VCVC Criteria

NBCOT looks for specific criteria when issuing a Visa Credential Verification Certificate:

• Education: The occupational therapist’s education must be comparable with that required of an American occupational therapist
• Training: The occupational therapist’s fieldwork must be comparable with requirements for an American occupational therapist. A minimum of 1,000 hours of successful fieldwork experience is required of internationally trained occupational therapists.
• English Language Proficiency: Must pass certain English Language Proficiency examinations. Please see the requirements and exemptions below.
• License: All current and previously held licenses and certifications must be verified and unencumbered. All work as an occupational therapist must be verified as meeting the requirements of the jurisdiction.
• Examination: The occupational therapist must have passed the NBCOT Certification Examination for Occupational Therapist Registered OTR®.

English Language Proficiency Exams

VCVC applications must obtain a passing score for the following English Language Proficiency test administered by Educational Testing Service (ETS).

Exemptions: Graduates of occupational therapy programs in Australia, Canada (except Quebec), Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and United States.

It is important that the applicant write the following NBCOT code on the English language test/application: 9953

This is the only way ETS knows to send the scores directly to NBCOT.

To schedule or receive information about the language proficiency tests, please contact:

Educational Testing Service (ETS)
PO BOX 6151
Princeton, NJ 08541-6151
Phone: 1-877-863-3546 (toll free in US, US territories and Canada) or 1-609-771-7100
www.ets.org

If the English language proficiency tests were taken with the past two years, ETS may have the scores on file and the VCVC applicant may contact ETS to request that the scores be sent to NBCOT. If scores are unavailable at ETS, the VCVC applicant must retake the tests.

If English scores were submitted for the OTED process and were taken less than two years ago, new scores will not need to be submitted.