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For registered nurses moving to West Virginia

How to Transfer Your Nursing License to West Virginia

Is West Virginia a nurse compact state? Yes. West Virginia 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 West Virginia without another license, and a nurse who lives in West Virginia applies for the multistate license there. A nurse from a state outside the compact needs a West Virginia license from the West Virginia Board of Registered Nurses, by endorsement for a nurse licensed in another state. (NCSBN, read 9 Nov 2026.)

Yes
Compact state
924
RN jobs in West Virginia
$41.44
Median posted RN pay

What the West Virginia Board of Registered Nurses 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
The official fee schedule lists RN and APRN endorsement at $125, which includes the temporary permit; fee waivers do not apply to endorsement, and NURSYS verification is paid to NURSYS (no amount stated).
Temporary permit
Yes: the $125 endorsement fee includes a temporary permit.
Fingerprints
A fingerprint-based criminal background check is required.
License verification
Official verification through NURSYS; if the original state does not participate in NURSYS, a paper verification form is sent directly to that state board.
Requirements
An active, unencumbered RN license in another U.S. state, a completed online endorsement application through the Nurse Portal, proof of primary state of residence (driver's license, voter registration card or tax return), and state and federal fingerprinting through IdentoGO.
Renewal
RN renewal is biennial at $90 per the fee schedule.
“This pathway is for nurses holding an active, unencumbered RN license in another U.S. state, territory, or jurisdiction who are relocating or applying to practice in West Virginia.”

From the West Virginia Board of Registered Nurses's own page, read 9 Nov 2026: wvrnboard.wv.gov (source: West Virginia Board of Registered Nurses). 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.

What West Virginia law requires

  • Limits on mandatory overtime

    Hospitals may not mandate nurse overtime, with exceptions for unforeseen emergencies, on-call time, a procedure in progress and certain union agreements; 16 hours in 24 is the cap (covers nurses in hospitals).

    “a hospital is prohibited from mandating a nurse, directly or through coercion, to accept an assignment of overtime” W. Va. Code § 21-5F-3 (source: W. Va. Code § 21-5F-3)

From West Virginia's own code or health department, read 9 Nov 2026. What West Virginia's hospitals state for their units is on its nurse-to-patient ratio page, and every state's law is on the ratio hub.

Nurses alerts

Nurses in West Virginia: new openings every week

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

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Nursing jobs in West Virginia today

924 registered nurse and 199 LPN jobs are open in West Virginia on this board, read every night from each employer's own job board.

Transferring a nursing license to West Virginia: common questions

Is West Virginia a nurse compact state?

Yes. West Virginia 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 West Virginia without another license, and a nurse who lives in West Virginia applies for the multistate license there. A nurse from a state outside the compact needs a West Virginia license from the West Virginia Board of Registered Nurses, by endorsement for a nurse licensed in another state. (NCSBN, read 9 Nov 2026.)

How do I transfer my nursing license to West Virginia?

If your home state is another compact state and you keep living there, your multistate license already lets you work in West Virginia. If you move to West Virginia, apply to the West Virginia Board of Registered Nurses for its multistate license. If your license is from a state outside the compact, apply to the West Virginia Board of Registered Nurses 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 West Virginia?

The same way: the compact covers LPN/VNs too, so a multistate LPN license from a compact home state works in West Virginia; otherwise apply for a license by endorsement to the West Virginia State Board of Examiners for Licensed Practical Nurses, which licenses practical and vocational nurses there (not the RN board). Its own page states the LPN fee, which differs from the RN fee above. LPN jobs in West Virginia.

Can I work in West Virginia while my license is processed?

By the West Virginia Board of Registered Nurses's own page: Yes: the $125 endorsement fee includes a temporary permit.

How much do registered nurses make in West Virginia?

Open registered nurse jobs in West Virginia that post an hourly rate pay $38.50–$48.43 an hour in the middle half, median $41.44 (49 jobs from 13 employers on this board today).

Can a hospital in West Virginia make nurses work mandatory overtime?

West Virginia law limits it: Hospitals may not mandate nurse overtime, with exceptions for unforeseen emergencies, on-call time, a procedure in progress and certain union agreements; 16 hours in 24 is the cap (covers nurses in hospitals). (W. Va. Code § 21-5F-3) The law's own words are on this page.

Do employers in West Virginia offer relocation assistance?

26 open healthcare jobs in West Virginia 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 West Virginia?

By open jobs on this board today: WVU Medicine (431), Marshall Health Network (106), Advantis Medical (70), ARMStaffing (65), Cross Country Healthcare (38), TRS Healthcare (36). Every RN job in West Virginia.

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 West Virginia.

  1. NCSBN Nurse Licensure Compact map (nursecompact.com), read 9 Nov 2026, published 9 Nov 2026
  2. West Virginia Board of Registered Nurses: 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 West Virginia. Data as of 9 Nov 2026. https://carejobs.now/transfer-nursing-license/west-virginia

How the board counts