RN License Transfer to Maryland

How to transfer a current RN license to the state of Maryland (MD)

Written by Nurses Link on February 13th, 2013

States issue licenses to registered nurses to prevent unqualified people from providing medical care to patients. The state board of nursing scrutinizes all people applying for licensure to ensure they have the right education and a criminal free background. However, after receiving the RN license, its validity is only restricted to the issuing state. An RN wishing to move to another state to practice is required to apply for reciprocity within the new state. If an RN moves to Maryland and wishes to practice there, they must apply for licensure by endorsement. There is a certain procedure that is set by the Maryland Board of Nursing that all candidates applying for licensure by endorsement must follow.

Application Process

Registered nurses with compact licenses are only given thirty days to apply for the endorsement license after moving to Maryland. The application for the endorsement license is available from the Maryland Board of Nursing website www.mbon.org. The candidate is expected to pay an endorsement fee that will take care of the application and processing cost. The website only accepts original applications and not photocopies. There are instructions given regarding how the candidate is expected to fill out the form and must be followed keenly. A candidate applying for the endorsement licensure is expected to use the same name as those appearing on the supporting documents. If there were any legal name changes, the candidate must inform the Board through writing and furnish it with the necessary documents to support this. The complete application for an endorsement license is mailed to the Maryland Board of Nursing together with a check or a money order of $100.00 addressed to the board. Unless a candidate pays this non refundable amount and provides all the required documents, their application will not be reviewed. The board takes four to six weeks to review the application, process it and then issue a license.

Licensure Endorsement Criteria

Any candidate applying for the endorsement license must provide the board of nursing with evidence that they have completed a state approved RN program in another jurisdiction and acquired licensure by passing the exam. The board will also verify the RN license from the state that issued it. This is to ensure that the license is still valid and hasn’t been revoked in any state where the nurse has practiced since acquiring it. The board also requires a candidate to provide proof that they are competent in oral English language. Students who have graduated from U.S., UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Canada with exception of Quebec are deemed to be competent in spoken English. However, students who have graduated from other areas apart from those mentioned must take an oral online English test to prove their competency. They can take the test from ILA OPI, TSE, IELTS, or iBT TOEFL and achieve a minimum score of 26 for iBT TOEFL, 50 for TSE and 3 for ILA OPI. IELTS taken on 1st October 2005 and later are acceptable as long as the candidate got a score of 7 and above for speaking, 6 and above in other modules and an overall average score of 6.5 and above. The TSE and iBT TOEFL are available from www.ets.org , the ILA OPI from the www.mbon.org/licensure/opi app.pdf and an application to take the IELTS can be made from the www.ielts.org.

Verification of Credentials

The board must verify the RN license provided and this is usually done through NURSY. The student does by completing a form online requesting for verification through www.nursys.com. If the state that issued the license is not listed in NURSY, the student must complete the Verification of Original Licensure Form and furnish the board with the mailing information so that they can get direct verification from the state nursing board that issued the license.

Background Check

The board will conduct a background check for any criminal history or disciplinary actions taken against the nurse during their work. The application form has a discipline section where candidates are expected to state any disciplinary actions or criminal convictions. They must also provide the court documents so that the board can analyze them.

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