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You spent years earning your nursing degree, building clinical experience, and developing the skills that define you as a healthcare professional. Now you are ready to bring those skills to the United States, where demand for internationally educated nurses continues to grow at a remarkable pace. But between you and your first American patient stands a series of licensing requirements that can feel overwhelming at first glance.
The good news is that the process is navigable, and tens of thousands of international nurses successfully obtain U.S. licensure every year. One of the most critical and often underestimated steps in that process is document translation. Every state board of nursing requires that foreign-language documents be rendered into certified English translations before they can be reviewed, and the standards for those translations are strict.
This guide walks you through how internationally educated nurses get licensed in the United States, with a particular focus on the translation requirements imposed by state boards, credential evaluation organizations, and federal immigration agencies. Whether you are just beginning your research or already deep in the application process, understanding these requirements will save you time, money, and the frustration of rejected documents.
The United States does not have a single national nursing license. Instead, licensure is granted at the state level by each state's Board of Nursing. This means the process and requirements can vary meaningfully depending on where you plan to work. However, all U.S. states share one common requirement: every nurse must pass the National Council Licensure Examination, known as the NCLEX-RN for registered nurses or the NCLEX-PN for practical nurses.
For internationally educated nurses, the path to licensure typically involves three interconnected tracks running in parallel: credential evaluation, state board application, and, for those seeking employment-based visas, federal immigration screening. Each track has its own document translation requirements, and failing to meet any one of them can delay your entire timeline by months.
According to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), all U.S. boards of nursing use the NCLEX as the uniform standard for licensure eligibility, but eligibility to sit for the exam is determined at the state level, meaning document requirements vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
As of 2025, more than 40 U.S. states and territories participate in the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC), which allows nurses to hold a single multistate license valid across all participating jurisdictions. However, most internationally educated nurses who apply before establishing U.S. residency will initially receive a single-state license rather than a multistate license. Once you establish permanent residency in an NLC state, you can often convert to a multistate license, which greatly expands your employment options.
Before most state boards will even review your application, they require that your foreign nursing education be evaluated by an approved credential evaluation organization. The most widely recognized of these is CGFNS International, which provides several services relevant to internationally educated nurses, including the Credentials Evaluation Service Professional Report and the VisaScreen Visa Credentials Assessment.
The CGFNS Credentials Evaluation Service (CES) is accepted by most U.S. state boards of nursing. It evaluates whether your nursing education and licensure meet the standards required for U.S. nursing practice. To complete this evaluation, you must submit a comprehensive set of documents, and any document not originally in English must be accompanied by a certified English translation.
According to CGFNS's official required documents guidelines, translations of educational documents must ideally be provided by the educational institution itself whenever possible. When the institution cannot provide an English translation, CGFNS requires that a professional translation service complete the work and include a Certificate of Accuracy signed by the translator. Critically, CGFNS will not accept translations submitted directly by the applicant, which means all translation work must come from a recognized professional source.
Nurses who plan to work in the U.S. on an employment-based visa, such as the EB-3 immigrant visa or the TN visa, must also complete the CGFNS VisaScreen program. VisaScreen is a federal requirement and verifies that foreign-educated health professionals meet U.S. educational and licensure standards before receiving their visa.
The VisaScreen application requires many of the same documents as the CES evaluation, including translated transcripts, license verifications, and evidence of passing the NCLEX-RN or the CGFNS Qualifying Exam. English proficiency test results from exams like TOEFL, IELTS, or OET must also be submitted. All foreign-language documents included in a VisaScreen application must meet the same certified translation standards as those for the CES evaluation.
The translation requirements for nursing licensure share significant overlap with immigration document standards more broadly. Our detailed guide on certified translation for immigration covers the universal standards that apply across USCIS and related processes, providing essential context for any nurse simultaneously navigating a visa application.
While all state boards of nursing share the requirement for English-language documents, the specific translation standards vary from state to state. Here is a closer look at how major destination states approach translation requirements for internationally educated nurses.
