STEPS

STEP 1

Create an account on the CGFNS Applicant Portal.

The first step to applying to any CGFNS service is creating a CGFNS account. This way, you can access the Applicant Portal and receive support from CGFNS International. You will also receive a CGFNS ID number. There is no cost to create an account.

  • Go to https://ncnz.cgfns.org/ and click the “Begin your application” button.

  • Read and agree to the Terms and Conditions.

  • Fill in your account information:

    • Provide your email address and other required information.

    • Agree to the online consent request.

    • Follow the link we send to the email address you provided.

    • Create a password.

STEP 2

Complete your free Applicant Profile.

Once you have created your CGFNS account and gained access to the Applicant Portal, you will be asked to complete your applicant profile. This profile will help CGFNS International to confirm your eligibility and enable them to provide you with information in order to create a better experience for you.

  • Go to https://cgfns.force.com/applicantPortal/s/login/ and log in to your CGFNS account.

  • Select the “Create Profile” link.

  • Provide personal, academic, and professional information as prompted.

Note: As you complete your profile, you will have the option to pause and log out of your account at any time. Your information will be saved and upon your return, you will be able to go back to previous sections or continue where you left off.

STEP 3

Purchase an order for the CVS-NCNZ.

In order to begin the CVS-NCNZ application, you will need to place an order in your shopping cart and purchase.

  • Add the CVS-NCNZ to your shopping cart.

  • Upon checkout, add your credit card payment information and complete the order.

  • You will receive information electronically regarding the next steps and how to access the forms required to complete the application.

STEP 4

Upload all required authenticated identity documents

Within the CGFNS Applicant Portal, you will be able to upload notarized copies of your identity documents directly to your CVS-NCNZ application. You may also choose to send the notarized copies by mail or courier. These documents will be used to verify your identity.

  • Submit notarized copies of your passport and another form of official identification (ID). Both documents must show your full current legal name with no abbreviations.

  • If you have ever used another name, submit additional notarized copies of identity documents to verify any names on documents that will be sent to CGFNS by your schools, license/registration authorities, employers, or language testing vendors. This also includes documents that may eventually be required by the NCNZ (such as an international criminal history report).

  • CGFNS will confirm that all names on your identification documents match your current name and the names on documents submitted by other entities. If we cannot verify your identity through the documentation submitted, you will be asked to submit additional proof of your identity.

ACCEPTABLE FORMS OF PHOTO IDENTIFICATION

  • Passports (required)

  • Driver’s licenses

  • Official, government-issued photo identification

Note: CGFNS only accepts copies of valid (not expired) ID’s with a clear photo of yourself. (CGFNS International recommend that you submit color copies.) Do not send the actual ID card.

ACCEPTABLE FORMS OF NON-PHOTO IDENTIFICATION

  • Birth Certificates

  • Marriage Certificates

  • Divorce Certificates

  • Legal Name Change Affidavits

SUBMITTING NOTARIZED COPIES

CGFNS accepts only notarized photocopies of original documents. Please do not send original identity documents to us, such as your actual passport or driver’s license. Instead, have all photocopies of identity documents notarized (signed, dated, and stamped by a notary official) before you submit them.

You must be present with the notary official at the time your original documents are copied and notarized. The notary official is required to make a statement on all notarized identity document copies stating that they have seen the original documents and they certify the copies are “true copies” of the originals.

If no notary is available to you, CGFNS works with a service, NotaryCam, you may use instead. Visit the NotaryCam website: https://www.notarycam.com/cgfns-cvs-ncnz .

You are responsible for any fees related to preparing your notarized documents. If any of these documents are written in a language other than English, they must be translated by a certified translator. CGFNS does not accept translations of primary source documents from the applicant.

STEP 5

Send all required forms to authorities from which you

When you completed your order for the CVS-NCNZ, you received access to forms that must be sent to and filled out by your academic institutions, professional bodies, and employers. The forms request primary source information regarding your:

  • Higher/Tertiary Education

  • License/Registration to Practice Nursing

  • Nursing Employment

Following these steps from the CGFNS Applicant Portal:

1. Download and print the forms.

2. Send each form to your corresponding academic or professional authority.

3. The official(s) at each academic or professional authority who is authorized to provide the requested information should complete the form(s) and send them directly to CGFNS by mail/courier or electronically, along with any additional documents requested that supplement the forms.

CGFNS will not accept any of these forms and documents if they are sent from anyone other than the designated officials at your academic or professional authorities.

Note: Please note that all documents received from your schools or other primary sources must be in English or accompanied by an English translation. If they are unable to do so, CGFNS can provide you with translation services for a fee. CGFNS will not accept translations directly from you.

