Licensure - Endorsement Information

Carefully review this information page and the Licensure Eligibility section.

1. Do you need to answer “Yes” to any of the eligibility questions? If yes, you cannot apply online and must follow the instructions to apply by paper. See below.
2. Did you graduate outside the United States and you do not have a social security number? If yes, you cannot apply online and must follow the instructions to apply by paper. See below.
3. Do you have a United States social security number? If no, you will need to apply by paper (See below.) and follow the instructions for international candidates (see number 7, below).

Complete the online application at Nurse Endorsement Application. Print a copy of the receipt page for your records.

The Texas Board of Nursing (BON) will issue a one-time, 120 day, temporary license (if you are eligible) within fifteen business days of receipt of the completed application and fee.

A criminal background check (CBC) must be completed through the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) based on a set of fingerprints provided to MorphoTrust. The BON cannot accept fingerprint cards or criminal background check results mailed by you, or results that were completed for another facility, even if the previous check was completed through the DPS and the FBI.
Ten business days after the Texas Board of Nursing (BON) has received your application, submit your fingerprints to MorphoTrust (IdentoGo)

Note: The BON will be updating the process in which applicants submit fingerprints to MorphoTrust. The updated process, which uses service codes instead of Fast Passes and ORI numbers, will be more streamlined and user-friendly when scheduling a fingerprinting appointment, registering fingerprints with MorphoTrust, and getting results to the Board. The updated process will also require the use of a unique identifier which will no longer be related to a U.S. issued social security number or a BON assigned number, but rather in the form of an email. Our website and applications/instructions will provide more information at the beginning of January 2016.

NOTE: You do not need to complete this step if you already have a criminal background check on file with the BON. If you are a STUDENT APPLICANT, who has not undergone the CBC process, you must contact your prospective nursing program instead of following this process. Use the following link to verify a previous CBC on file with our office: http://www.bon.texas.gov/forms/applstatus.asp

The following information will assist you in completing the fingerprinting process:

If you are a Texas resident follow the instructions:
For Applicants Residing in Texas

If you are not a Texas resident follow the instructions:
For Applicants Residing Outside of Texas

If you do not have a U.S. issued Social Security number, follow the instructions:
For Applicants Without a Social Security Number

The Texas Board of Nursing does not make judgments regarding the fingerprints that are submitted. Occasionally the DPS and/or the FBI will notify the BON that the fingerprints submitted were not usable and/or readable and therefore have been rejected. You will be notified if a rejection has been received and another set of fingerprints is required. The BON can only submit a request to initiate a name search on your behalf if our office has received two (2) quality rejections from the FBI. A rejection for any other reason (i.e. smudging, impressions too light, etc.) would not count toward this requirement.

You must pass the Texas nursing jurisprudence examination prior to being issued a permanent license. Instructions on taking the Texas nursing jurisprudence examination:

1. File an endorsement application with the Texas Board of Nursing
2. Wait fifteen business days
3. While you wait, prepare for the exam. We recommend that you:
   1. view a copy of the Nursing Practice Act (NPA) and Board Rules and Regulations on our website.
   2. take the online jurisprudence prep course on the Board's web site. This course is voluntary and contains information about the NPA and Rules and Regulations of the Texas BON.
4. After fifteen business days, follow the instructions to log on and complete the online nursing jurisprudence exam. The examination takes a maximum of two hours in length. If you are not successful in passing the examination or if the system locks up, you may retake the examination again after 24 (twenty-four) hours have elapsed from the previous attempt. The cost of the examination is included in your application fee.

Verification of License(s)

The BON must receive a verification of licensure from ALL:

• states
• US territories
• provinces, and/or
• countries where you hold or have ever held a nursing license, even if the license was never used, is inactive, delinquent, or invalid.

It is your responsibility to make sure the BON receives this verification.

If you hold or have held a license in any state that is part of the national database NURSYS, then go to www.nursys.com and complete a verification request and pay the appropriate fee. Once you complete that process, the Texas BON will have access to the needed license verification report. (View a list of the participating states.)

If you hold or have held a nursing license from a state/nursing jurisdiction that does not participate in the NURSYS database, you must submit the BON Verification Licensure Form (LVN / RN) to that state and request a verification to be sent directly to Texas. You will need to contact the individual state/nursing jurisdiction for information regarding their exact procedure and required fee.

Note: A copy of the nursing license is not considered to be an official verification.

1. Each of these:
   1. all fees
   2. a completed criminal history report
   3. an original Credential Evaluation Service (CES) Full Education course-by-course report sent directly from an approved organization. The Board accepts the CES from any one of these:
      • the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) www.cgfns.org
      • the Educational Records Evaluation Service, Inc. (ERES) www.eres.com, or the
      • the International Education Research Foundation, Inc. (IERF) www.ierf.org.
        Note: The CES must be dated within one year of issuance by the certification organization and is required for LVN endorsement only.
        
   4. a Verification of Licensure (VOL) form from all countries, states, provinces, and/or territories where you hold or have held a license. The VOL must come directly from the licensing authority and must bear the authority’s official seal. The VOL is only valid for one (1) year after it is signed and sealed by the licensing authority.
      *Note: the CES Full Education course-by-course report will contain your original country of licensure’s VOL. A copy of the nursing license is not considered to be an official verification.
2. Follow the instructions provided on Criminal Background Checks (See 3 under Online Procedures, above.)

The BON will review your application for a permanent nursing license after we receive each of the following:

• your application
• fees
• criminal background check
• verification from all states, territories, countries and/or provinces, and
• you pass the nursing jurisprudence examination.

Processing time for the review to take place is within fifteen business days of receipt of the last item that completed your application.