NOTE: Currently, the Virginia Board of Nursing is not accepting requests for approval to provide English language proficiency examinations or international nursing education credential evaluations.

International Licensure Applicant Requirements

The Board of Nursing requires an independent credential review by a Board approved agency to evaluate and verify that credentials earned from an international nursing education program is comparable or equivalent to those Board approved nursing education programs required for licensure as a Registered Nurse or Practical/Vocational Nurse in the U.S.  Refer to the tables below for details. 

Additionally, internationally educated licensure applicants whose pre-licensure nursing education program was not taught in English or English is not the applicant’s native language, are required to pass a Board approved English Language Proficiency (ELP) Exam.  An ELP exam must include the components of reading, speaking, writing, and listening.  See Virginia Code §54.1-3017 for requirements and the tables below for additional details. 

Board accepts the following ELP Exams & Scores:

1. TOEFL* Overall Score: 83; Speaking: 26
   *Effective 1/21/2026: new 1 - 6 scoring system implemented. Acceptable new Overall Score is 4.5; Speaking 5.  Any older results will be converted to the new scoring scale.
2. IELTS Academic Overall Score: 6.5; Speaking: 7.0
3. TOEIC Overall Score (Listening/reading): 725; Speaking 160; Writing 150
4. MET: Overall Score: 55; Speaking: 55
5. OET: Reading, Listening, Writing: 300; Speaking: 350 (note there is no overall score for OET)

These are the profession/license types that are required to have an independent credential review. Click on the references below for more information:

For information regarding Massage Therapy Licensure, please direct your attention to the following link.

The below table contains information required for nursing licensure applications submitted to the Board of Nursing. Please refer to the applicable Application Instructions for more information on how to submit the required information to the Board.

List of VBON Approved Credential Evaluation Entities & English Language Proficiency (ELP) Exams (4/1/2024)

Note: Applicants are English Exempt if they were educated in Australia, Barbados, Canada (except Quebec), Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, South Africa, Trinidad/Tobago, United Kingdom, United States (except Puerto Rico) OR if language of instruction, textbook language AND native language are English. An ELP score report does not need to be submitted to the Board with an ICHP VisaScreen, IEE Global Bridge, or Visa4Nurses, applicable to Endorsement applicants only.