HIGHER/TERTIARY EDUCATION

More information about the NCNZ’s nursing education standards can be found on the NCNZ website. CGFNS must receive documentation of all higher/tertiary level education you received that has contributed to your nursing knowledge. This includes:

  • Nursing Education at the following levels:

    • Entry-Level Nursing Education (Associates Degree in Nursing, Diploma in Nursing, BSN)

    • Post-Entry Level Nursing Education (RN to BSN Programs)

    • Master’s Degree Programs in Nursing (or Nursing Specialty)

    • Doctoral/PHD Programs in Nursing (or Nursing Specialty)

    • Post-Graduate Specialty Nursing Programs (Examples include Nursing Leadership, Palliative Care, Cardio-Nursing)

  • Nursing-Related Tertiary Level Education (Examples include Nurse Anesthetists, Nurse Midwives, and Nurse Practitioners)

  • Non-Nursing Education Transfer credit

    • Any program for any discipline that preceded your nursing education for which you received transfer credit

In addition to the completed form, your educational institutions should send to CGFNS:

  • A full academic transcript

    • CGFNS defines a full academic transcript as a record of an applicant’s courses taken along with credit/clock hours that the applicant received for each course.

    • Transcripts from certain countries/jurisdictions also require supplemental documentation such as:

      • Related Learning Experience (Philippines)

      • School and University Mark Sheets (India)

      • Diploma Supplement (European Union Countries)

      • Evidence of your Clinical experience hours (United States)

  • A Completed Nursing Education Form

LICENSE/REGISTRATION TO PRECTICE NURSING

More information about the NCNZ’s registration standards can be found on the NCNZ website.

CGFNS requires documentation of all nursing licenses directly from your license issuing authority. All nursing licenses that you have ever held must be submitted regardless of the current status of the license.

If you were not licensed in the country where you received your entry-level nursing education or do not hold a current license to practice nursing in any jurisdiction, you are not eligible to apply to the CGFNS CVS-NCNZ.

Exceptions to this rule are:

  • Nurses who were educated/practice in a country where nurses are not required to hold a license (the nursing school diploma authorizes the nurse to practice).

  • Nurses who were not able to receive a nursing license in their country of education due to lack of citizenship.

NURSING EMPLOYMENT

More information about the NCNZ’s employments standards can be found on the NCNZ website.

CGFNS requires documentation directly from your employers regarding nursing or nursing-related employment that you have held in the last five years for up to 2500 hours of nursing employment. This employment includes all full time, part-time and casual/per diem positions requiring a nursing license that you have held.

CGFNS requires documentation of employment that you have held in any of the following settings:

  • Nursing Clinical Practice

  • Nursing Management

  • Nursing Educator

  • Nursing Evaluation/Policy

  • Nursing Research

If you have not been employed as a nurse for at least two of the last 5 years, you are eligible to apply to the CGFNS Credentials Verification Program, however, this may affect your eligibility to register with the Nursing Council of New Zealand. If you have no nursing experience, you are not eligible to apply to NCNZ.

STEP 6

Submit proof of your English Language Evidence Pathway if required.

More information about the NCNZ’s English language standards can be found on the NCNZ website.

CGFNS requires documentation regarding your ability to read, write, listen and speak in the English language through the submission of language proficiency test results from an approved testing vendor, barring certain exemption requests (see below).

Non-exempt IQNs must successfully complete an approved test no more than two years and 11 months prior to the submission of your CVS-NCNZ report to NCNZ. CGFNS recommends that you do not send test results that are more than one year and 11 months old.

The approved English Language Testing Vendors and the required scores are:

  • Occupational English Test (OET)

    • For results after September 2018: you must achieve a minimum score of 350 for reading, listening, and speaking (C+ (300 – 340) is not considered a passing grade). For writing, you must achieve a minimum score of 300.

  • International English Language Testing System (IELTS)

    • Only the Academic Module is accepted.

    • You must achieve a minimum score of 7 for reading, listening, and speaking. For writing, you must achieve a minimum score of 6.5.

You can achieve the minimum score in the English language tests over more than one sitting, however the required score must be met within 12 months of the first sitting of the test and met within three years of your CGFNS report being transmitted to Nursing Council.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EVIDENCE PATHWAY

You may be eligible to apply for one or more of the following alternate English Language Evidence Pathways if:

  • Your education that led to registration as a nurse was taught and examined in English in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Ireland, Canada, or the United States of America. The Council may require you to provide evidence that you completed your nursing education in English, for example, a transcript from your education provider.

  • You have current nursing registration in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, or the United States of America that required you to pass an English language test. The Council may require you to provide evidence of this.

IQNs who meet one or more of the above criteria will be invited to apply for an alternate English language evidence pathway electronically. CGFNS will submit this request to NCNZ with the CVS-NCNZ program report and NCNZ will approve or decline the request.

Note: If CGFNS does not receive evidence that you have passed English Proficiency Testing within a year of your application and you are not eligible to apply for an alternate English evidence pathway, your order will expire.