The Enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact lets a Registered Nurse or Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurse hold a single multistate license in their home state and practice in every other member state without applying for additional licenses. As of 2025, 43 jurisdictions have enacted the compact, with 40 actively issuing multistate licenses and three awaiting implementation.1Nurse Licensure Compact. Home The compact covers RNs and LPNs/LVNs only. Advanced Practice Registered Nurses are not included; a separate APRN compact is still in development.2National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Licensure Compacts
Who Qualifies for a Multistate License
Eligibility runs through eleven Uniform Licensure Requirements that every compact state applies identically. You must be licensed in your primary state of residence, have graduated from a board-approved nursing program (or an international program verified by an independent credentials review agency), passed the NCLEX-RN or NCLEX-PN, and hold an active, unencumbered license. You also need a valid U.S. Social Security number and must have cleared fingerprint-based state and federal criminal background checks.3National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Uniform Licensure Requirements for a Multistate License
Three bars are absolute. Any felony conviction under state or federal law disqualifies you. A nursing-related misdemeanor can disqualify you, evaluated case by case. Current participation in an alternative-to-discipline program disqualifies you, and you have an affirmative duty to disclose it. These are not factors a board weighs against your other credentials; failing any one of them limits you to a single-state license.4National Council of State Boards of Nursing. eNLC Statutory Authority for Compact Investigations and Discipline
If you studied in a program not taught in English and English is not your native language, you must also have passed an English proficiency exam.3National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Uniform Licensure Requirements for a Multistate License
Where the License Works
Forty states are fully implemented and issuing multistate licenses. Guam, Massachusetts, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have enacted the compact but have not yet completed implementation, with no confirmed start dates. Nurses in a pending jurisdiction cannot apply for a multistate license until their board finishes synchronizing with the national compact systems.5National Council of State Boards of Nursing. NLC States
Membership changes as new bills are signed. Before relying on multistate privileges in any specific state, verify its current status through the official compact website or that state’s Board of Nursing.
Non-compact states are outside the system entirely. If you want to practice in one, you need a license from that state through its own application process, regardless of your multistate status.
Whose Laws Apply When You Practice Across State Lines
A multistate license gives you legal authority to work in other compact states, but you must follow the nursing laws of the state where the patient is located, not your home state. If a procedure allowed at home is restricted where the patient is, you cannot perform it there. This is the single most important practical rule of the compact.6Nurse Licensure Compact. Nurses and The NLC
Telehealth works the same way. The patient’s physical location at the time of the encounter determines which state’s laws govern the care. You can treat patients remotely in any compact state within that state’s scope-of-practice limits.6Nurse Licensure Compact. Nurses and The NLC
Continuing education runs on a different track. You satisfy only your home state’s CE requirements, not those of every state where you practice. Renewal cycles and contact-hour minimums are set by your home state board.
Applying for the License
The application begins with proving your primary state of residence. Acceptable documents include a driver’s license, voter registration card, federal income tax return, military form no. 2058, or W-2 showing an address in that state. All residency documents must come from the same state you claim as your primary residence.7National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact Frequently Asked Questions
Fingerprinting is the next step. Prints go to both the FBI and your state’s criminal records division; background check fees typically run between $40 and $50, with exact costs varying by state.3National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Uniform Licensure Requirements for a Multistate License Your Board of Nursing will direct you to an approved fingerprinting vendor.
The application itself, for a new multistate license or an upgrade from a single-state license, is handled through your state Board of Nursing website. You will submit employment history, educational background, and your Social Security number. Licensure fees vary by state; check your board’s fee schedule.8Nurse Licensure Compact. FAQs
Processing time varies, and the background check is the biggest variable. Some boards finish in a couple of weeks; others take longer when fingerprint processing is backlogged. Once granted, the license appears in Nursys, which employers and licensing boards use to verify credentials across jurisdictions.9Nursys. Nursys
Moving to Another State
When you permanently relocate to another compact state, you have 60 days from the date of the move to apply for a multistate license there. The clock starts when you establish physical presence with the intent to make the new state your permanent home. You will complete a Declaration of Primary State of Residence form as part of the endorsement application on the new state’s Board of Nursing website.10Nurse Licensure Compact. Frequently Asked Questions Regarding the Amended NLC Residency Rule You can start the paperwork before or after the physical move.
The 60-day rule does not apply to temporary assignments like travel nursing, so long as you do not change your permanent residence.10Nurse Licensure Compact. Frequently Asked Questions Regarding the Amended NLC Residency Rule
If you move to another compact state and do not plan to practice, you still have to notify your original Board of Nursing of the address change. Your multistate license then converts to a single-state license valid only in the original state.10Nurse Licensure Compact. Frequently Asked Questions Regarding the Amended NLC Residency Rule
Moving to a non-compact state has a different consequence. Your multistate license converts to a single-state license in your former compact state, and you lose multistate privileges until you re-establish residency in a compact state. You will also need a license in the new non-compact state through its standard application process.11National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Moving to Another State
Military Spouses
If you keep legal residency in a compact state and hold a multistate license there, you can continue practicing on that license while stationed in other compact states, without obtaining additional licenses.12National Council of State Boards of Nursing. NLC and Military Spouses A nurse is not required to match a service-member spouse’s state of legal residence; the two can elect different home states.
What you want to avoid is accidentally changing your primary residence to the duty station. The common triggers are getting a new driver’s license there, registering to vote there, or formally declaring permanent residency there. Any one of these can convert your license.12National Council of State Boards of Nursing. NLC and Military Spouses
Discipline That Follows You Home
If a complaint arises in a state where you are practicing under multistate privilege, that remote state can investigate you and restrict or revoke your privilege to practice within its borders. Only your home state, however, can take action against the license itself. The remote state must promptly report the action and its factual basis through the coordinated licensure information system, which notifies your home board.4National Council of State Boards of Nursing. eNLC Statutory Authority for Compact Investigations and Discipline
Your home state board then gives the reported conduct the same weight as if it had occurred locally, applying its own laws to decide what action to take, which could range from nothing to full revocation. A problem in one state can quickly cascade across every state where you work.4National Council of State Boards of Nursing. eNLC Statutory Authority for Compact Investigations and Discipline
Renewal and Ongoing Compliance
You renew through your home state’s standard renewal process, and the multistate status renews with it. There is no separate multistate renewal application. Intervals and fees are set by the home state board.
Holding a multistate license in your home state also blocks a second compact state from renewing or reinstating a single-state license for you there. The compact is designed around one license in one state carrying the multistate privilege; duplicate licenses across compact states are not permitted.
You must keep meeting the Uniform Licensure Requirements for the life of the license. A new felony conviction, entry into an alternative-to-discipline program, or a change in license status can cost you the multistate privilege mid-cycle. Reporting address changes and legal issues to your home board is a compact requirement, not a courtesy.