Last updated: October 14, 2026.
This is general information from the 2026 Florida Statutes and Florida Board of Nursing forms reviewed October 14, 2026. It is not legal advice and not a licensing decision. Download the current packet from floridasnursing.gov before you pay.
When a Florida license is required
Florida joined the Nurse Licensure Compact on January 19, 2018. The compact covers RN and LPN practice. APRN practice stays on a Florida APRN license.
You can practice in Florida on an active, clear multistate RN or LPN license when another implemented compact state is still your primary residence. Section 464.009(2) exempts that multistate license from endorsement under § 464.0095. Florida practice laws still apply while the patient is in Florida.
You do need a Florida license if Florida becomes your primary state of residence, or if you have never held a multistate license. New York and Hawaii are not compact states, so those licenses do not authorize Florida practice. Connecticut fully implemented the compact on October 1, 2025. A Connecticut or New Jersey multistate RN/LPN license can authorize Florida nursing practice while that issuing state remains your primary residence and the privilege remains valid. A single-state license from either state cannot.
Florida licenses practical nurses as LPNs. An LVN license from Texas or California is the practical-nursing credential for application type 1702. How Texas issues that LVN is in the Texas endorsement guide. It is not a separate Florida license type.
An RN license is not an APRN license. Autonomous practice is a third registration. Endorsement does not issue it. See Florida autonomous APRN registration.
The 60-day move
The Board’s NLC announcement says that as of January 2, 2024, rule 402(2) gives a multistate licensee 60 days after a change of primary residence to apply for a multistate license in the new party state. If Florida is the new home, apply within 60 days. Do not wait for the old license to expire.
On the June 2026 application, primary state of residence is your declared fixed permanent home for legal purposes. Proof can be a driver license, voter card, federal return, or U.S. government W-2 showing that home address. If you already hold a valid multistate RN/LPN license and keep your legal home in another implemented compact state, a separate Florida RN/LPN endorsement ordinarily is not needed. APRN licensure is separate. One multistate license is the limit. See how to get a multistate nursing license and compact eligibility.
MOBILE endorsement
Endorsement runs through § 456.0145, the Mobile Opportunity by Interstate Licensure Endorsement Act. Section 464.009 points RN and LPN endorsement at that act and caps the board fee at $100. The packet is DH-MQA-5102, 6/2026, Rules 64B9-3.008 and 64B9-15.0035, F.A.C. It also covers CNAs. This guide is RN, LPN, and APRN.
The statute and that application both require:
- A complete application and an active, unencumbered license from another state, the District of Columbia, or a U.S. territory, in a profession with a similar scope of practice.
- A passing score on a national licensure examination, or a national certification the board recognizes. Nursing has a national exam, so § 456.0145(2)(b), written for professions with neither, is not a nursing shortcut.
- Active practice for at least 2 years during the 4 years before you submit. The 2026 text, history note s. 6, ch. 2025-114, is 2 of 4. The original 2024 act said 3 of 4.
- You are not, at submission, in a disciplinary proceeding related to the profession in a jurisdiction where you hold a license, or before the U.S. Department of Defense.
- No disciplinary action in the 5 years before submission.
- Financial responsibility under § 456.048 or the practice act when the profession requires it. The application applies that item to APRNs.
- Livescan for CNAs, LPNs, RNs, and APRNs.
The department checks the National Practitioner Data Bank. Staff pull national exam scores from the vendor when they can. You still send proof of national certification.
Section 456.0145(2)(c) bars a pending complaint or investigation in another U.S. jurisdiction; a conviction or nolo plea, regardless of adjudication, for a felony or misdemeanor related to health-care practice; a license revoked, suspended, or surrendered in lieu of discipline; or an NPDB report you have not appealed off the data bank. If that reported conduct would not violate Florida law, the board may approve, restrict, place the licensee on probation, or deny. This bar is narrower than the compact felony rule below.
