Compact Nursing License States in 2026: Where a Multistate RN or LPN Licence Works

7 دقيقة قراءة

The Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) is an agreement between states that one RN or LPN licence, issued by your home state, is good in every other member state. No endorsement, no second fee, no waiting for a board to verify you. For a nurse who moves, takes travel contracts, or works across a state line, it is the single most valuable piece of paper after the licence itself. The catch is that it only works between member states, and the states that are out include some of the biggest employers of nurses in the country.

Member states

As of 2026 the compact is live in 40 states. Each link opens the state's page with its licence rules and what the state takes from your pay:

Not in the compact

These states require a licence by endorsement from their own board before you work, however many compact licences you hold:

Massachusetts has enacted the compact but is not yet live in it. Until the board announces the start date, treat it as a non-compact state and apply for endorsement.

What the multistate licence lets you do

With a multistate licence you can practise in any member state, in person or by telehealth, under the licence your home state issued. You follow the practice laws of the state where the patient is, not where your licence is. You do not notify the other state, pay it, or appear on its register. For a travel nurse that means contracts in two dozen states on one renewal; for a nurse who lives near a border it means working on either side.

Who gets one

A multistate licence is issued only by your primary state of residence, and only if that state is a member. Primary residence is where you file taxes, hold a driver's licence and vote. A nurse living in California (not a member) cannot hold a multistate licence from Arizona by also being licensed there; the Arizona licence would be a single-state licence. The other conditions are the uniform licensure requirements: graduation from an approved program, passing NCLEX, a fingerprint background check with no disqualifying felony, no active discipline, and a Social Security number.

أنشئ ملفك الشخصي المجاني الآن ←

Moving between two compact states

This is the case the compact was built for, and the one people get wrong. You may work in the new state immediately on your existing multistate licence. But once the new state becomes your primary residence, you must apply for a licence there and the old multistate licence is converted to a single-state licence in your old state. Most boards give you 30 to 60 days. Do it in the first week: boards check driver's licence records and a nurse practising on a licence from a state she no longer lives in is practising on an expired privilege.

Moving to a non-compact state

You apply to the state board for licensure by endorsement. The pieces are the same in every state: verification of your original licence through Nursys (a few dollars, instant for most states), a fingerprint background check in the new state, the board's fee, and in some states a jurisprudence exam or continuing education proof. California, New York and Illinois each take six to twelve weeks, longer in the summer. Apply before you move, and ask the employer for a start date tied to the licence rather than the move.

Moving from a non-compact state to a compact one

You apply for a licence by endorsement in the new state and, because you will now live in a member state, you can ask for it to be issued as a multistate licence. That is the moment your licence becomes portable, and it is worth stating on the form.

LPN, APRN and CNA

The compact covers RN and LPN/LVN licences. Advanced practice nurses have a separate APRN compact that is not yet live in enough states to matter. Nursing assistants are not covered at all: a CNA moves by reciprocity onto the new state's registry, which is a different process explained in the CNA reciprocity guide.

Pay and taxes while you are at it

Of the compact states, Florida, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming take no income tax from wages. A nurse choosing between two compact states on similar pay should look at that line before the housing listings: it is the largest difference and it shows up in the first paycheck. Each state page shows the rate next to the licence rule.

هل أنت مستعد ليجدك أصحاب العمل؟

أنشئ ملفك الشخصي في دقيقتين. مجاناً، وبدون بطاقة ائتمان.

ما هو مجال عملك؟

أي مهنة. أي ولاية.

ملف PDF أو صورة. سنقرأها نيابة عنك حتى لا تضطر للكتابة.