Moving between states / Rhode Island

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Moving from Michigan to Rhode Island as a certified nursing assistant

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

Transfers by reciprocity. Your Michigan certificate stays on the Michigan Nurse Aide Registry (administered by Prometric for the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs); to work in Rhode Island you apply to the Rhode Island Department of Health, Nursing Assistant licensing for reciprocity. Rhode Island licenses nursing assistants; an out-of-state CNA applies for a licence by endorsement. Most registries list you within two to six weeks.

What the move does to your paycheck

Michigan and Rhode Island take about the same from a $60,000 salary; the difference is under $150 a year either way.

SalaryMichigan state taxRhode Island state taxDifference a year
$40,000$1,700$1,677+$23
$60,000$2,550$2,516+$34
$90,000$3,825$3,774+$51

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. In Michigan: Detroit and some cities add a local income tax. Property and sales tax are not in it.

RN and LPN: Michigan to Rhode Island

Endorsement, six to twelve weeks. Michigan is not in the compact, so your Michigan licence is single-state. Apply to the Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island 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: Michigan to Rhode Island

Reciprocity likely. Rhode Island licenses electricians at state level through the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, Board of Examiners of Electricians, and no general reciprocity, out-of-state experience counts toward exam eligibility. Your Michigan licence comes from the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Electrical Administrative Board, a state body, which is what a reciprocity application needs: ask it for a verification letter before you move.

CDL: Michigan to Rhode Island

Transfers at the DMV. A commercial driver's licence transfers like any licence: within 30 days of becoming a Rhode Island resident you surrender the Michigan CDL at a Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island. Your driving record follows you through the federal CDLIS system.

No statewide program in Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island

23 open positions filed with the Department of Labor by Rhode Island employers who could not fill them locally.

Your own route from Michigan to Rhode Island

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 Rhode Island employers.

Plan my move to Rhode Island

Same move, by trade

RN or LPN: Michigan to Rhode Island · Electrician: Michigan to Rhode Island · Truck driver: Michigan to Rhode Island · All licences: Michigan to Rhode Island

From Michigan to the states next to Rhode Island

Connecticut (progressive, top rate 6.99%) · Massachusetts (flat 5% state income tax)

To Rhode Island from the states next to Michigan

Ohio · Indiana · Wisconsin

Everything about working in Rhode Island · All moves between states · All 50 states

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