How to transfer your Registered nurse licence to North Dakota (2026)

Registered nurse work in North Dakota is licensed at state level, by the North Dakota Board of Nursing. North Dakota is a member of the Nurse Licensure Compact, so a multistate licence from another compact state works here from the day you arrive. This page says what a registered nurse licensed or working in another state has to do to work in North Dakota, in the order to do it, and what goes wrong when the order is reversed.

How the transfer works

Between two Nurse Licensure Compact states a multistate licence works on day one and you apply for a North Dakota multistate licence once North Dakota is your primary residence. Into a non-compact state, or from one, you apply to North Dakota's board for licensure by endorsement: Nursys verification of your original licence, a fingerprint background check run for North Dakota, the board's fee, and in some states a jurisprudence exam or continuing education proof.

Exam: NCLEX-RN, passed once; it is never retaken for a move.

How long: day one between compact states; six to twelve weeks for endorsement, longer in summer. Fee: $75 to $300 for endorsement plus fingerprinting; Nursys verification is about $30; the current figure is on the licensing body's own site.

What to have ready before you move

• Your Nursys record showing the licence is multistate or single-state
• Fingerprint card or a booked appointment in the new state
• Transcripts if the board asks (some do for endorsement)
• Continuing education certificates for the last renewal period

Start the paperwork before you give notice. Every week the licence is not done is a week you are not paid, and nothing in the process needs you to be in North Dakota already.

What people get wrong

• Assuming a single-state licence is a multistate one; check Nursys before you quote a start date
• Starting the endorsement after giving notice; six to twelve weeks of no income is the usual price
• Practising on a licence from a state you no longer live in after the 30 to 60 day window
• Taking a travel agency's word for licensing; the board decides

Who hires registered nurses in North Dakota

Registered nurses in North Dakota are hired by hospitals, outpatient clinics, home health, hospice, travel nursing agencies and long-term care. The metros with the most of that work are Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks and Minot. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are on the North Dakota openings page.

For the money side: the median registered nurse in North Dakota earned $78,260 a year ($38 an hour) in May 2024 across 11,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and North Dakota has a progressive state income tax with a top rate of 2.5%. What that leaves you after tax is its own page.

Everything about North Dakota, on one page

The North Dakota page has the registries and boards, the income tax table, the programs that pay you to come and the openings filed this month. If you know which state you are leaving, the move pages compare the two directly. Creating a free Workmerica profile with your trade and your destination puts you in front of North Dakota employers hiring from out of state.