Section 456.0145(2)(e) issues a license to a qualified applicant within 7 days after all required documentation arrives. The Board’s MOBILE process repeats that rule and allows up to 10 business days for the first review. An incomplete file is not on the 7-day clock. The APRN initial tab reviews applications within 30 days of receipt. Section 456.0145(3) allows a jurisprudence exam only if chapter 456 or the practice act requires one. The June 2026 application lists neither that exam nor a no-exam path based on 2 of the preceding 3 years. If you miss the qualifications, the packet points you to the examination application, even if you already took the NCLEX.
Fees and payment
The June 2026 application prints $110 for LPN 1702, RN 1701, and APRN 1711. The itemization is a $50 processing fee, a $50 initial licensure fee, $5 for the student loan forgiveness fund, and $5 for the unlicensed activity fee. The Board’s APRN page lists the same $110. The APRN application, DH-MQA 1124, revised 4/2021, prints the same total and labels the $50 application fee non-refundable. Livescan and verification vary by vendor. Selling medicinal drugs from the office is a separate dispensing license at $100. Writing a prescription or giving samples is not dispensing.
Paper filings are paid by cashier’s check or money order to the Department of Health. The same packet, and the Board’s MOBILE process, tell you to apply online at FLHealthSource.gov and pay there. A denied or withdrawn MOBILE application gets a $60 refund of the licensure fee and the two $5 funds, for up to three years, on the June 2026 packet. The 2021 APRN form requires a written refund request, says fees are refundable for up to three years, and does not repeat the $60 figure.
Sections 464.009 and 464.012(5) cap the board application fee at $100, and § 464.012(5) caps biennial APRN renewal at $50. Use the $110 total itemized in the current application for planning, and verify the submitted amount in the portal. A statutory cap on one fee component is not a quote for the full transaction. Do not omit the two $5 assessments or substitute an older fee list.
Livescan and verification
Every applicant, including those outside Florida, uses an FDLE-approved Livescan provider. The June 2026 packet says results typically arrive within 24 to 72 hours of processing. The ORI for LPNs, RNs, and APRNs is EDOH4420Z. The CNA number, EDOH0380Z, does not reach this board. Hard fingerprint cards are not accepted. The provider sends results electronically. Vendors are at FLHealthSource.gov/Background-Screening, and you pay the vendor. A Florida police or sheriff scan also needs a payment in the FDLE Civil Applicant Payment System before release. House Bill 975 (2024) requires electronic fingerprinting before approval. The 2021 APRN form still mentions hard cards. For endorsement, follow the 2026 packet.
Staff try to verify licenses online. If that record is missing or too thin, the licensing authority must send verification directly. A wallet card or a public lookup is not that verification. See how to verify a nursing license and the license verification tool.
Who qualifies for the Florida multistate license
Every LPN and RN application is screened. Eligible applicants get a multistate license. Others who still qualify for Florida get a single-state license and an explanation, without a second filing. APRNs are outside the compact. The June 2026 list requires Florida as your primary residence, the NCLEX or the State Board Test Pool Examination, Florida’s initial-licensure requirements, and a clear CNA, LPN, RN, and APRN license wherever you hold one. Encumbrance means revocation, suspension, or any limit on full unrestricted practice. It also requires no nursing-related misdemeanor and no felony of any kind, regardless of adjudication; no enrollment in the Intervention Project for Nurses or another impaired-practitioner program; a U.S. Social Security number; and completion of an LPN or RN program. A practical-nurse equivalency does not qualify. Non-English education requires an English exam.
Section 464.0095 (2026) matches that shape: NCLEX or a recognized predecessor, an approved program or a credentials review, an English exam if the program was not in English, fingerprints, no felony, no nursing-related misdemeanor, no current alternative-program enrollment, and a U.S. Social Security number. That text does not set a separate fee cap.
APRN licensure
Section 464.003(3) and § 464.012 list certified nurse midwife, certified nurse practitioner, certified registered nurse anesthetist, clinical nurse specialist, and psychiatric nurse. DH-MQA 1124, Rule 64B9-4.002, charges $110 for one specialty: Certified Nurse Practitioner, Certified Nurse Midwife, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Nurse Specialist, or Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. The statute says “psychiatric nurse.” The checkbox says “Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner.”