California is one of the most popular destination states for internationally educated nurses, and its Board of Registered Nursing has specific and well-documented translation requirements. If your transcript is not in English, California requires a certified English translation completed by a professional certified translator or translation service. The California BRN provides a specific "Certified English Translation" form that must be completed and signed by the translator, confirming the accuracy of the translation.
California also enforces strict concurrency requirements, meaning your nursing theory coursework and clinical practice must have occurred simultaneously according to the school's official records. This makes accurate translation of academic schedules and course descriptions especially critical. A mistranslation of dates or course structures can trigger additional review and delay your application significantly.
New York processes nursing applications through the State Education Department's Office of the Professions. For internationally educated nurses applying under Pathway 5, which covers graduates of foreign nursing schools, all transcripts and diplomas not in English must be translated by a certified translation service that meets NYSED standards. New York has an advantage for internationally educated nurses in that it does not require a U.S. Social Security number to take the NCLEX examination, making it a popular first-step state for nurses still in the immigration pipeline.
The Texas Board of Nursing accepts CGFNS CES reports and requires that all foreign-language documents submitted directly to the board also be accompanied by certified English translations. Texas participates in the NLC, meaning a Texas license can eventually function as a multistate license once residency requirements are met, opening up employment opportunities across more than 40 participating states.
Florida requires a CGFNS certificate or equivalent credential evaluation and mandates certified translations for all non-English documents. Florida also requires notarized copies of original documents in some circumstances, which means you may need both a certified translation and a notarized translation for the same document. Understanding the distinction between these two requirements is essential before you begin assembling your application package.
Our overview of certified translation requirements explains exactly what these terms mean and when each type of authentication is needed, which is particularly relevant for nurses applying to states like Florida that may require both.
For internationally educated nurses pursuing U.S. licensure, the list of documents that may require certified English translation is extensive. Planning ahead and gathering these documents early will prevent delays that can set your timeline back by months.
For nurses working within healthcare organizations, the accuracy of medical translations extends far beyond licensing documents. Our detailed look at bridging language barriers in healthcare covers best practices that apply across clinical and administrative settings, illustrating why subject-matter expertise in medical translation matters so much.
The term "certified translation" has a specific meaning in the context of U.S. licensing and immigration. A certified translation is one accompanied by a signed statement from the translator or translation service attesting that the translation is complete and accurate to the best of their knowledge. This statement, often called a Certificate of Accuracy, must typically include the translator's name, qualifications, signature, and the date of completion.
Many state boards and credential evaluation organizations prefer or require translations from translators affiliated with the American Translators Association. ATA-certified translators have passed rigorous examinations demonstrating their competency in specific language pairs and are held to a professional code of ethics. Working with an ATA-certified translator or an ATA-certified translation agency provides the strongest possible assurance that your translations will be accepted without question.
The significance of ATA certification cannot be overstated for high-stakes document submissions. Our article on why ATA certified translation services matter for legal documents explains the specific protections and credibility that ATA certification provides across a wide range of regulated submissions.
Not all translations are created equal, and certain types of errors are particularly common and particularly costly in the context of nursing licensure applications. Knowing what to watch for helps you evaluate the quality of any translation before you submit it.
Nursing is a highly specialized profession, and the documents associated with nursing education and licensure contain vocabulary that general translators are not equipped to handle accurately. When you are submitting translations to a state board of nursing or to CGFNS, the quality of those translations directly affects how reviewers interpret your qualifications.
Consider a transcript that includes clinical rotation records. A specialized medical translator understands that clinical practicum terminology varies between healthcare systems and knows how to render course names in a way that maps accurately onto U.S. nursing curriculum standards. A translator without this background may produce a technically acceptable word-for-word translation that nonetheless fails to communicate the equivalency of your training to U.S. reviewers.
At ASAP Translate, our translators include subject-matter specialists with backgrounds in healthcare and medical education. When you submit nursing transcripts, diplomas, or license verification documents for translation, your files are assigned to translators who understand the clinical context of what they are working with. This expertise is part of why our translations consistently pass review by state boards, CGFNS, and USCIS.
