Physical therapy license on dependent visa in the USA: My experience

Many of my juniors reached out to me wanting to know the process of how I obtained my physical therapy license on a dependent visa aka H4 visa. So, I decided to write an article about it. Before starting I wanted to make a few things clear.

1. I moved to the US after getting Married on an H4 visa (Dependent visa)
2. I did my masters from India, not from the USA
3. Lastly, and most importantly. I am writing this article to describe the process I went through. The process is different for everybody depending on educational background, visa status, rules, and regulations at the time of transition, etc.

My Background

I moved to the USA in 2016 after getting married. Before that, I completed my bachelor’s and master’s from K J Somaiya College of physiotherapy. I came to the USA on an H4 visa, also known as a dependent visa. I took the license exam in October 2017 and cleared the exam on my first attempt. I soon got physical therapy license while on dependent visa. Currently I am licensed and working in New Jersey. Click here to learn more about me. 

Terms used:

FCCPT: Foreign credentialing commission on physical therapy. This is the organization that evaluated my physiotherapy education from India to determine the eligibility to take the License exam

NPTE: National physical therapy examination. This is the license exam that is conducted 4 times in a year

FSBPT: Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy. This is the organization that conducts the license exam. 

CWT: Coursework tool. This is the tool FCCPT used to evaluate my physiotherapy education in India.

Overview of the process to obtain physical therapy license on dependent visa.

To obtain a physical therapy license in any one or more states in the USA, one must pass the license exam. All the physiotherapists who have completed their education outside of the USA, need to complete an evaluation of their education. The education needs to be substantially equivalent to the US-trained physical therapists in order to be eligible for the license exam.

Now let’s explore each step. Since most of my time and efforts went towards completing step 1, I have explained this step in more details.

STEP 1

Why do we need to prove educational equivalency?

In the USA, to become a physical therapist or DPT, students complete 4 years of bachelor’s program after high school (12th grade). The program is in a field related to health science, exercise, and/ or sports. Students go on to pursue the DPT course after that, which is usually for 3 years.

The educational format of the DPT program was slightly different from my educational background. I went straight to physiotherapy college after the 12th standard. I completed my 4 and half years of bachelor’s program in physiotherapy. After that, I completed a 3 years master’s program.

FSBPT wants to make sure your education matches the standards of the physical therapy education in the USA. This is to ensure safety and well being of the patients you will be treating after you get licensed.

Before I was eligible to take the license exam (NPTE), I had to provide evidence that my education is substantially equivalent to that of a US-trained physiotherapist. I completed my evaluation of my education (educational credential review) through Foreign Credentialing Commission on Physical Therapy, FCCPT.

What is a credential review?

At the time FCCPT offered different types of reviews,  Type 1 credential review, educational credential review, and New York credential verification. Depending on the state and visa status, applicants needed to complete one of the three types of reviews. You can contact FCCPT to find out what type of review you will need. In my situation, I needed an educational credential review.

When I completed the educational credential review, my education was evaluated based on the following categories, 

• Professional education: Education involving physiotherapy subjects such as biomechanics, neurology, etc.
• General education: Education in a related field such as statistics, chemistry, etc.
• Clinical education: Number of hours spent treating patients under the direct supervision of a physiotherapist
• Other related coursework: Subjects such as ethics, community health, clinical decision making.

After application FCCPT gives detailed reports citing “deficiencies” in education. The deficiencies can be in one or more categories mentioned above. The candidate must complete the deficiencies to be eligible for the license exam.

Deficiencies can be fulfilled by completing the related courses or giving CLEP exams. CLEP exams help students earn college credit for what they already know, for a fraction of the cost of a college course. Read more about the CLEP exams here.

Not all CLEP exams and courses are eligible to fulfill the deficiencies. So I think it is a good idea to reach out to someone who has already completed the process in the same state. You can ask them about what deficiencies they had in their FCCPT review and how they completed their deficiencies. It is even a better idea to ask FCCPT which courses and CLEP exams will qualify and complete the deficiencies for you.

Once the candidate finishes the required coursework and/or CLEP exams, the Candidate needs to apply again for the review.

Coursework tool (CWT) 

The CWT for Foreign Educated Physical Therapists were developed by the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT). The CWT was developed to standardize the evaluation process for the education of foreign-trained PTs.