Section 464.012(1) requires a current professional-nursing license or an active multistate license under § 464.0095. The Board’s APRN page says a valid RN license from any U.S. jurisdiction at initial APRN licensure. An APRN already licensed elsewhere who meets MOBILE, including 2 of 4 years, files type 1711. Initial Florida APRN licensure uses the APRN application.
Graduation dates:
- Nurse practitioners and nurse midwives who graduated on or after October 1, 1998 need a master’s degree. The Board page and the APRN application also accept a post-master’s certification on or after that date.
- Nurse anesthetists who graduated on or after October 1, 2001 need a master’s degree.
- Clinical nurse specialists who graduated on or after July 1, 2007 need a master’s degree.
National certification is required for initial licensure and renewal in each of the five categories. Proof comes from the certifying body or a current card. Exam results alone are not proof. Rule 64B9-4.002 names the recognized boards. Section 464.012(1)(a) says the board may by rule issue a provisional license, for a period suited to preparing for and passing the national exam, to nurse anesthetists, clinical nurse specialists, nurse practitioners, psychiatric nurses, and nurse midwives. The current APRN application does not describe that provisional license.
Practice stays inside a protocol kept on site, unless you are registered under § 464.0123. In a group, the protocol is with at least one physician in that group. The Board’s initial process ends with filing the protocol at the practice location.
Malpractice coverage
Section 456.048 tells the Board to set, by rule, the malpractice coverage or other financial responsibility APRNs must show. The APRN application and the June 2026 form both print at least $100,000 per claim and $300,000 annual aggregate, or a letter of credit in those amounts payable to the APRN. Autonomous registration uses the same figures on a different filing.
The form’s exemptions are exclusive federal or state employment, a limited license under § 456.015, an inactive license with no Florida practice, teaching-only practice at an accredited school or its main teaching hospitals, an active license with no Florida practice, and a just-completed APRN program or no Florida practice yet. Section 456.048(2) also allows a showing of no malpractice exposure in Florida. It adds tail coverage or a no-judgment affidavit on reactivation, and notice to the department if Florida practice starts later. Check one option. None, or more than one, invalidates the form.
Controlled substances
An APRN may prescribe or dispense a controlled substance only after a master’s or doctoral program in a clinical nursing specialty that included specialized practitioner skills, under § 464.012(3). Section 464.012(6) limits Schedule II prescriptions to a 7-day supply, except psychiatric medications prescribed by a psychiatric nurse as defined in § 394.455. Psychiatric mental-health controlled substances for a patient under 18 are limited to those psychiatric nurses. The formulary does not apply when a controlled substance is dispensed for administration under an order in the nurse-anesthetist situations the statute lists.
Before a controlled substance is prescribed or dispensed for a patient 16 or older, § 893.055(8) requires the prescriber, dispenser, or a designee to consult the prescription drug monitoring program. The Department of Health calls it E-FORCSE. The statute exempts nonopioid Schedule V drugs and patients admitted to hospice. It also addresses a nonoperational system or temporary technological/electrical failure: document the reason for not consulting and follow the three-day supply limit. That provision is not permission to routinely skip the required check; a failure to consult as required can lead to a citation or discipline. DEA registration is separate. Use the prescribing roadmap.
Required prescribing education
Section 464.013(3)(b) requires Florida APRNs to complete at least 3 hours on safe and effective controlled-substance prescribing every biennium. The Board’s renewal instructions also require the two-hour human-trafficking course. These requirements remain even when national certification exempts the APRN from other CE. They are separate from DEA’s one-time MATE training and from the education for autonomous registration.
Autonomous practice is separate
AANP’s May 2026 map classifies Florida as restricted practice. Registration under § 464.0123 is added to a clear, active Florida APRN license. For most registrants it is limited to primary care, with a separate path for certified nurse midwives. Endorsement does not create it, and a multistate RN privilege does not either. Hours, coursework, and the registration rules are in Florida autonomous APRN registration.
