Living in New York, working in California
Can a New York nurse work in California?
Neither New York nor California is a compact state, so the Nurse Licensure Compact does not apply to this move. You will need an active California license — typically by endorsement — to work in California.
New York vs California at a glance
| New York (home) | California (work) | |
|---|---|---|
| Compact status | Non-compact | Non-compact |
| Multistate license for residents | No | No |
| Compact nurses can practice here | No | No |
| Board of nursing | New York board ↗ | California board ↗ |
Status shown as of 2026-06-17. Compact law changes — confirm anything that affects your license with the state board.
Recommended next step
Apply for licensure by endorsement with the California Board of Registered Nursing.
Going the other way?
New York and California hold the same compact status, so the answer runs the same way in reverse — but the boards, the statutes and the license lookups are still each state’s own. See California to New York for that side of it.
Verify before you rely on this
Whether you can practice comes down to your actual license type, not just the two states’ status. Look your license up on Nursys to confirm it is single-state or multistate, then check California’s current requirements with the California Board of Registered Nursing.
Where each license is actually checked
These two states do not verify the same way, and the difference matters at different moments: New York is what you will be asked to produce, California is what an employer there will run.
Your home state
New York
NYSED Office of the Professions verification ↗The Office of the Professions treats its online search as a primary source for verification. The part that catches people applying INTO New York is that the route depends on whether the state that issued your license participates in Nursys. Where it does, verification travels electronically. Where it does not, New York falls back to a paper instrument — Form 3, the Verification of Other Professional Licensure — which you send to your original licensing authority to complete and return to NYSED. That is a materially slower path, and it is chosen by your ISSUING state, not by you. We are deliberately not reproducing a list of non-participating states here: the lists published by different authorities disagree with each other, and at least one names a state whose own board documents its Nursys service. Check Nursys for your specific state rather than trusting any list, including ours.
Where you want to work
California
California BRN license verification ↗California is not a compact state, so its own lookup — not a multistate designation — is what matters here.
Things to keep in mind
- The compact is not involved when neither state participates.
Frequently asked questions
Related pages
Sources & last reviewed
- NLC frequently asked questions— NCSBN / NurseCompact (nursecompact.com)
Covers multistate licenses, primary state of residence, the 60-day rule, telehealth, and license type coverage.
- NLC member states map & status— NCSBN / NurseCompact (nursecompact.com)
Identifies full members, partial implementation (Guam), and enacted/awaiting implementation (Massachusetts, U.S. Virgin Islands).
- Nursys QuickConfirm license verification— NCSBN / Nursys (nursys.com)
Recommended destination to verify whether a license is single-state or multistate.
Facts on this page were last reviewed against official sources on 2026-06-17. Compact law changes — always verify with your state board of nursing.