Arizona Board of Nursing: License Lookup, Renewal & Contact

The Arizona Board of Nursing (officially the Arizona State Board of Nursing, or AZBN) licenses every RN and LPN in the state and certifies nurse practitioners and other APRNs. An endorsement application costs $150, licenses renew every four years for $160, and Arizona is a compact state. Below: steps, fees, lookup and contacts.

Key Takeaways

• Licensing by exam costs $300 to AZBN plus $200 for the NCLEX. Endorsement from another state costs $150. Both add a background check of up to $50.
• RN and LPN licenses renew every four years on or before April 1 under A.R.S. §32-1642, not in your birth month, for $160.
• Arizona has no CE hour quota for RNs and LPNs. You prove 960 practice hours in the past five years or an approved alternative.
• Arizona is in the Nurse Licensure Compact. Nurses moving here from another compact state should apply within 60 days.
• Paper fingerprint cards take 8 to 12 weeks to clear, against about 30 days for electronic prints taken in Arizona.
• Arizona holds 117,495 active RN licenses, the largest workforce among its compact neighbors.

The Verdict: Arizona is one of the easier western boards to work with, as long as your fingerprints are in order. Keeping a license costs about $40 a year, there is no CE hour count, and a multistate license from Colorado, Utah or New Mexico already covers you here if you live in that state. Most delays trace back to fingerprints: mail a paper card and the permanent license can sit for two to three months waiting on background results.

How do you get an Arizona nursing license?

You apply through the AZBN Nurse Portal, pay the fee, upload proof of citizenship or lawful presence, submit fingerprints for state and federal background checks, and have your school send an official transcript. New graduates then pass the NCLEX. Nurses licensed elsewhere verify their current license through Nursys instead.

1. Open an account in the Nurse Portal and pick the right application: exam ($300) for new graduates, endorsement ($150) if you hold a license in another state.
2. Upload citizenship or alien status documents. Every applicant does this under A.R.S. §41-1080, with no exceptions.
3. Get fingerprinted. Electronic prints taken in Arizona clear in about 30 days. Out of state, the only paper card AZBN accepts is the blue and white FD-258, which takes 8 to 12 weeks. Prints submitted to AZBN in the past two years can be reused.
4. Have your school send an official transcript and certificate of completion directly to the Board. Internationally educated nurses use TruMerit, ERES or Josef Silny.
5. Prove the exam. New graduates register for the NCLEX-RN or NCLEX-PN with Pearson VUE. Endorsement applicants request verification from their original state through Nursys for $30.

Internationally educated nurses also need an English test unless they trained in an English-speaking country or logged 960 hours in one. AZBN accepts IELTS at 6.5, Pearson PTE at 55, and TOEFL at 84 for tests taken before January 2026 or an overall 4.5 on the new scale after that.

Watch out: AZBN will not issue a permanent license until fingerprint results come back, and a mailed card can add two months on its own. If you live outside Arizona, mail the FD-258 the same day you submit the application. Do not wait for the Board to ask for it.

What does an Arizona nursing license cost?

Licensing by exam costs $300 to AZBN, plus $200 for the NCLEX and up to $50 for the background check, so about $550 in total. Endorsement costs $150 plus the background check and a $30 Nursys verification. RN and LPN renewal is $160 every four years. All fees are non-refundable.

Spread over the four-year cycle, keeping an RN or LPN license costs $40 a year. Some guides still quote $100 for the exam route. On the current AZBN schedule $100 is the re-exam fee; first-time exam and licensure is a combined $300, and the NCLEX registration is a separate $200.

How long does the Arizona Board of Nursing take to issue a license?

Arizona publishes legal maximums, not averages. Under rule R4-19-102 the Board has 30 business days to check that a file is complete and 150 business days overall when there is no investigation. In practice the fingerprint result usually sets the pace: about 30 days electronic, 8 to 12 weeks on paper.

If you need to work sooner, endorsement applicants have two temporary options, each $50. The standard temporary license takes about 30 business days and requires your fingerprints already on file. The 48-hour emergency temporary license is for nurses with an active, unencumbered license elsewhere and a job offer letter dated within seven days of the start date.

