Licensure – Renewal Information

Ready to renew your Texas nursing license?

You must login to your Texas Nurse Portal account and access, complete, and submit the appropriate renewal application along with the appropriate application processing fee to renew or reactivate your Texas nursing license.

Please note that the timely license renewal application will not be visible in your Texas Nurse Portal account unless the expiration date of your active Texas nursing license is within sixty (60) days.

• If your license is within the eligible 60-day timeframe, you will see a pale-yellow alert box at the top your Texas Nurse Portal account dashboard upon login that reads:

Need general information regarding renewal?

Detailed information regarding renewal topics is available for your review below.

License Renewal – Purpose and Eligibility

To maintain a permanent Texas nursing license, you are required to renew your license by submitting the appropriate renewal application, application processing fee, and any/all requested supporting materials on or prior to the license expiration date.

• All applications and application processing fees must be submitted through an active Texas Nurse Portal
• You and the public may verify your license (including the expiration date) on the Board’s website at any time here.

You may only renew an unencumbered (not disciplined) permanent Texas nursing license.

• License/Permit Types Not Eligible for Renewal

Failure to renew your Texas nursing license on or prior to the license expiration date will result in expiration of your Texas nursing license.

• Expired licenses will display a status of “delinquent”.
• It may be helpful to keep in mind that "delinquent" status simply indicates that the license was not renewed and is, therefore, not active/current. It does not indicate or imply discipline was taken against the license, denial of a license, or revocation of a license.

Please keep in mind that nurses may not practice in the state of Texas with a Texas nursing license in “delinquent” status unless they hold a valid, active, unencumbered multistate (compact) issued by another Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) party state.

• General information about the NLC is available on the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) website here.
• Answers to Multistate Recognition FAQs are available on the Board's website here.
• The Texas Board of Nursing does not presently participate in any APRN licensure compact. Therefore, any nurse who wishes to practice as an APRN in the state of Texas must maintain an active Texas APRN license to do so without exception.

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When can I renew my active Texas nursing license?

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Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) Requirements for Renewal

Continuing competency is addressed in Board Rule 216 and contains complete information on all of the requirements.  All nurses who wish to maintain an active Texas license are required to demonstrate continuing competency as outlined in Board Rule 216.3 for relicensure. 

Please review the detailed information regarding the CNE requirements available at the following hyperlinks:

• Education - Continuing Competency Requirements
• Frequently Asked Questions - Continuing Education & Competency
• Anatomy of an Acceptable CNE Completion Certificate

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Inactive/Retired Status

If you hold a current (i.e. active) Texas nursing license but do not wish to renew your license, per Board Rule 217.9 and Board Rule 221.9, you have the option to place your Texas RN, LVN, or APRN license in "inactive" or "retired" status if you no longer wish to maintain an active license.

If you fail to renew your Texas nursing license or place it in either “inactive” or “retired” status prior to the license expiration date, your license will expire and enter “delinquent” status.

• For more information regarding inactive and retired status, please view this fact sheet.

Per Board Rule 217.9(e), in addition to “inactive” and “retired” status, there is a third option available known as “Volunteer Retired” for retired health care practitioners whose only practice is voluntary charity care.

As outlined in the above-referenced Board Rule, to qualify for “volunteer retired status”:

• The nurse must claim Texas as their Primary State of Residence (PSOR) per Board Rule 217.9(e)(1)(A).
• The nurse must comply with the appropriate continuing competency requirements as outlined in Board Rule 217.9(e)(1)(B).
• Practice must be within the prescribed Scope of Authorization and without compensation or expectation of compensation as a direct service volunteer of a charitable organization.
  • Scope of Authorization for LVN or RN is outlined in Board Rule 219.7(e)(3).
  • Scope of Authorization for APRN is outlined in Board Rule 219.7(e)(4).
  • A “charitable organization” is defined in Board Rule 219.7(e)(5).
• To maintain a license in “volunteer retired” status, the nurse must renew their license per Board Rule 219.7(e)(6).

Additional information regarding “volunteer retired” status is available on the Texas Board of Nursing website here for your review.

If you have questions regarding the difference between inactive, retired, and volunteer retired status, please review this comparison chart.

If you wish to place your license in “inactive” status, you must submit the Inactivate Application via the Texas Nurse Portal.

• The application is available in your account by clicking the “Inactivate your License” button in the “Your Licenses with Texas” section of your account’s dashboard.
• You will then click the “Inactivate Application” link on the right-hand side of the screen.
  • Separate Inactivate Applications would be required for each license you wish to place in this status.

If you wish to place your license in “retired” or “volunteer retired” status, you must submit the Retire Application via the Texas Nurse Portal.

• The application is available in your account by clicking the “Inactivate your License” button in the “Your Licenses with Texas” section of your account’s dashboard.
• You will then click the “Retire Application” link on the right-hand side of the screen.
  • Question #9 of the application will ask you to identify if you are requesting either “Retired” or “Volunteer Retired” status.
  • Separate Retire Applications would be required for each license you wish to place in this status.

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Renewal Process for Active Licenses (Timely Renewal)

If you hold an active Texas nursing license, you are eligible to complete the timely renewal process.

• For more information regarding the timely RN/LVN Renewal process, please view this fact sheet.
• For more information regarding the timely APRN Renewal process, please view this fact sheet.

NOTE: If your license expiration date is within the 60-day timeframe referenced above but you do not have access to the renewal application in your Texas Nurse Portal account, it is likely that you have been selected for a continuing nursing education (CNE) audit and have not completed the audit process.

