The process to apply for a registered nurse license in the state of Illinois is a lengthy and unnecessarily arduous, inefficient, bureaucratic nightmare endeavor notable for incomplete/unhelpful/contradictory instructions, confusion, emotional upheaval, and expense. Having just (barely) survived it myself and only because of Redditors, I’m attempting to pay it forward with detailed steps (and hyperlinks!), including much of the information you wish was plainly stated by the IDFPR. Because things can change, please use their (woeful) website as your definitive guide, and lean on this only for practical and emotional support. Register/create an account with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) here. Start an RN application “Exam” is for new grads proving competency through taking the NCLEX. “Endorsement” is for people who have already passed the NCLEX and are licensed in another state (your existing license is proof of competency). Decide if you also want a temporary nursing license (valid for 6 months). The IDFPR claims this will be processed faster while they continue to process your full license, and this will allow you to get to work faster. Spoiler: some hospitals won't let you work on a temp permit, so ask your employer first, or just forego it. I applied for my license with seven months to spare, and chose to forego it. Be warned: If you select “yes” to a temp permit and then hit “next” you cannot change your mind and hit “previous”; you must fill the form out and upload it before you can move on. I found this lack of warning obnoxious. (To save you the trouble, the profession code is 041.) However: if you hit the X in the upper right corner of the application, it will close your application without saving your progress, but it gets you off that temp permit page. Yes, annoying, but solves the issue. Submit transcripts. Make an account with Parchment (or other electronic transcript service your school uses) to request electronic transcripts. The IDFPR does not supply an email for where to send transcripts, because of course. Through considerable digging, I found this one, which worked: [FPR.NurseUnit@illinois.gov](mailto:FPR.NurseUnit@illinois.gov) (Cost: $0, only because I had recently requested transcripts for another application. Generally, electronic transcripts are between $9-11.) Request license verification. Make an account through NURSYS. On their homepage, click “Request Verification” and follow the steps. After payment NURSYS gives you an NCSBN ID number; enter this number into your IDFPR application. (Cost: $30) Get fingerprinted. The purpose of this is to conduct a criminal background check. I can only comment on the out of state process. And maybe others are quicker on the uptake than I am, but I found this by far the most confusing and annoying stage. I’ll try to simplify and streamline it here: Print and bring form OOS-FP to your fingerprinting agency (police station is probably easiest; you might need to make an appointment), fill out Section 1 of the OOS-FP form, and have them fill out section 2. Make sure your ink prints are done using the FD-258 form (usually provided by the fingerprinting place you chose, but you can print the form at home and bring it with). Get TWO sets of ink prints. The agency who digitizes your prints (see next section) will want to choose the best of two. (Cost of FD-258 on cardstock: $7 each x 2 + tax = $15.48 + downtown parking $9 = $24.48) This is going to get confusing for a second, but bear with me: The IDFPR’s Registered Nurse New Application Checklist%20Registered%20Nurse%20User%20Guide.pdf) references getting an “Illinois State Police (ISP) Fee Applicant Card for processing” then hyperlinks the IDFPR website (not helpful). Don’t worry about this just yet; instead, move on to step 2. I’ll address the fee applicant card and transaction control number (TCN) at the end of that section. Choose an agency to digitize your physical prints (this is what “card scan” means), and then mail them off. I used Accurate Biometrics, and thankfully their process was clear and easy to follow. I did not compare prices among agencies; once I saw Accurate Biometrics’s clear steps, I was ready to pay anything for this small mercy. I mailed mine with tracking. Accurate Biometrics digitizes prints and sends them to the Illinois State Police (ISP) and the FBI for background check. Results of the background check will be forwarded from the ISP/FBI directly to the designated “Illinois Requestor Agency” which in this case is the IDFPR. You get your Transaction Control Number (TCN) from Accurate Biometrics within 2 weeks of submitting your fingerprints and associated forms. I got mine back in 4 business days (impressive!!). DO NOT send any aspect of your licensing application