Straight answers on what each state actually requires, what it costs, and how long it takes — written for clinicians who are trying to work somewhere new and cannot get a clear answer out of a board website. No gate, no form, no sign-up.
Some do, most of the ones people assume do not. Nursing, physical and occupational therapy, speech-language pathology and psychology have working interstate compacts — one multistate license, practice across member states. Respiratory therapy, imaging, pharmacy and clinical social work have no working compact at all, so every state means a fresh application.
Physicians are the confusing case: the medical compact expedites getting several separate licenses. It is not portability. Each state still issues and regulates its own.
Licensed in 49 states, no compact. Alaska becomes the fiftieth when its provisions take effect in January 2027.
Temporary permit available for up to 12 months if you are licensed elsewhere.
Read the guide →More states in progress. If yours is not here yet, ask us — we will tell you the current timeline directly.
Assignments in states where licenses do not transfer consistently pay more, because the pool of clinicians who can legally take them is smaller. A respiratory therapist licensed in three states has access to work that a therapist licensed in one does not, and the rate difference is real.
The same logic applies to nursing in the thirteen non-compact jurisdictions — California, New York, Oregon, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, DC, Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands. Those markets stay short precisely because supply cannot flow into them freely.
If you take an assignment through us we cover qualifying application fees, prepare and file the application with you rather than emailing you a link, pursue a temporary permit where the state offers one, and chase it to issuance with a weekly update. The license is yours and it stays with you when the contract ends.
Placement is always free to you — our fee is paid by the facility.
Tell us where you are licensed and where you want to work. We will give you the realistic timeline, whether or not we have an assignment for you.