An Introduction to who and what the National Nursing Assessment Service (NNAS) is.

If you are an internationally educated nurse {IEN) and you wish to work as a nurse in Canada (except for Quebec and the Territories), you must complete an application with the National Nursing Assessment Service (NNAS). You may apply for a license in the province of your choice to be either:

•    A Registered Nurse {RN)

•    A Licensed Practical Nurse {LPN)

•    Or a Registered Psychiatric Nurse {RPN)

NNAS partners Canada's nursing regulatory bodies and offers a simple and secure way to review and store the documents you are required to submit for you to work in Canada.

NNAS has three roles:

1.  To verify your credentials

2.  To compare your credentials to Canadian standards

3.  To provide secure, online storage for your education and registration credentials

NNAS has a legal contract with CGFNS International, Inc. (Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools) in Pennsylvania, U.S.A. They have five roles:

•    To review and store your documents

•    To verify that your documents are authentic

•    To ensure each nurse's files have all required documents

•    To determine if your documents meet Canadian standards

•    To send completed files to the correct regulatory body/bodies so they can make the final decisions about your eligibility to work as a nurse in Canada.

This handbook lists each of the steps FineSkilzCanada will help you through to complete your NNAS application as your authorized representative.

The first step we take towards working as a nurse in Canada is to set up an account with NNAS and complete your application. You are only eligible to apply for an NNAS application if you:

•    Graduated from a college or university nursing program outside of Canada

•    Have never worked as a nurse in Canada before

•    Want to work as a Registered Nurse {RN), Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), or Registered Psychiatric Nurse (RPN) in Canada

We will use your NNAS account for your required forms, check the status of your application, receive your emails, view your language test results, and update your contact information.

Note: If you have already worked as a nurse in Canada, you do not need to set up an NNAS account. We will apply directly to the regulatory body of your choice.

6 Ste ps to creating an NNAS Adviso ry Report

The purpose of the NNAS application process is to create an Advisory Report that includes an evaluation of your education, based on Canadian standards and comparing it to current Canadian nursing requirements.

Step #1:Start your application

We will create your NNAS Applicant Account. We will go over the Terms and Condition before creating your account.

To create your account, we will need to:

•    Provide an email address and create three security questions

•    Agree to the consent form

•    Enter the security code sent to your email address

•    Create a password

To complete your NNAS Application, we will need to:

•    Complete all the application fields on each screen

•    Enter either a Visa or MasterCard credit card number to confirm your account. Debit cards are  not acce pted.

Once NNAS receives and confirms your application and payment, we will receive a welcome email with your permanent NNAS ID number. We will need this number to keep track of your application status and print all forms needed for your application. NNAS will inform you about the information and documents needed from you to complete your NNAS Advisory Report.

Step #2: Submit proof of identity documents

You must submit two forms of identification directly to NNAS. They must be notarized, copies of original documents (signed, dated, and stamped ) complete with your signature. You must be with the notary at the time your original documents are copied and notarized as certified true copies. NNAS does not accept original identity documents

•    In Canada, notarized copies must be prepared by a notary public or a lawyer.

•    Outside of Canada, notarized copies must be prepared by a government-approved official.

They must apply their official signature and seal to each reviewed document, include their address and phone number and declare in a written statement that they have seen the original documents, made the copes, can certify that they are true copies, and confirm that they are not in any way related to the applicant.

You are responsible for all fees related to preparing your notarized documents. Copies of expired identification documents will not be accepted. At least one form of identification must contain your photo and it must be current and not expired.

Acceptable forms of photo identification include:

•     Passport

•     Driver's license

•     Other government-issued identification

If any of these original documents are written in a language other than English or French, they must be translated by a certified translator into either English or French. The translated documents must be sent to NNAS directly from the translator. You_are responsible for any costs involved in the translation process.

Official Translations can be done by FineSkilzCanada's designated affiliates:

NNAS will not accept documents translated by either the applicant or anyone related to the applicant. All certified translations must be mailed to NNAS directly from the translator.

NNAS will confirm that all names on your identification documents match. If they do not, you will need to send additional documents to explain why.

Step #3: Submit your Nursing 'Education' Form

We Print. Sign, date, and send your forms to each nursing or nursing-related post-secondary school you have attended outside of Canada. They must be completed by each school official and sent directly form the school official to NNAS by mail or courier, along with copies of your academic

records/transcript documents, nursing program curriculum/course descriptions and/or course syllabi.

NNAS will not accept your Nursing Education Form if it is not sent directly from your school officials. You may not submit it yourself. The documents must be sent in an envelo pe with the organization's name,  return address and sea l/stam p.

I f NNAS receives documents written in any language other than English or French , the y will need to be translated. NNAS can translate them, at your request, for a fee.

NNAS will review all your documents and compare them with information in the NNAS global database for verification. It is important to note that the quality and level of detail found in the documents your school provide will affect your assessment. You are strongly encouraged to communicate to your schools that you require as much detail about your nursing education as possible.

You are responsible for any costs involved in this process.

Step #4: Submit your Nursing 'Registration' Form

We will Print, sign, date and send this form to all nursing licensing authorities where you were ever licensed or registered outside of Canada. They must be completed by each authority and sent directly to NNAS by mail or courier.

NNAS will not accept your Nursing Registration Form if it is not sent directly from your registration authority. You may not submit it yourself.

If you have a diploma that allowed you to work as a nurse in your country, ask the school that issued the diploma to send an official copy (but not the original) of the diploma in its original language to NNAS.

If NNAS receives documents written in any language other than English or French,they will need to be translated. FineSkilzCanada will help with designated official translators for a fee.

NNAS will review these documents and compare them with information in the NNAS global database for verification. You may be notified iffurther information is required.

