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Licensure for Veterans and Military Spouses — a Temporary Licence in 180 Days, Once Extendable

Licensing boards must credit military education, training and service toward qualification, and must issue a temporary licence of at least 180 days — extendable once by another 180 — to a qualified person holding a comparable licence elsewhere.

Verified August 22, 2026

What this benefit is

Licensing boards must credit military education, training and service toward qualification, and must issue a temporary licence of at least 180 days — extendable once by another 180 — to a qualified person holding a comparable licence elsewhere.

What it's worth: A temporary licence of at least 180 days, one 180-day extension, and military training credited

  • The value is months of earnings that would otherwise be lost waiting on a board, not a fee saved — §8011 says nothing about fees.
  • The continuing education relief is discretionary: a board MAY exempt a qualified person or accept comparable military training in its place.

Who is entitled to it

  • You are the veteran or servicemember, or their spouse or domestic partner.
  • You are 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

Deadline: A separated veteran must be within three years of an honorable discharge
  1. 1Check the three-year clock first. A "qualified person" on the veteran route is someone within three years of an honorable discharge — and their spouse or domestic partner reaches it on the same basis. Active duty members and their spouses or domestic partners qualify without that limit.
  2. 2Ask for the temporary licence explicitly if you already hold a valid comparable licence elsewhere. The board must issue one for at least 180 days, and may extend it once by a further 180 — which is how you work while the full application is assessed.
  3. 3Submit your military education, training and service records with the application. Boards must accept education, training or service completed as a member of the armed forces toward the qualifications for licensure.
  4. 4Ask separately about continuing education. A board may exempt you, or accept comparable military training in place of the requirement.
  5. 5Endorsement is the other route: a board may allow a qualified person holding a comparable out-of-state licence to be licensed here by endorsement for the remainder of the original licence term.
  6. 6Good standing is a condition throughout: no pending complaint, no suspension, no restriction on practice, no revoked or surrendered licence.
Form
Licence application, claiming §8011 treatment
File with
The board that regulates your profession, through the Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation
Documents you will need
dd214
At each renewal
Claimed again whenever the underlying licence or registration renews.
CorrectionDomestic partners are named alongside spouses in the statute. Summaries almost always say "military spouses" and stop there, which reads a whole category of applicant out of a right they have.
Worth knowingThe regulator’s own military page adds two things the statute does not: veterans and Gold Star spouses get application processing priority under its veteran preference policy, and someone relocating on military orders may qualify for licensure here under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.

Sources

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