States immigration status and no employment authorisation.

Step 6

If your immigration action is covered, you need an approved health-care-worker certificate such as VisaScreen. It verifies education, licences, English, and the RN examination condition, and it sits alongside state licensure rather than replacing it. The initial order expires if you do not complete its requirements within the official 12-month window.

Step 7

A United States employer files Form I-140 with the required uncertified ETA-9089 material for a full-time permanent nursing job, after the prevailing-wage and notice steps. The qualifying filing evidence and the later health-care-worker certificate are two different requirements.

Step 8

Visa chargeability usually follows place of birth; training, licence, nationality, and corridor origin do not set it. For a person chargeable to India, the July 2026 EB-3 Final Action Date is 01JAN14 and the Dates for Filing cut-off is 15JAN15. Final Action Dates govern final action; Dates for Filing govern document filing or assembly. The bulletin changes monthly and can retrogress, so treat these dates as thresholds, never as a wait-time estimate.