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New York Nursing License by Endorsement: RN, LPN, and Nurse Practitioner (2026)

How to transfer a nursing license to New York in 2026: the $143 RN fee, the separate LPN fee, no compact privilege, and the nurse practitioner certificate.

By Convenient Licensing Team

Certificate folder and application documents beside a window overlooking New York

Last updated: October 14, 2026.

This is general information from New York State Education Department pages, Education Law Article 139, and 8 NYCRR Part 64 reviewed October 14, 2026. It is not legal advice and not a licensing decision. The fee due is the one in law when the application is received.

“New York nursing license by endorsement” and “transfer nursing license to New York” are the same application. The State Education Department grants a New York license to a qualified RN, LPN, or LVN who finished nursing school in another state and is already licensed elsewhere. It does not convert the other license into a New York license. A multistate license does not cover New York.

Nurse practitioners do not stop at the RN file. New York issues a separate nurse practitioner certificate under Education Law §6910 and 8 NYCRR Part 64, including §64.4. There is no APRN practice privilege added onto the RN endorsement. The Office of the Professions issues all three credentials. The regulations refer questions about examinations to the State Board for Nursing, and NP practice questions to the Nursing Board Office at nursebd@nysed.gov or 518-474-3817 ext. 120.

RN endorsement and the $143 fee

The endorsement page tells an RN or LPN licensed in another state, who completed nursing education in another state, to submit:

  • Form 1, Application for Licensure, and the $143 fee
  • Form 2, Certification of Professional Education
  • Form 3, or Nursys, for every other state where a license is held

The RN license page prints the same $143. Pathway #3 is for an RN already licensed in another state or U.S. territory who graduated from a U.S. nursing school. The school sends Form 2 and an official transcript. If the other state is on Nursys, verification comes from Nursys (1-866-819-1700), not from that board. A non-nursing license held outside New York also needs Form 3. A public lookup is not that verification. See how to verify a nursing license and the license verification tool.

A prior NCLEX-RN, or the older State Board Test Pool Examination, meets the exam rule. The June 2024 checklist says a passing score can be confirmed through Nursys. The license lasts for life unless surrendered, revoked, annulled, or suspended. Registration lasts three years, and you cannot practice while it is expired.

LPN endorsement and fees

The current LPN license-requirements page publishes $143 for licensure and first registration and $35 for a limited permit. The nurse practitioner FAQ lists those same LPN amounts, plus $73 to renew, and the same three amounts for RNs. Pay the amount on the form you submit.

NYSED’s LPN requirements include infection-control training or an exemption. Its child-abuse coursework rule identifies registered professional nursing, so do not automatically copy the RN course checklist onto an LPN application. An employer or another credential may impose additional training. Use the LPN requirements for the application you are filing.

Limited permits cost $35 and do not cover a passed NCLEX

If you have ever taken the NCLEX-RN, you are not eligible for a limited permit. The LPN page says the same about the NCLEX-PN. Pathway #3 offers Form 5 and the $35 fee only if you have not taken the NCLEX-RN. Education Law §6907 and 8 NYCRR §64.3 authorize that permit for RN and LPN applicants, not for an NP certificate. Practice is under a currently registered nurse with the employer’s endorsement. The permit expires in one year, on denial, or ten days after notice of exam failure, whichever is first.

Child abuse identification and infection control

RN Pathway #3 requires approved infection-control and child-abuse identification/reporting coursework, unless NYSED grants an applicable exemption. Practicing RNs and LPNs repeat infection-control training every four years unless exempt. Keep proof linked to the correct application and renewal record.

A current deadline matters: NYSED’s mandated-reporter guidance requires updated training on identifying abuse or maltreatment of children with intellectual or developmental disabilities by November 17, 2026, including for mandated reporters previously trained. Those who completed approved training between November 1, 2022 and August 31, 2025 may complete the provider’s 15-minute addendum; updated workshops have included this material since September 1, 2025. Confirm which version your certificate covers. Nursing-school completion or an older course alone does not establish that the update is complete.

Retain the completion record and request an exemption through NYSED if applicable; do not self-declare one based only on a job title. See CE credit tracking for organizing evidence by credential and deadline.

Fingerprints, moral character, and which checklist to use

The RN license page, Pathway #3, and the June 2024 checklist do not list fingerprints or livescan. They do require moral-character questions on convictions, pending charges, discipline, and privilege actions. A “yes” is reviewed case by case, not denied automatically, and the June 2024 checklist says to upload an explanation and any court papers. No processing time is printed beyond the line that a file waits until every required document is in.

A May 2023 PDF named RN_licensed_in_another_state.pdf is still online. It is an older file. Follow the June 2024 checklist, RNlicensedinanotherstate.pdf, and the live Pathway #3 page. Both ask the school for Form 2 and a transcript. The June 2024 file also has expedited-handling questions to read on the PDF before you answer them.