These tools contain detailed lists of subjects for each of the categories: Professional education, general education, clinical education, related professional coursework. There are a total of 6 versions of CWT. The Candidate’s education is evaluated using the version of CWT that applies to his/her situation.

I applied for an educational credential review for New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Since I completed my graduation in 2013 my education was evaluated using CWT 5. You can check with FCCPT to find out which version of CWT will be applicable for your unique situation.

General and professional educational credits requirement

This changes from state to state. This also depends on the candidate’s educational background and the version of the CWT applicable to the candidate. 

Before applying for credential evaluation, I checked the requirements for the states of Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. I also asked my seniors Licensed in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware what are the educational deficiencies that they had to complete. I also compared my credits in the transcripts with CWT 5 requirements. This gave me a rough idea of the credit requirements for all three states.

Delaware and New Jersey:

I reached out to my seniors licensed in Delaware and New Jersey. CLEP for English composition and the ‘Consultation, screening, delegation’ course from the University of St. Augustine were the two common deficiencies. So. I completed these two requirements before I started my credential review.

This definitely saved my time because when my review was completed for New Jersey and Delaware, I had no deficiencies in my report and could straightway continue my application for the license exam. Had I not completed these courses beforehand, I would have had to complete the coursework after my first review, apply for the review again and wait till the final review came out. 

Pennsylvania:

I live in Pennsylvania. At that time, Pennsylvania needed 60 credits in the general evaluation and 90 credits in professional evaluation. So after talking to my seniors in Pennsylvania and reviewing CWT 5, I anticipated I was going to have a lot of deficiencies in general education.

Exactly as I anticipated I needed a lot of credits in general education. These credits include subjects such as mathematics, literature, history. I decided not to complete these general credits since that needed a lot of investment of time and money.

PS: I am still not licensed in Pennsylvania. I am licensed in New Jersey. I live in Pennsylvania and I travel to New Jersey for work. Thankfully we live closer to New Jersey and the daily commute is not that long. 

Documents I needed to submit for the educational credential review

• Bachelor’s and Master’s transcripts sent to FCCPT directly from the university
• A copy of the Bachelor’s and Master’s syllabus sent to FCCPT directly from the university
• Documents such as Marksheets, Degree certificates, internship completion certificate, passing certificates sent to FCCPT directly from the university
• Academic credential verification form first filled by me, later by my university, and sent to FCCPT directly from the university
• TOEFL score sent directly to FCCPT through ETS website 
• CLEP score sent directly to FCCPT through CLEP website 
• Transcripts from St. Augustine for the ‘consultation, screening, documentation’ course  sent to FCCPT directly from the university
• Notarized attestation form, Notarised degree certificates.

Along with these, I completed an online application on the FCCPT website and paid the fees.

PS: please note these were the documents needed for me at the time of my review, depending on my situation. Please check the FCCPT website or contact FCCPT to find out what is needed for you.

STEP 2

Getting clearance from the state boards 

This is another thing you need to do to obtain physical therapy license on dependent visa or any other visa type for that matter. After I got clearance from FCCPT, I started my application with the state board of Delaware. I went with the Delaware board first, because at that time we were thinking of moving to Delaware, which later fell through. 

Steps involved for me

• Register with the Delaware board and create an online account upload the documents needed  
• Complete an online application and pay the application fee
• Submit educational credential review directly through FCCPT
• Complete criminal history and background check
• Sign and obtain notary seal on some forms and mail them to the office 

STEP 3

Scheduling the test

While I was completing step 1 and step 2, I also registered myself with FSBPT.

After all the requirements were met, the Delaware board notified FSBPT about my eligibility to take the license test. This approximately took one and a half months.

Later, I received an ‘Authorization to test’ email via FSBPT and I could schedule my license exam.

Approximate timeline for me:

Submitting all the documents to FCCPT + application + fees : March 2017

FCCPT completed my credential evaluation: August 2017

State board clearance: September 2017

Scheduling the exam: September 2017

Taking the test: October 2017

If I would have waited to be eligible for Pennsylvania, it would have added 10- 12 months, if not more. This, in addition to the expenses required to complete the credits

I am happy to say that I cleared the License exam on my first attempt. Soon I received my license for the state of Delaware. I later transferred my license to New Jersey.

So here you have it, process I went through to obtain physical therapy license on dependent (H4) visa. Hope this article helps you!