Is Guam a nursing compact state?

What Guam’s compact status means

Guam is in a transitional, partial-implementation stage. Some parts of the compact may apply while others do not.

Practically, that means you should not assume compact privilege works the same way it does in a fully implemented state. Confirm the current rules with the board before you practice.

What Guam residents should know

If Guam is your home, you generally can’t get a Guam-issued multistate license yet — even though nurses visiting from other compact states may be able to practice here. Keep an active Guam license and watch for full implementation.

What nurses coming to Guam should know

An active multistate license from another compact state may let you practice in Guam under partial implementation, but the rules are still settling — confirm with the Guam Board of Nurse Examiners before you start.

When Guam joined the Nurse Licensure Compact

Guam signed the Nurse Licensure Compact into law on March 5, 2021 — signed by Gov. Lourdes “Lou” Leon Guerrero, making Guam the first U.S. territory to enact the NLC.

Guam has enacted the compact but has not finished implementing it. Until implementation completes, Guam residents cannot obtain a Guam multistate license. What Guam does already do is recognize privilege in the other direction: a nurse holding another state’s active multistate license may practice here. Implementation has two halves and Guam has finished one of them, which is why a flat “not a compact state” would be wrong in both directions.

Guam is listed as partially implemented: nurses holding another state’s multistate license may practice in Guam, but Guam residents cannot obtain a Guam-issued multistate license until full implementation. NCSBN has not published a start date for the privilege phase or a target for full implementation, so both date fields stay null rather than guessing.

Sourced from ncsbn.org. See the full NLC adoption timeline for every jurisdiction’s dates and methodology, or the Nursing Compact States Report 2026 for how far the compact reaches overall.

The law behind Guam’s status

Compact status is not an opinion or a listing — it is a statute. These are the primary sources that actually govern licensure in Guam, so you can check our answer against the law rather than taking our word for it.

Compact statute

10 GCA ch. 12, art. 3A (Nurse Licensure Compact); added by P.L. 36-006:1 (5 March 2021) ↗

Read off the compiled article published by Guam’s own Health Professional Licensing Office, headed “10 GCA Health and Safety, Ch. 12 Medical Practices” and sourced to P.L. 36-006:1. Guam did something almost no other jurisdiction did: it legislated ONGOING MEASUREMENT of the compact alongside joining it. P.L. 36-006 requires the Board of Nurse Examiners to report quarterly to the licensing office how many nurses hold a multistate license issued by Guam and how many licensed by other compact jurisdictions are working here, and to file an annual fiscal impact report on licensure fee revenue and operating costs with the Speaker. Most compact statutes are silent on what joining costs or achieves.

Nurse practice act

Guam nursing licensure law (Guam Board of Nurse Examiners, HPLO) ↗

Guam’s own license lookup

Guam Board of Nurse Examiners (via Nursys) ↗

Two things to know. Guam’s material spreads across three domains: the board sits at guamhplo.org, its primary-source search at guamnursing.org, and Nursys carries the free public lookup — one more hop than New Mexico’s two-domain split. And an OFFICIAL verification requires a signed authorization to release information from the licensee, plus a $25 fee. That consent requirement is unique in this cohort: an employer cannot obtain an official Guam verification independently, the nurse has to sign first, so it belongs in the hiring timeline rather than being discovered at the end of it. The board licenses RNs, LPNs, APRNs and CNAs.

Board of nursing

Guam Board of Nurse Examiners ↗

Statutory citations reviewed 2026-07-31. Citations change far more slowly than fees or processing times — which is why we publish these and not those. Enactment is not the same as implementation: check the dates above before relying on the compact here.

RN, LPN/LVN, and APRN coverage in Guam

The Nurse Licensure Compact covers RN and LPN/LVN licenses. It does not, on its own, cover APRN roles — nurse practitioners, CRNAs, CNSs, and CNMs generally need separate APRN authorization in each state, including Guam. See the APRN and the compact guide, and confirm specifics with the Guam Board of Nurse Examiners.

Coverage is the same for both credentials, so the state lists are the same: every RN compact state and every LPN/LVN compact state both exclude Guam, which is why neither credential carries privilege here.

By credential: Guam RN & the compact, Guam LPN, and Guam APRN.

Primary state of residence, moving, and endorsement

Your primary state of residence (PSOR) drives multistate eligibility — you can hold it in only one state at a time. Because Guam does not issue multistate licenses to its residents, making it your PSOR means holding a single-state Guam license; a compact license from your former state does not transfer to Guam. Coming from another state, you generally apply to the Guam Board of Nurse Examiners by endorsement. If you are relocating, the 60-day rule governs the timing.

Verifying a Guam nursing license

Look any Guam license up on Nursys QuickConfirm — it shows whether the license is single-state or multistate, its status, and its expiration. For anything Nursys does not show, use the Guam Board of Nurse Examiners. See the full Guam verification guide. CompactStates is an independent reference, not a verification service, and holds no license records.

Travel assignments and telehealth in Guam

Because Guam recognizes compact privilege, an active multistate license from your compact home state generally covers a Guam travel assignment, and telehealth to patients located in Guam, without a separate Guam license. Telehealth licensure generally follows the patient’s location. See the Guam travel and telehealth guides.

Renewal and continuing education

Renewal cycles, fees, and continuing-education requirements are set by the Guam Board of Nurse Examiners and change over time, so we link you to the official source rather than list figures that could go stale. Nursys shows your expiration date and license type. See the Guam renewal guide.