to Accurate Biometrics; they ONLY digitize fingerprints and send to the ISP/FBI (who then sends to the IDFPR). Also, you will not get your forms/prints back; they shred your documents once they’re done processing your materials. (Cost of processing through Accurate Biometrics: $67 + sending via tracked mail: $14.87) Now, back to the fee applicant card. It looks like this, (TCN in upper right hand corner), but only if you fingerprinted in Illinois. If you fingerprinted out of state, however, your digitizing agency (Accurate Biometrics) will provide your TCN and you don’t need the fee applicant card at all so there is no separate cost or process to worry about. Also, your 16-digit TCN from Accurate Biometrics will not start with the letters FRM, like the IDFPR’s website says; mine started with CS, then a bunch of numbers, then another letter, and several more numbers. It was still 16 digits long. Where this gets (stays?) annoying is that even if you checked the box for out of state fingerprinting on your application, it still tells you to enter your TCN that starts with FRM, when this is not actually possible, AND prompts you to upload a copy of your OOS-FP (so make copies!), even though your copy of the form will be incomplete, because when it’s in your hands you’ll only have sections 1 and 2 filled out (Accurate Biometrics has to fill out the last section). The lack of communication on the IDFPR’s website about how out of state differs from in state really drove me nuts. After all that, enter your TCN into your IDFPR application. Finally, you go through attesting to any criminal history/supplying personal statements and agreeing to the terms of submitting your application. Pay for and submit your finalized application. Unclench your jaw, get your tongue off the roof of your mouth, take a deep breath. You’ve made it. Now you wait. (Cost: $50 for endorsed license withOUT temporary permit plus $1.13 transaction fee, because of course; but $75, not $50, if you choose the license with temp permit, which I am convinced is nothing more than a money grab.). Total financial cost: $30 + 24.48 + 67 + 14.87 + 51.13 = $187.48 Total time cost: Almost 3 months. IDFPR account created in early November 2025. Fingerprint appointment made: December 2025. Fingerprinted January 2026. Mailed fingerprint packet January 2026, received TCN, RN license application submitted. License approved early February (after five phone calls and emails trying to clarify this inane process). Total emotional cost: genuinely unquantifiable Good luck to you all!! Follow up: My application was approved in two (2) weeks (yes, weeks), which I found out in the most unusual of ways. Two weeks after submission, I attempted to log into my IDFPR account to check the status of my application, mostly to make sure things were progressing. I couldn’t log in. I was confident with my username and password, but attempted the “forgot username” route, just in case I was losing my mind. When it said my answers to my security questions were wrong, I decided there was a tech glitch on their end and decided to abandon the effort. THAT NIGHT I got an email from the IDFPR saying they’re going to send two separate emails with a new username and then a separate one with a new password to *renew* my license. The next morning I got an email from Nursys giving me my new IL RN license number. I never got anything from the IDFPR saying my brand new, hot off the press license was approved, just that it was already due for renewal. Luckily I didn’t have to satisfy CE requirements for this first-time renewal. But I did have to pay the $80, which seems like just another money grab by the state of Illinois. This brought my total costs to $187.48 + $81.80 = $269.28 + emotional damages Helpful IDFPR phone numbers: 1-888-473-4858. The systems sucks, but the people were helpful, once I got somebody on the phone. You can check the status of your application with them. I've also heard you can just drive to Springfield, but that wasn't an option for me. Helpful Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/therapists/comments/1ijo6pr/help_il_idfpr_email_address/ Email contact: https://idfpr.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/idfpr/forms/quick-tips-for-licensed-military-service-members-and-spouses.pdf IDFPR Fingerprinting guide: https://idfpr.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/idfpr/forms/online/Fingerprint%20Background%20Check%20Guide.pdf Registered Nurse User Guide: https://idfpr.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/idfpr/forms/online/-041-registered-nurse-user-guide.pdf https://idfpr.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/idfpr/renewals/apply/forms/RN-EN.pdf   submitted by   /u/this_is_not_urgent [link]   [comments]