New York has not joined the Nurse Licensure Compact

The endorsement page and nurse practitioner FAQ question 3 both say New York is not a Nursing Licensure Compact state. A multistate license does not authorize practice here. See how to get a multistate nursing license and the compact eligibility tool.

Assembly A04524 (2025–2026), same as Senate S3916, would adopt the nurse licensure compact and the APRN compact. A proposal does not authorize practice. Follow NYSED’s current licensure requirements and the official compact implementation list, and recheck the bills’ current actions before making plans around a possible change. Hawaii also requires its own nursing license. Connecticut has been an implemented compact state since October 1, 2025; its multistate license still does not authorize New York practice. For a compact-state move, see the Texas endorsement guide.

BSN in 10 after the license is issued

An April 29, 2026 amendment to 8 NYCRR §64.1(c) requires a baccalaureate or higher degree in nursing within 10 years of New York licensure to keep registering, unless an exemption applies. One exemption is an unrestricted RN license issued in New York, another state, a U.S. territory, or Canada on or before June 18, 2020. The regulation also lists student and exam-applicant exemptions as of that date, plus a conditional registration and a temporary educational exemption.

The nurse practitioner certificate

Practice as an NP requires a certificate and a current registration. The certification page, stamped September 3, 2020, requires a current New York RN license and registration, good moral character, acceptable education, and an application. The department will not review the NP file until that RN license and registration exist. You can submit both applications. NP review still waits.

The fee is $85 per specialty ($50 application plus $35 initial registration). The FAQ says an RN license plus one NP certificate is $228. Each added specialty is another Form 1 and another $85. The certificate lasts for life unless the Board of Regents revokes, annuls, or suspends it. Registration lasts three years. NP services stop if either registration expires.

Education, pharmacology, and national certification

The certification page’s specialty list is Acute Care, Adult Health, College Health, Community Health, Family Health, Gerontology, Holistic Care, Neonatology, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Oncology, Pediatrics, Palliative Care, Perinatology, Psychiatry, School Health, and Women’s Health. File the category named on that page.

Education and experience are met in one of three ways, plus prescription-law coursework:

  1. Graduation from a department-registered NP program, or a program the department finds equivalent.
  2. Current certification by an acceptable national body. The page accepts AANPCB, AACN, ANCC, NCC, ONCC, and PNCB, and it maps those exams onto New York categories. On this path the certifying body returns Form 3 to DPLSVERIF@nysed.gov. A mapped credential such as FNP, AGPCNP, AGACNP, PMHNP, PNP, NNP, WHNP, or AOCNP does not replace the New York certificate.
  3. A current NP license or certificate from another state, U.S. territory, or jurisdiction with similar standards, or an equivalent out-of-state program. That is Pathway 3: Form 2 and a transcript to DPLSEDUC@nysed.gov, Form 2C, verification of the other NP license, and Form 2B.

8 NYCRR §64.4(b) requires at least three semester hours, or the equivalent, in pharmacology, matching the scope of §52.12. Pathway 2 asks for Form 2C only if you were first certified before January 1, 2011 and did not pass an acceptable exam after that date. Pathway 3 asks every applicant on that path for Form 2C. The school or provider sends the form.

Graduates of an in-state registered NP program already covered New York and federal prescription and recordkeeping law. Everyone else takes that course through the Nurse Practitioner Association of New York State (thenpa.org, 518-348-0719) or the New York State Nurses Association (elearnonline.net). The organization sends Form 2B. Section 64.4(d) ties prescriptive privilege to that instruction.

The 3,600-hour threshold and July 1, 2030 review date

Section 6902 holds the NP independently responsible for diagnosis and treatment. The practice page says physician supervision is not required. A written practice agreement and written practice protocols remain required until the NP has more than 3,600 hours as a licensed or certified NP under New York law or another state’s laws, or while employed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. armed forces, or the U.S. Public Health Service. The practice page calls the practice after that point independent.

The New York Senate’s current §6902, revised May 29, 2026, independently confirms NYSED’s July 1, 2030 effective-date notes. The statute splits by date. The paragraph marked effective until July 1, 2030 says an NP certified under §6910 with more than 3,600 hours shall not be required to keep the collaboration, the written agreement, or the written protocols. Unless the law is amended again, the paragraph currently scheduled for July 1, 2030 instead requires documented collaborative relationships: communication, including electronic communication, with a physician qualified in the specialty or a qualifying hospital; a department form the NP keeps; a rule that the physician’s recommendation prevails if a care dispute is not resolved; and documentation of those relationships. Section 64.5(b) states the hour rule without that July 1, 2030 legend, so read the statute’s notes with the regulation.

