Moving between states / New Mexico

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Moving from Illinois to New Mexico as a certified nursing assistant

What a certified nursing assistant licensed in Illinois has to do to work in New Mexico, what the move does to your pay, and who in New Mexico is hiring from out of state.

Transfers by reciprocity. Your Illinois certificate stays on the Illinois Department of Public Health, Health Care Worker Registry; to work in New Mexico you apply to the New Mexico Department of Health, Nurse Aide Registry for reciprocity. It accepts an active certificate in good standing from another state; there is no retest if your record is clean. Most registries list you within two to six weeks.

What the move does to your paycheck

On a $60,000 salary New Mexico leaves you roughly $492 a year more than Illinois does, because New Mexico's rate is lower.

SalaryIllinois state taxNew Mexico state taxDifference a year
$40,000$1,980$1,652+$328
$60,000$2,970$2,478+$492
$90,000$4,455$3,717+$738

Rough figures for a single filer: exact in the flat-rate and no-tax states, approximated at 70% of the top bracket in the progressive ones. Property and sales tax are not in it.

RN and LPN: Illinois to New Mexico

Endorsement, six to twelve weeks. Illinois is not in the compact, so your Illinois licence is single-state. Apply to the New Mexico board for licensure by endorsement (Nursys verification, fingerprints, the board's fee); six to twelve weeks is normal, so start before you give notice. Because New Mexico is a compact state, ask for the new licence to be issued as a multistate licence: from then on it works in every compact state.

Electrician: Illinois to New Mexico

Exam likely. New Mexico licenses at state level through the New Mexico Construction Industries Division and reciprocates with other state boards, but Illinois licenses locally through the City and county building departments, which is not a party to those agreements. Expect to document your hours and sit the New Mexico journeyman exam.

CDL: Illinois to New Mexico

Transfers at the DMV. A commercial driver's licence transfers like any licence: within 30 days of becoming a New Mexico resident you surrender the Illinois CDL at a New Mexico driver licence office, pass the vision test, pay the fee, and your endorsements carry over. A hazmat endorsement needs a fresh TSA threat assessment in New Mexico. Your driving record follows you through the federal CDLIS system.

No statewide program in New Mexico pays people to move in. Towns sometimes list an offer through MakeMyMove, and employers in short-staffed trades pay relocation themselves; ask for it in writing before you accept.

Openings filed in New Mexico

63 open positions filed with the Department of Labor by New Mexico employers who could not fill them locally.

Your own route from Illinois to New Mexico

Tell us your trade and your licence. We write the steps for your case, check the job offer for scams, and keep your resume ready for New Mexico employers.

Plan my move to New Mexico

Same move, by trade

RN or LPN: Illinois to New Mexico · Electrician: Illinois to New Mexico · Truck driver: Illinois to New Mexico · All licences: Illinois to New Mexico

From Illinois to the states next to New Mexico

Colorado (flat 4.4% state income tax) · Oklahoma (progressive, top rate 4.75%) · Texas (no state income tax) · Arizona (flat 2.5% state income tax) · Utah (flat 4.5% state income tax)

To New Mexico from the states next to Illinois

Wisconsin · Iowa · Missouri · Kentucky · Indiana

Everything about working in New Mexico · All moves between states · All 50 states

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