Both temporary routes close if you answer yes to any disciplinary question. A disclosure sends the file to full review, where the overall limit stretches to 270 business days.

Pro tip: the 48-hour license is not a shortcut you can request early. AZBN wants the offer letter dated within seven days of your first shift, so ask the employer to issue it the week you start, then file the same day.

How do you verify an Arizona nursing license?

For an RN, LPN or APRN, use Nursys QuickConfirm, which is free for employers and the public. AZBN uploads its data every business day and treats Nursys as a primary source equivalent. For CNAs, LNAs, medication assistants, health aides and school nurses, use the AZBN license lookup instead.

• To check an Arizona RN or LPN license: Nursys QuickConfirm, searching by name or license number. The data comes straight from AZBN and refreshes every business day.
• To check a nurse practitioner: the APRN certificate also sits in Nursys. Prescribing and dispensing authority is a separate AZBN credential, so confirm it before relying on an NP to prescribe.
• To check a CNA or LNA: the AZBN Verification Portal, which the Board calls primary source verification for those credentials.
• To send your Arizona license to another state: request Verification for Endorsement through Nursys and pay Nursys $30. AZBN tells applicants not to pay the Board for this.
• To look up a physician instead: doctors are licensed by a different board, covered in our Arizona physician licensing guide.

AZBN acts as the primary source the Joint Commission requires for every Arizona nursing credential, so keep a Nursys report or AZBN lookup in credentialing files, not a copy of the license card.

How do you renew an Arizona nursing license?

You renew online through the Nurse Portal for $160 every four years. Under A.R.S. §32-1642 RNs and LPNs renew on or before April 1 of their renewal year. You can file up to six months early or within 30 days after the due date without a late fee. There is no CE hour requirement.

Instead of CE, Arizona checks recent practice. To renew you need one of the following within the past five years: 960 hours worked as a nurse, graduation from an approved nursing program, an approved refresher course, or an advanced nursing degree. If you fall short, AZBN issues a temporary license at no charge so you can finish a refresher course.

Watch out: many summaries, and Google’s AI answer for this query, say Arizona RN licenses renew by the last day of your birth month. The birth month rule belongs to nursing assistants and medication assistants. For RNs and LPNs the statute sets April 1. Miss May 1 and the late fee starts at $50 a month, capped at $200. Miss August 1 and the license expires, and working on it is a violation.

APRNs renew in two steps: the RN license first, then the APRN certificate, which needs 960 hours of APRN practice in five years and a current national certification. APRNs holding a DEA registration also need at least three hours of CE on opioids, substance use disorder or addiction under A.R.S. §32-3248.02. If you are leaving practice, you can move to inactive or retired status in the Portal at no charge.

Is Arizona a Nurse Licensure Compact state?

Yes. NCSBN, the independent non-profit of state nursing boards, lists Arizona as implementing the enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact on January 19, 2018. Forty-three jurisdictions now belong to the NLC. An RN or LPN whose primary state of residence is Arizona can hold one multistate license that also covers practice in the other member states.

Moving here from another compact state, you should apply by endorsement within 60 days of relocating. Under NCSBN’s moving guidance you may keep working on your former home state license only until Arizona issues yours; then the old one is deactivated. Older guides quote a 30-day limit from the original compact, which no longer applies. A multistate license also requires no state or federal felony convictions.

The compact covers RN and LPN licenses only. The separate APRN Compact takes effect only when seven states enact it, and Arizona has not. AZBN also notes that Arizona prescriptive authority can only be used in Arizona.

How does Arizona compare with its neighbors?

Arizona sits in the middle of a split region. Colorado, Utah and New Mexico are compact states, so their multistate licenses already work here. California and Nevada are not, and their nurses need an Arizona license by endorsement. Our guides to the California Board of Registered Nursing and the Texas nursing board, another southwestern compact state, cover each side.

Real scenario: an ICU nurse living in Albuquerque holds a New Mexico multistate license and picks up shifts in Phoenix. She needs nothing from AZBN. Her colleague commuting from Las Vegas, Nevada, holds a single-state Nevada license and must apply to AZBN by endorsement before working a single Arizona shift.