You are responsible for any costs involved in this process.

Step #5: Submit your Nursing 'Practice/Employment' Form

We will Print, sign,date and send this form to all employers you have worked for in the past five years. The current year represents year one. They each must be completed by each employer and sent directly to NNAS directly from your employer by mail or courier. You may not submit it yourself.

(NNAS will not accept your Nursing Practice/Employment Form if it is not sent directly from your employer.)

FineSkilzCanada will help with designated official translators for a fee.

NNAS will review these documents and notify you if further information is required.

You are responsible for any costs involved in this process.

Step#6: Submit your Language Testing Results

As part of your NNAS application,you must prove that you can listen,speak, read,and write in English or French (depending on the province that you intend to work in).

If your first language is not English or French, you will need to complete language testing and have the results sent directly to NNAS from your approved language testing agency. You are required to meet minimum language test scores (as below). The testing must be current, and the successful results might be no older than six months at the time you apply to NNAS.

Language testing can be conducted by and submitted from the following agencies:

•    IELTS - International English Language Testing System (www.ielts.org). The lowest acceptable scores are speaking 7, listening 7.5, reading 6.5, writing 7, overall,7 (Academic format).

•    CELBAN - Canadian English Language Benchmark Assessment for Nurses (www.celbancentre.ca ). The lowest acceptable scores are speaking 8, listening 10,reading 8, writing 7.

•    TEF - Test d'Evaluation de Fran(;:ais (www.francais.cci-paris-idf.fr) . The lowest acceptable scores are speaking 5, listening 5, reading 4, writing 4, vocabulary 4.

Falsified or Altered Documents

If NNAS discovers that any of your documents have been falsified or altered in any way, it will report these findings and send your Advisory Report with all documents submitted by you to the regulatory body you have designated.

Third Party Authorization to Release Information

NNAS protects your privacy. If you wish for NNAS to discuss your file information with an Authorized person, you must submit a Third-Party Authorization form to designate that person. You can find this form at the end of this handbook.

The form must be sent to NNAS by mail or courier. It may be cancelled at any time by sending a letter to NNAS by mail or courier. NNAS only keeps one mailing address on file per application. All correspondence from NNAS will be sent to that one address.

FEE SCHEDULE

All fees are in U.S Dollars (USO-plus applicable taxes) Main Application Order - $650

The Main Application Order is the first NNAS application type you will need to purchase. You must select one nursing group and one province for the Advisory Report. It will be active for up to 12 months from the date the paid application is submitted. It expires if all required documents are not received by NNAS within that  time.

If the Main Application Order expires, so will all additionally service orders, no matter when they were submitted. You will need to reactivate your application by purchasing a Reactivation Order within 12 months of the expiry date. If you do not reactivate within 12 months of the expiry date, you will need to purchase a new Main Application Order for the full fee of $650.

An Advisory Report can be re-issued to the same regulatory body for up to 2 years after the original submission. You are responsible for costs involved in this process. Once the Advisory Report is issued, you will need to purchase a new Main Application Order for the full fee of $650 to complete another Advisory Report for another provincial regulatory body or nursing group.

Advisory Report for another province - $55

If your Main Application Order has not been closed and you wish to purchase an Advisory Report for another province, you may purchase it at the discounted rate of $55. It is known as an "incremental order".

The Main Application Order closes when either the Advisory Report has been issued or the order expires after 12 months. Once it is closed, you will need to purchase an Advisory Report for another province for the full fee of $650.

Select an additional province by choosing the "Add Province" link in your applicant account Dashboard screen. You will be charged for each additional province that you select.

Evaluation for a different nursing group (RN, LPN, RPN) - $220

If your Main Application Order has not been closed and you wish to purchase an additional evaluation for a different nursing group, you may purchase it at the discounted rate of $220. It is also known as an "incrementa I older".

The Main Application Order closes when either the Advisory Report has been issued or the order expires after 12 months. Once it is closed, you will need to purchase an Advisory Report for another province for the full fee of $650.

Select an additional nursing group by choosing the "Add Nursing Group" link in your applicant account Dashboard screen. You will be charged for each additional nursing group that you select.

Evaluation for an expired Main Application - $180

If all required documents for your Advisory Report are not received and accepted by NNAS within 12 months of purchasing the Main Application Order, it will expire. You can re-activate a Main Application Order within 12 months of the expiry date. This may only be done once.

After that, you will need to purchase another Main Application Order and any additional Service Orders to complete the Advisory Report

Portability of Advisory Reports

Porting a report is essentially the sharing of an exact copy of your originally issued IEN report and supporting documents to another Regulatory Body for the remaining time that is available to the original Regulatory Body. You may port a report for up to a year after the original report was issued.

Please note: We advise IENs that it is possible that the original report may not be sufficient to meet the needs of the new Regulatory Body and NNAS suggests that you contact a Regulatory Body before porting a report to them. The Regulatory Body may also request additional information directly from you or may require you to purchase a new application and pay the associated fee to proceed, if necessary.

Porting your report to an additional Regulatory Body -$45

If you wish to port your report to an additional Regulatory Body, you will have up to a year from the date your report is issued to do so, at the cost of $45.

Porting your report to additional Regulatory Bodies - $23 (for 24 hours)

After you pay $45 to port your report, you will have 24 hours to port any additional Regulatory bodies at a discounted cost of $23 per additional Regulatory Body.

Porting your report to additional Regulatory Bodies after 24 hours have passed -$45

After the 24 hours has passed since you ported your first port to an additional Regulatory Body, the price goes back to $45.

Document Translations by NNAS - $85 per page

If NNAS receives documents written in any language other than English or French, they will need to be translated. NNAS can translate them, at your request, for a fee of $85 per page.