The challenge of translating professional credentials for licensing purposes is not unique to nursing. International engineers, teachers, and other licensed professionals face similar requirements. Our guide on translating professional engineering licenses illustrates how these standards apply across regulated professions, providing useful comparative context for internationally educated nurses.
Internationally educated nurses are not the only professionals navigating complex credential translation requirements for U.S. licensing. Teachers, engineers, physicians, pharmacists, and many other licensed professionals face parallel requirements when they seek to practice their professions in the United States. Understanding this broader landscape helps you recognize that the standards imposed on your nursing documents reflect a consistent regulatory philosophy, not arbitrary bureaucracy.
International teachers, for example, must submit translated transcripts, teaching certificates, and degree documents to state departments of education and credential evaluation organizations that follow very similar standards to those used by nursing boards. Our article on translation requirements for international teachers provides a parallel framework that illustrates how U.S. credentialing bodies approach foreign professional credentials across industries.
The consistency across professions is actually reassuring for internationally educated nurses: it means that the standards you need to meet are well-documented, consistently applied, and routinely navigated by professionals in every field. A translation service with experience across multiple professional licensing contexts brings a depth of knowledge that benefits every nursing applicant it serves.
One of the most common mistakes internationally educated nurses make is underestimating how long the complete translation process takes, especially when it is layered on top of document gathering, credential verification, and state board processing. Here is a realistic breakdown of what to expect.
Requesting official copies of transcripts from your nursing school, license verification letters from your home country's regulatory authority, and certified copies of your diploma can take weeks or even months in some countries. Do not wait until all documents arrive before contacting a translation service. Establish the relationship early and be ready to submit documents for translation as they arrive, rather than waiting for a complete package.
ASAP Translate offers certified translations with turnaround times as fast as 6 hours for urgent situations and standard delivery within 24 to 48 hours for most documents. For a single nursing diploma or a short transcript, same-day translation is often realistic. For longer or more complex documents such as multi-semester academic transcripts with dozens of course entries and clinical rotation records, 24 to 48 hours is a more accurate estimate.
If you are submitting multiple documents for translation simultaneously, as most nursing applicants do, coordinating all of your translations through a single provider ensures consistency in how terminology, names, and institutional information are rendered across your entire document package. This reduces the risk of inconsistencies that can trigger additional review at CGFNS or the state board level.
At ASAP Translate, we understand that your nursing licensure application is not just paperwork. It is the gateway to a career that you have worked toward for years. Every document in your application package represents a real piece of your professional history, and the accuracy of its translation has direct consequences for your timeline and your career trajectory.
We offer certified document translations for every type of document in the nursing licensure process, including nursing school diplomas, academic transcripts, license verification letters, good standing certificates, employment records, birth certificates, and marriage certificates. Our translators are ATA-certified and many hold specialized expertise in healthcare and medical document translation, ensuring that clinical terminology, course designations, and licensing language are rendered accurately.
Every translation we produce comes with a signed Certificate of Accuracy that meets the requirements of state boards of nursing, CGFNS, and USCIS. We back our work with a 100% acceptance guarantee, meaning that if a document is rejected due to a translation quality issue, we will correct it at no additional cost to you. This guarantee reflects our confidence in our translators and our quality assurance process.
We offer three service tiers to match your timeline: standard service at $24.90 per page with 24 to 48 hour delivery, a 12-Hour Rush Service at $36.99 per page, and a 6-Hour Express Service at $74.99 per page. For nurses working against state board deadlines or CGFNS submission windows, our express service ensures that translation delays do not derail your application schedule.
We translate nursing credentials from all major nursing-exporting countries, including the Philippines, India, Nigeria, South Korea, Mexico, Brazil, and beyond. Our library of over 1,100 language pairs and 60-plus languages means that no matter where you trained, we can produce a certified English translation of your credentials that meets U.S. state board and CGFNS standards.