You are required to pass the audit for your Texas nursing license renewal application becomes available to you.

• Information about the audit process is available on the Board's website here for your reference.
• If you have questions about the audit and/or renewal process, please contact the Board via the Texas Nurse Portal Message Center (please use category: RN/LVN – Renewal Reinstatement)
• If you encounter a technical issue with your Texas Board of Nursing Lifelong Learning Account where you are required to complete the audit, please contact eStrategy Solutions, Inc. (eSS) by visiting https://portal.esslearning.com/bon/ and clicking the “Help” button in the top right corner of the webpage.
• For more information regarding the CNE requirements for license renewal please visit our Continuing Nursing Education and Competency page here.

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Renewal Process for Delinquent, Inactive, or Retired Licenses (License Reactivation)

If your Texas nursing license is presently in “delinquent”, “inactive”, or “retired” and you intend to reactivate your Texas nursing license, you will need to complete the reactivation process.

• For more information regarding the RN/LVN Reactivation process, please view this fact sheet.
• For more information regarding the APRN Reactivation process, please view this fact sheet.

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Expired/Inactive Prescriptive (RX) Authority

If you do not request renewal of your prescriptive (RX) authority on your APRN license renewal/reactivation application, your RX authority will not be renewed along with your Texas APRN license and, therefore, will expire due to non-renewal.

If you have recently renewed your license and the license expiration date has been extended but the RX Authority was not renewed and maintains its previous expiration date, you may contact the Renewal Department via your Texas Nurse Portal account’s Message Center (please use category: APRN – Renewal Reinstatement) submitting a correction of your recent renewal application to request renewal of your RX Authority.

Once your RX Authority has expired, if you wish to reactivate your RX authority, you will need to submit a PA Reinstatement Application through your Texas Nurse Portal account.

• To access this application, click the drop-down on the bottom right of your licensing information section in the Texas Nurse Portal.
• There is no processing fee associated with the PA Reinstatement application.

Please be advised that the application will ask you to provide a copy of your current APRN national certification and evidence of completion of at least five (5) contact hours of acceptable pharmacology continuing nursing education (CNE) within the past twenty-four (24) calendar months.

• Both documents are required as part of this application even if you submitted the same/similar documents in support of another recent application.
• Regarding your pharmacology CNE:
• You may find it helpful to review the What CNE is Acceptable? section of the Board's website for more information.
• Please also keep in mind that Board Rule 216.4 states: "Proof of successful completion shall contain the name of the provider; the program title, date, and location; number of contact hours; provider number; and the name of the credentialing agency."

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Renewal Application Processing Timeframes

Following submission of any type of license renewal/reactivation/inactivation application, please allow up to fifteen (15) business days from the date of the Board's receipt for internal review and processing by staff.

• Please note that the BON observes the State of Texas Holiday Schedule and such offices closures (in addition to weekend days – Saturday and Sunday) do not count as business days.

There is no method of expediting the review process; your patience is greatly appreciated. 

• NOTE: Board staff will not be able to advise on the status of your application or what, if any additional, information is needed until the initial review of your application is complete.

If additional information/documentation is needed as an outcome of staff’s review of your application, the specific requirement(s) will be identified in your Texas Nurse Portal application status and you will be notified via the Texas Nurse Portal Message Center to provide additional details.

• Please allow Board staff up to 15 business days from the date of our receipt of your incoming submission for internal review and processing.

Please monitor your application status in your Texas Nurse Portal account. If you do not see an update to your account within 15 business days of the Board’s receipt of your submission, please contact the Renewal Department via the Texas Nurse Portal Message Center.

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Verification of Texas Nursing Licensure Requests

Please be advised that the Texas Board of Nursing (“BON” or “Board”) discontinued sending paper and/or electronic verifications to other U.S. state boards of nursing as the relevant license information is available to domestic nursing boards in Nursys. 

• As of the drafting of this message, our office is unaware of any domestic state board of nursing that does not accept Nursys verifications for LVN/LPN, RN, or APRN licensure.

Based on the above:

NOTES:

• Processing of your emailed request will be delayed if any of the information on the form is omitted and the request will be considered incomplete. You must ensure you are providing all required information outlined above for the most efficient processing.
• The Board asks that licensees allow up to fifteen (15) business days from the date of the Board's receipt of the request(s) for internal review and processing. 
• Please note that the BON observes the State of Texas Holiday Schedule and such offices closures (in addition to weekend days – Saturday and Sunday) do not count as business days.
• There is no method for expediting this process; your patience is greatly appreciated. 
• Please refrain from submitting duplicate requests.
• If your request has not been processed in 15 business days, please contact the Renewal Department via Texas Nurse Portal Message Center (category: RN/LVN – Renewal/Reinstatement).

Lastly, please be advised that the BON does not provide NCLEX pass results/Candidate reports to other agencies under our current policies and procedures. Requests of this type will not be processed by Board staff.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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Still Have Questions?

You may reach the Renewal Department via:

• Texas Nurse Portal Message Center
• For RN/LVN inquiries, please use category: RN/LVN – Renewal/Reinstatement
• For APRN inquiries, please use category: APRN – Renewal/Reinstatement

If you wish to connect with Board staff via telephone, you may call the Customer Service Department during normal business hours (8:00am – 5:00pm) Monday through Friday at (512) 305-7400

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