• You hold a current, active Nursing license of the same type in another jurisdiction (state, U.S. territory or District of Columbia).
• You have never held a Delaware Nursing license of the same type.
• You are not a resident of a nurse licensure compact state OR you currently reside in a nurse licensure compact state but plan to move to Delaware or to a non-compact state.

If you have ever held a Delaware license, complete the Application for Reinstatement of RN or LPN License instead.

If you never held a Delaware RN/LPN license and do not hold a current, active RN/LPN license in another jurisdiction, contact the Board office for guidance. 

Requirements for All Applicants

• Submit completed, signed and notarized Application for Licensure as a Registered Nurse or Practical Nurse by Endorsement. Forms that are incomplete, unsigned or not notarized will be rejected.

• Enclose the processing fee by check or money order made payable to “State of Delaware.”

• Enclose a copy of your driver’s license or official identification card from the Division of Motor Vehicles.

• Enclose a photocopy of your current nursing license from another jurisdiction.  You may send a printout of your state's online verification if it shows the expiration date.
  • License must show an expiration date.
  • If there is a signature section on your license, sign it before copying.
  • If the other jurisdiction where you are currently licensed is not a nurse licensure compact state (listed below), your license must remain current throughout the entire endorsement process.  The compact states are: 

  Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin

• Complete the Authorization for Release of Information form to request a criminal background check.  Follow the instructions on the authorization form to arrange to be fingerprinted.   You must complete this requirement even if you recently had a criminal background check done for some other reason.

• Arrange for the Board office to receive Nursing Reference Form(s) as follows:

  • If you have been employed as the same type of nurse for which you are applying for at least the past six months, send a form to each nursing employer where you worked during the past six months.
  • If you have not been employed as the same type of nurse for which you are applying for at least the past six months but you graduated from your nursing program within the past two years, send a form to your nursing school for completion.
  • If you have not been employed for at least the past six months and you did not graduate from nursing school within the past two years but you were employed as the same type of nurse for which you are now applying within the past five years, send a form to your most recent nursing employer(s) where you worked for at least six months.
  • After completing the form, the employer(s) (or nursing school) must return the form by mail directly to the Board office. Forms received from you will be rejected.
  • If the Board office receives an incomplete Nursing Reference Form from your employer because it is your employer’s policy not to comment on performance, the Board office will contact you to submit a copy of your most recent employee evaluation. Obtain this evaluation yourself; do not ask your employer to forward a copy. This is needed in addition to, not instead of, the Nursing Reference Form.

• Provide verification of original licensure by examination.  How you do this depends on whether the jurisdiction where you were licensed utilizes the Nursys databank.  Jurisdictions that utilize Nursys are:

  Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Guam, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana- Registered Nurse, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia-Practical Nurse, Wisconsin, Wyoming

  • If your original jurisdiction of licensure is listed above, go to www.nursys.com and complete the Nursys Verification Request. 
  • If your original jurisdiction of licensure is not listed above, complete the Verification of Original Licensure form and send it to the Board of Nursing in the jurisdiction where you were licensed by examination.   Contact that jurisdiction to find out if there is a fee.

• If you graduated from a nursing program outside the United States, provide a copy of your CGFNS certificate or CES report.

• If you have never been issued a U.S. Social Security Number (SSN), submit a Request for Exemption from Social Security Number Requirement.

Requirements for a Temporary Permit

Apply for a Temporary Permit only if you have an offer of employment and plan to start the employment before the endorsement process is completed (4-6 weeks). Your prospective place of employment must be in Delaware unless:

• you are a Delaware resident, and
• your employment will be in another compact state (listed above).

To apply:

• Complete the TEMPORARY PERMIT section of the application.
  • Do not begin orientation or employment until you are assigned a temporary permit number.
  • If you are also applying for an APN license and need an APN Temporary Permit, apply only for the APN Temporary; do not complete the Temporary Permit section of the Endorsement application. 

• Enclose temporary permit fee by check or money order made payable to “State of Delaware.”
  • This fee is in addition to the processing fee for the application.
  • There is no additional fee for a permit extension.

• Enclose a photocopy of your job offer letter.

• The Board office must receive results of the criminal background check before issuing a temporary license.

The temporary permit is issued for 90 days and may be extended.