Education outside the United States
LPNs and RNs educated outside the United States, and graduates of U.S. territories whose nursing board is not an NCSBN member, need a board-approved credentials review, or proof the original jurisdiction completed one. The agency sends the report electronically. Paper copies are not accepted, and you pay the agency. Select a provider from the Board’s current approved-agency list in the application packet before ordering a report. Confirm the report type, direct-delivery method, and whether a previous evaluation can be verified; a general academic equivalency report may not meet nursing-licensure requirements.
If instruction was not in English, the packet requires an English exam or proof the original jurisdiction already accepted one. Named exams are IELTS, Michigan Language Assessment, the Occupational English Test, PTE Academic, and TOEFL. The visa block is labeled Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and links to USCIS.gov. It lists CGFNS and Josef Silny for visa screenings. The Board does not decide work authorization.
Moving from another state
New York and Hawaii are outside the compact, so plan on Florida endorsement, ORI EDOH4420Z, and verification if you need Florida RN/LPN authority. Connecticut multistate licensees may use their privilege while Connecticut remains home; a permanent move to Florida triggers the 60-day application rule. Read New York nursing license by endorsement, the Connecticut nursing license guide, and Hawaii nursing license by endorsement. Pair pages: New York to Florida RN and, for a different board, New York to Florida PA.
New Jersey multistate licensees who keep New Jersey as home may practice nursing in Florida on that privilege. If Florida becomes home, apply within 60 days. See New Jersey to Florida RN requirements.
Renewal and continuing education are separate from the endorsement fee. Start with nursing license renewal by state, APRN CE requirements by state, and the continuing-education tool.
Prepare an endorsement packet in the right order
- Identify the credential and route. Choose RN, LPN, or APRN and confirm MOBILE eligibility, including the current two-of-four-years practice requirement. A compact privilege may already cover RN/LPN work.
- Assemble evidence. Keep your license history, practice dates, examination or certification information, and any name-change or disclosure documents together.
- Coordinate third parties. Use the correct Livescan ORI and request any verification or evaluation the Board requires directly from its source.
- Track completeness. Save the application receipt, check the portal for deficiencies, and record when each item arrives. A submission receipt is not an issued license.
- Verify authorization before starting. Check active status, the single-state/multistate designation, and any separate APRN or autonomous registration needed for the planned services.
Frequently asked questions
How do I transfer an RN, LPN, or APRN license to Florida?
If Florida will be your primary residence, file the MOBILE application, complete Livescan with ORI EDOH4420Z, and have the current license verified. RN is type 1701, LPN is 1702, and an APRN who meets the MOBILE rules is 1711. Initial APRN licensure on a current RN or multistate RN license uses the APRN application. A multistate RN or LPN license, with another compact state still your home, covers nursing practice and does not cover APRN practice.
What does Florida charge?
The June 2026 application and the APRN page list $110 for LPN, RN, and APRN. Fingerprints and verifications are extra. Confirm the cart before you pay.
Is the practice rule 2 years or 3?
Section 456.0145 in the 2026 statutes, and the Board’s MOBILE requirements, require 2 years of active practice during the 4 years before you submit.
How fast is a complete file issued?
Section 456.0145(2)(e) says a qualified applicant is issued a license within 7 days after all required documentation arrives. The APRN initial tab says applications are reviewed within 30 days of receipt.
What Convenient Licensing charges
Full Service preparation of an APRN license application is $275 per application. An RN or LPN endorsement on its own is a custom quote. The published $100 add-on is for a non-compact RN license filed with that nurse practitioner application. Florida is a compact state, so that add-on is not the Florida board fee. DEA registration support is $100 per registration. Where a state requires a separate controlled-substance registration, that support is $100 per registration. Self-Service Tracking is $35 per month after the credential exists. Board fees, Livescan, transcripts, and verifications are separate. 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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Florida Statutes § 456.0145 (2026), including the 2-of-4 practice rule and 7-day issuance.
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AANP State Practice Environment, May 2026.
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Official NLC implementation table, including Connecticut.