Who this applies to
Nurses returning to practice after a lapse, those whose license expired past the renewal grace period, and anyone whose license was placed inactive and now wants it active.
The general process
- Confirm the license’s current status on Nursys.
- Ask your board whether you need renewal or full reinstatement — the cutoff is board-set.
- Complete any required continuing education, refresher, or practice-hours requirement.
- Submit the reinstatement application and fees through the board.
- Do not practice until the license shows active again.
What reinstatement does — and does not — restore
A reinstated license is not automatically the license you had. Multistate status is a separate determination, made against the uniform licensure requirements as they stand now rather than as they stood when you were first licensed — so the honest expectation is that you may get back a single-state license and have to ask separately for the multistate one.
Two things commonly change the answer. The fingerprint-based background check may have to be redone, and it is the step that takes the time. And if anything happened during the gap that would now count as a disqualifying event, the board is assessing you against today’s standard.
If you moved while it was lapsed
This is the case that catches people, because a career gap and a relocation often happen together. Reinstating in the old state gets you that state’s license back — it does not give you a multistate one, because a board can only issue those to its own residents. If you now live somewhere else, the route is applying in your new home state, and whether a multistate license is even available there depends on its compact status. Reinstating a license you no longer need is a fee paid for nothing.
Reinstatement, renewal, reactivation — three different things
Boards use these words precisely and do not treat them as synonyms. Asking for the wrong one is how an application goes to the wrong queue.
- Renewal keeps a current license current, inside the normal cycle.
- Reactivation brings back a license you deliberately placed on inactive status — you elected it, so the route back is usually the shortest.
- Reinstatement is for a license that expired or lapsed beyond the renewal window. You did not elect it, and it is generally the longest route.
Where the line between renewal and reinstatement falls is board-set, and it is worth asking rather than assuming: a license a few weeks past its date is often still renewable.
What varies by state
Whether reinstatement is even required (vs late renewal), CE and practice-hour requirements, fees, and whether a refresher course is needed all vary by board and change. Confirm with your board — we do not publish these figures.