Document rejection is one of the most frustrating and costly experiences in the nursing licensure process. A rejected document does not just delay your application. It can require you to obtain new certified copies of original documents from overseas, restart translation projects, and re-submit entire application packages. Here are the most important steps you can take to avoid rejection from the start.
One question we hear frequently from nurses eager to save money is whether they can translate their own documents. The short answer is no. Our article explaining why you cannot translate your own documents for immigration covers the regulatory basis for this requirement and the real risks of attempting to do so.
Most state boards of nursing require internationally educated nurses to demonstrate English proficiency unless they completed their nursing education in English. Accepted tests include TOEFL, IELTS, and OET. Minimum score requirements vary by state and by credential evaluation organization.
Score reports from English proficiency examinations are generally issued in English and do not require translation. However, if your nursing school is in a country where English is not the primary language but your coursework was conducted in English, you may need a translated official statement from your institution confirming the language of instruction. According to research published by NEAC Medical Exams Application Center, inadequate documentation of language of instruction is among the most common reasons internationally educated nurses experience unexpected delays in the CGFNS evaluation process.
The full cost of obtaining U.S. nursing licensure as an internationally educated nurse can be substantial when you factor in CGFNS fees, state board application fees, NCLEX examination fees, English proficiency testing, and immigration attorneys. Translation costs are one component of this total, and understanding what to expect helps you plan realistically.
For a typical nursing application package that includes a diploma, two to four semesters of transcripts, a license verification letter, and a good standing certificate, the total page count for translation is usually between 10 and 25 pages depending on your nursing school's transcript format. At ASAP Translate's standard rate of $24.90 per page, a complete translation package for a typical nursing application falls in the range of $250 to $625, depending on document volume.
Choosing a lower-cost but unqualified translator to save money on this portion of your application is a false economy if the result is document rejection and the need to redo the work entirely. The cost of a second round of translations, combined with the delay to your licensing timeline and the postponement of your ability to begin earning a U.S. nursing salary, far exceeds any savings from choosing a cheaper initial provider.
For nurses who want a comprehensive breakdown of how translation costs fit into the overall immigration budget, our guide on how translation costs impact your immigration budget provides a detailed and practical framework for financial planning throughout the process.
If you are an internationally educated nurse who is ready to begin the U.S. licensing process, here is a practical sequence to follow for your translation needs. Start by downloading the application checklist from your target state's Board of Nursing website and identify every document on the list that is not in English. Request official copies of all those documents from your nursing school and home country's licensing authority as soon as possible, since international document requests often take weeks to process.
Once you have your original documents in hand, submit them to ASAP Translate for certified English translation. Our team will review each document, assign it to a translator with healthcare and academic specialization, and return it to you with a signed Certificate of Accuracy that meets the requirements of your state board, CGFNS, and USCIS.
Contact our team at +1 (888) 440-3902 or email us at support@asaptranslate.com. We are available Monday through Friday from 9am to 7pm Eastern Time and ready to help you move forward with confidence. You can also visit www.asaptranslate.com to upload your documents and receive a fast, secure translation from our team of expert translators.
The path from internationally educated nurse to U.S.-licensed registered nurse is demanding, but it is one that thousands of nurses navigate successfully every year. The translation requirements imposed by state boards, CGFNS, and federal immigration agencies are quality assurance measures designed to ensure that every nurse practicing in the United States has the credentials they claim to have.
Meeting those requirements precisely and completely, with certified translations that satisfy every standard, is the most reliable way to move through the licensing process without avoidable delays. According to the RegisteredNursing.org licensing guide for internationally educated nurses, preparation and attention to documentation requirements are the factors that most reliably differentiate successful applicants from those who face repeated delays and re-submissions.
ASAP Translate exists to make the translation portion of your journey as smooth and efficient as possible, with expert translators, fast turnaround times, and a 100% acceptance guarantee that backs every document we produce. We have served more than 10,000 customers and translated over 100,000 documents, and we bring that experience directly to bear on every nursing credential translation we complete. We are here to help you succeed.
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