Travel nurses comparing contracts can use our breakdown of how a compact nursing license works, plus the wider travel nurse licensing rules by state.

What does AZBN require for RN, LPN and APRN licenses?

RNs and LPNs share the same fees, application routes and renewal cycle; the difference is the exam, NCLEX-RN or NCLEX-PN. APRNs are certified on top of an RN license, which can be an Arizona license or a multistate license from another compact state. Each APRN role needs a graduate degree and national certification.

• RN. A Board-approved program, the NCLEX-RN or an earlier State Board Test Pool Exam, fingerprints and lawful presence documents. $300 by exam or $150 by endorsement, $160 renewal.
• LPN. A Board-approved practical nursing program and the NCLEX-PN, with the same fees, documents and four-year cycle as an RN.
• Nurse practitioner, CNM, CNS or CRNA. An RN license in good standing, a graduate degree with a nursing major, national certification and 960 APRN hours in five years or a program finished within five years. $150 per certificate.
• Prescribing and dispensing. A separate $150 authority requiring three semester hours or 45 contact hours of pharmacology within the past three years, plus registration with the Controlled Substances Prescription Monitoring Program under A.R.S. §36-2606.

Under A.R.S. §32-1601, a registered nurse practitioner may prescribe legend drugs, medical devices and controlled substances within the scope of NP practice. Controlled substances also need a federal DEA registration, a step our nurse licensing service often has to chase after the Arizona certificate is already issued.

By the numbers: Arizona carries 117,495 active RN licenses, more than Colorado, Utah and New Mexico individually and about one in every 52 active RN licenses nationwide, per the NCSBN National Nursing Database updated October 1, 2026.

How do you contact the Arizona Board of Nursing?

Call AZBN at (602) 771-7800, Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Arizona time, or visit 1740 W Adams Street, Suite 2000, Phoenix, AZ 85007. Application and renewal status is in your Nurse Portal account. Complaints about a nurse go through the Board’s online Complaint Portal.

For scope of practice questions, the Board points nurses to its advisory opinions and the Nurse Practice Act first, then to an online Scope of Practice form.

In our experience helping nurses license across all 50 states, Arizona files rarely stall on eligibility. They stall on three documents: a paper fingerprint card in the mail, a transcript the school has not sent, and a Nursys verification never ordered from the home state. We start all three in week one.

Frequently asked questions

This article provides general guidance only. Nursing licensing requirements change frequently and vary by state. Always verify current requirements with the Arizona State Board of Nursing at azbn.gov before submitting your application. Last fact-checked: October 1, 2026.

Written by Medicallicensing Team · Reviewed by David Ivaniuk, CEO Medicallicensing · Last updated: October 1, 2026 · Last fact-checked: October 1, 2026

About the reviewer

David Ivaniuk is the CEO of Medicallicensing, a licensing services company that has helped physicians, PAs, nurses, and other healthcare professionals navigate state licensing, DEA registration, and payer enrollment across all 50 U.S. states.

References

1. Arizona State Board of Nursing. “Apply for a License.” Retrieved October 1, 2026. azbn.gov.
2. Arizona State Board of Nursing. “Agency Fees.” Retrieved October 1, 2026. azbn.gov.
3. Arizona State Board of Nursing. “Renew your License.” Retrieved October 1, 2026. azbn.gov.
4. Arizona State Board of Nursing. “Primary Source Verification.” Retrieved October 1, 2026. azbn.gov.
5. Arizona State Legislature. “A.R.S. §32-1642, Renewal of license.” Retrieved October 1, 2026. azleg.gov.
6. NCSBN. “Active RN Licenses.” Retrieved October 1, 2026. ncsbn.org.
7. NCSBN. “Nurse Licensure Compact” and “Moving Scenarios: Relocating to Another State.” Retrieved October 1, 2026. nursecompact.com.
8. NCSBN. “South Dakota Enacts APRN Compact.” Retrieved October 1, 2026. ncsbn.org.
9. NCSBN. “NCLEX Fees and Payment.” Retrieved October 1, 2026. nclex.com.