Skip to content

For registered nurses moving to Alabama

How to Transfer Your Nursing License to Alabama

Is Alabama a nurse compact state? Yes. Alabama is in the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC): a nurse whose home state is a compact state and who holds its multistate license can work in Alabama without another license, and a nurse who lives in Alabama applies for the multistate license there. A nurse from a state outside the compact needs a Alabama license from the Alabama Board of Nursing, by endorsement for a nurse licensed in another state. (NCSBN, read 9 Nov 2026.)

Yes
Compact state
1,635
RN jobs in Alabama
$39
Median posted RN pay

What the Alabama Board of Nursing asks

Licensure by endorsement for a registered nurse licensed in another state, as the board's own page states it (read 9 Nov 2026).

Fee
$125 single-state license application fee (the multistate license is $225), plus a $3.50 credit or debit card transaction fee; the page names no separate fingerprint fee.
Fingerprints
A fingerprint-based criminal background check is required.
License verification
Nursys where the original state participates, otherwise the Board's Request for Verification of Nursing License form; the page states no verification fee.
Requirements
Graduation from an RN or PN program that substantially meets Alabama's criteria, a valid Social Security Number, U.S. citizenship or legal residency, and 24 contact hours of CE earned within the past 24 months.
Good to know
The page lists both a single-state ($125) and a multistate ($225) fee; do not submit supporting documents before the application and fee payment are complete.
“Application: SSL: $125 / MSL: $225”

From the Alabama Board of Nursing's own page, read 9 Nov 2026: abn.alabama.gov (source: Alabama Board of Nursing). Fees change: the board's page on the day you apply is the one that counts.

The steps

What every move takes; the board's page above says what it asks in each.

  1. Check whether your home state and the new state are both in the Nurse Licensure Compact: if both are and you keep living in your home state, your multistate license already lets you work there.
  2. If you are moving your home to the new state and it is a compact state, apply for its multistate license; if it is outside the compact, apply to its board of nursing for a license by endorsement.
  3. Have your current license verified to the new board, through Nursys where your state takes part in it.
  4. Complete the background check the board asks for (most ask for fingerprints) and any state exam or course it names.
  5. Pay the board's fee and, where the board offers one, ask for a temporary permit so you can start work while the application is processed.

Nurses alerts

Nurses in Alabama: new openings every week

A weekly email with the newest Nurses openings in Alabama, taken from the employers' own careers sites. Free, stop anytime.

Only job openings in your inbox. Leave anytime with one click.

Nursing jobs in Alabama today

1,635 registered nurse and 246 LPN jobs are open in Alabama on this board, read every night from each employer's own job board.

Transferring a nursing license to Alabama: common questions

Is Alabama a nurse compact state?

Yes. Alabama is in the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC): a nurse whose home state is a compact state and who holds its multistate license can work in Alabama without another license, and a nurse who lives in Alabama applies for the multistate license there. A nurse from a state outside the compact needs a Alabama license from the Alabama Board of Nursing, by endorsement for a nurse licensed in another state. (NCSBN, read 9 Nov 2026.)

How do I transfer my nursing license to Alabama?

If your home state is another compact state and you keep living there, your multistate license already lets you work in Alabama. If you move to Alabama, apply to the Alabama Board of Nursing for its multistate license. If your license is from a state outside the compact, apply to the Alabama Board of Nursing for a license by endorsement ($125 by its own page): have your license verified through Nursys, complete the background check, and pay the fee.

How do I transfer an LPN or LVN license to Alabama?

The same way: the compact covers LPN/VNs too, so a multistate LPN license from a compact home state works in Alabama; otherwise apply for a license by endorsement to the Alabama Board of Nursing. Its own page states the LPN fee, which differs from the RN fee above. LPN jobs in Alabama.

How much do registered nurses make in Alabama?

Open registered nurse jobs in Alabama that post an hourly rate pay $38.27–$43.80 an hour in the middle half, median $39 (233 jobs from 25 employers on this board today).

Do employers in Alabama offer relocation assistance?

28 open healthcare jobs in Alabama offer relocation help in their own posting today, each quoting the offer (a set amount, reimbursement or a package); ask for the terms in writing before you accept.

Who is hiring registered nurses in Alabama?

By open jobs on this board today: HH Health System (476), UAB Medicine (276), CHS (Community Health Systems) (164), DCH Health Care Authority (93), Southeast Health (45), Jackson Hospital and Clinic (41). Every RN job in Alabama.

Sources and method

The compact status is NCSBN's map on the day read. The board's rules are its own page's words, shown only where the page states them; a sentence of it is checked against the page every week, and a change is read again. The jobs and pay are the registered nurse jobs open on this board in Alabama.

  1. NCSBN Nurse Licensure Compact map (nursecompact.com), read 9 Nov 2026, published 9 Nov 2026
  2. Alabama Board of Nursing: licensure by endorsement, read 9 Nov 2026; checked again every week for the sentence quoted, published 9 Nov 2026
  3. CareJobs.Now job board: open jobs read every night from each employer's own careers site

Cite this page

CareJobs.Now. (2026). How to Transfer Your Nursing License to Alabama. Data as of 9 Nov 2026. https://carejobs.now/transfer-nursing-license/alabama

How the board counts