Until the hours are done, §64.5(a) requires an agreement with a physician qualified in the specialty. It covers referral and consultation, emergency coverage, disagreement (the physician prevails if the agreement is silent), and chart review at least every three months. The law sets no chart count. A copy stays at the practice site, and the department posts a sample agreement. A physician may not agree with more than four NPs who practice off the same premises.

See the full practice list, what autonomous practice means, practice by specialty, and opening a practice.

DEA, I-STOP, the prescriber course, and e-prescribing

FAQ question 45 says a new NP needs further approvals before prescribing. The certificate is not a DEA number. See how nurse practitioners get a DEA number. The NP pages read for this article do not publish a separate New York controlled-substance fee. Step order is on the New York NP prescribing roadmap.

Three state rules sit next to the DEA number:

  • I-STOP / PMP. Since August 27, 2013, most prescribers must consult the Prescription Monitoring Program Registry when writing Schedule II, III, and IV controlled substances. Access is an individual Health Commerce System account. Account help is 1-866-529-1890, option 2.
  • Prescriber education. Public Health Law §3309-a(3) requires Title 8 prescribers who hold a DEA number to complete at least three hours in pain management, palliative care, and addiction, and to repeat it every three years.
  • Electronic prescribing. The Department of Health requires electronic prescribing of controlled and non-controlled substances effective March 27, 2016, with exceptions. A waiver under Public Health Law §281(3)(c) may last up to one year. A certification under §281(7) covers a practitioner who issues 25 or fewer prescriptions in twelve months. After the federal security steps, controlled-substance e-prescribing is registered with the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement through ROPES.

Renewal and continuing education

Renew the NP registration and the RN registration every three years. The FAQ sets that at $35 per NP certificate plus $73 for the RN registration. Notices mail about five months ahead. Report a name or address change within 30 days.

The certification page and the FAQ do not state a general NP contact-hour total. A practicing RN still repeats infection control every four years, and a DEA holder repeats the three-hour prescriber course every three years. APRN CE by state does not add a New York NP hour number.

Order of filing for an out-of-state NP

Submit the RN endorsement and NP Form 1 together, and expect NP review to wait until the New York RN license and registration exist. Skip the RN limited permit if you have taken the NCLEX-RN. After the certificate, add DEA registration, the Health Commerce System account, the prescriber course, and e-prescribing registration if you will prescribe, and the written agreement if you have 3,600 or fewer qualifying hours. A New Jersey APN covered by that state’s 2026 exemption still needs this certificate. See New Jersey to New York NP requirements and New Jersey’s 2026 APN law.

Avoid delays in a combined RN and NP application

Keep an application ledger with separate entries for the RN license, RN registration, each NP certificate, and each NP registration. Record who must send each item: you submit the application; schools and certifying bodies send the required education or certification evidence; Nursys or the licensing authority sends verification.

Use one consistent legal name and include name-change evidence where needed. Check that each report identifies the correct profession and destination. Follow the pathway for your education and certification rather than submitting every form from every pathway. If applying for RN and NP credentials together, plan for NP review to wait until RN licensure and registration are established.

Before accepting an NP start date, verify both registrations and any required agreement or prescribing setup. Keep evidence supporting the more-than-3,600-hour threshold, and put a review of the statutory July 1, 2030 date on your compliance calendar.

Frequently asked questions

How do I transfer an RN license to New York?

Use Pathway #3 if you are a U.S.-educated RN already licensed elsewhere: Form 1 and $143, Form 2 and a transcript, Nursys or Form 3, and the two required courses or an exemption. A multistate license is not a substitute.

Are the RN and LPN application fees the same?

Both license pages print $143 and a $35 limited-permit fee. The FAQ corroborates those figures for each profession, plus a $73 renewal. Confirm the amount on the form you submit.

Can I work on a limited permit while endorsement is pending?

Not if you have ever taken the NCLEX-RN or, for an LPN, the NCLEX-PN. The $35 permit is for graduates who have met every requirement except the exam.

Does RN endorsement require fingerprints?

The RN license page, Pathway #3, and the June 2024 checklist do not list a fingerprint step. They do require the moral-character questions.

When can a New York NP practice without a written practice agreement?

After more than 3,600 hours of qualifying NP practice, under the §6902 paragraph NYSED marks effective until July 1, 2030. The text marked effective July 1, 2030 requires documented collaborative relationships instead. The hour figure is not different by specialty.

Help with the application

Full Service preparation of an APRN application, including a New York NP certificate, is $275 per application. A non-compact RN license filed with that NP application is $100. An RN-only endorsement is a custom quote, not that $275 fee. DEA registration support is $100 per registration. Self-Service Tracking is $35 per month after the credential exists. Board fees, Nursys, transcripts, and coursework are separate, and service fees are non-refundable once intake is submitted. Compare plans on the services page and in what a medical licensing service costs.

Sources

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