Veterans Alliance is privately owned and operated to serve veterans. We are not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Veterans Alliance — Veterans Alliance
← All Hawaii benefits
licenses & feesstate

Temporary Licence for a Military Spouse — Fees Still Apply, Five Years Maximum

HRS §436B-14.7 says a spouse on a permanent change of station here shall be approved for temporary licensure. The statute also requires payment of all applicable fees, and caps the holding at five years in the aggregate.

Verified August 22, 2026

What this benefit is

HRS §436B-14.7 says a spouse on a permanent change of station here shall be approved for temporary licensure. The statute also requires payment of all applicable fees, and caps the holding at five years in the aggregate.

What it's worth: Mandatory approval for temporary licensure, with expedited consideration

  • The statute names twenty-four professions directly — acupuncturist, behavior analyst, dentist, dispensing optician, hearing aid dealer and fitter, marriage and family therapist, mental health counselor, certified nurse aide, licensed practical nurse, registered nurse, nursing home administrator, occupational therapist, optometrist, pharmacist, naturopathic physician, osteopathic physician, physician, physician assistant, podiatrist, psychologist, respiratory therapist, social worker, speech pathologist and audiologist, and veterinary technician.
  • Anything outside that list is still reachable where the licensing authority determines the other jurisdiction’s licensure requirements are equivalent to or exceed this State’s.
  • Subsection (a)(9) requires the applicant to pay all applicable fees. There is no fee waiver in this section.
  • Subsection (e) caps the total time a person may hold a licence issued under it at five years in the aggregate, or the period covered by the military member’s orders of assignment here — whichever binds first.

This record exists to correct a myth. Published summaries get this Hawaii benefit wrong. The record below is what the source actually says.

Who is entitled to it

  • The statute reaches a person married to an active duty member accompanying them on orders here.
  • Your home is in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

  1. 1Check the one-year rule before anything else: the statute requires you to have been licensed or certified by another U.S. jurisdiction for at least one year, current, active and in good standing without conditions or restrictions everywhere you hold a licence.
  2. 2Prepare the signed affidavit the statute requires under (a)(11), covering education, examination and experience, prior employment and the criminal history record check. A false statement in it is grounds to revoke the licence at any time.
  3. 3Disclose any past discipline. The statute lets the authority satisfy itself that the terms and conditions of discipline elsewhere are resolved before issuing.
  4. 4Budget for the fees. The statute requires payment of all applicable fees, and no part of this route is free.
  5. 5Ask the licensing authority to expedite — subsection (d) requires the authority to expedite consideration of the application and issuance for a person who meets the section’s requirements.
File with
Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Professional and Vocational Licensing
Periodic recertification
Confirmed at intervals rather than annually.
Worth knowingA separate section covers the servicemember rather than the spouse. §436B-14.5 restores a licence that expired, was forfeited or went delinquent while the member was on active duty and deployed during a state or national crisis, on payment of the current renewal fee — if the request comes within 120 days of discharge or release from that deployment, with the orders and the discharge or release orders attached.
Worth knowing§436B-14.5 does not reach scheduled annual or specialised training, and it does not reach a licence that was suspended or revoked. It does reach a licence that is still current but will expire within 120 days of release.
Worth knowingAcceptance of military education, training or service toward licensure was repealed effective 30 June 2022 — chapter 436B carries the note itself. Any guide that still lists it is describing law that no longer exists.
Known gapThe licensing division’s own military page could not be located this session, so the fee amounts and processing times behind the statute are unread and none are published here.

Sources

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.