Is Puerto Rico a nursing compact state?

What Puerto Rico’s compact status means

Because Puerto Rico has not joined the compact, there is no Puerto Rico multistate license. Puerto Rico residents hold a single-state license that is valid only in Puerto Rico.

To work in Puerto Rico with an out-of-state license, you generally apply for licensure by endorsement directly with the Puerto Rico Board of Nurse Examiners. A compact license from another state does not cover you in Puerto Rico.

If you move your primary residence to a compact state later, you may then become eligible for a multistate license through that state.

What Puerto Rico residents should know

If you live in Puerto Rico, your license is single-state — valid in Puerto Rico only. Puerto Rico residents can’t get a multistate license unless Puerto Rico joins the compact. To work in another state, you’d apply there.

What nurses coming to Puerto Rico should know

You’ll need a Puerto Rico license — usually by endorsement — even if you hold a compact license elsewhere. Compact privilege doesn’t reach Puerto Rico.

Why Puerto Rico has no compact adoption date

There is no date to give, because Puerto Rico has never enacted the Nurse Licensure Compact. This is not a delay or a pending implementation — no Puerto Rico license has ever carried compact privilege, and none does today.

For context on what it has not joined: the original compact dates from 2000, and the rewritten enhanced NLC took effect on January 19, 2018. 40 jurisdictions are now issuing and honouring multistate licenses. Puerto Rico is not among them, and a nurse practicing here needs a Puerto Rico license regardless of what they hold elsewhere.

See the full NLC adoption timeline for when every other jurisdiction enacted and implemented, each with its source — or the jurisdictions still outside the compact for who else is in the same position.

The law behind Puerto Rico’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 Puerto Rico, so you can check our answer against the law rather than taking our word for it.

Compact statute

None in force.

Puerto Rico has not enacted the Nurse Licensure Compact, which is precisely why a multistate license issued elsewhere does not authorize practice here, and why Puerto Rico residents cannot obtain one. Bills are introduced in some sessions; introduction is not enactment, and we only record a statute once it is law.

Nurse practice act

Ley para Regular la Práctica de la Enfermería en Puerto Rico, 20 L.P.R.A. ch. 9A (board powers at § 204f) ↗

Puerto Rico’s own license lookup

ORCPS — Registro de Profesionales de la Salud ↗

Puerto Rico separates issuing from verifying, and the split is by FUNCTION rather than by credential. The Junta Examinadora de Enfermería licenses; the Oficina de Reglamentación y Certificación de los Profesionales de la Salud (ORCPS) keeps the registry and issues the verification — so a request sent to the board is at the wrong office, and the board is not obviously the wrong place to send it. Ask for a “Certificación de Good Standing”, which is the name the portal uses. Note also that permanent licenses carry a three-year recertification tied to registry enrollment, so a license can be validly issued and still lapse on a cycle that has no mainland equivalent. Primary material is in Spanish; the English term you know may return nothing.

Board of nursing

Puerto Rico 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.

RN, LPN/LVN, and APRN coverage in Puerto Rico

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 Puerto Rico. See the APRN and the compact guide, and confirm specifics with the Puerto Rico 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 Puerto Rico, which is why neither credential carries privilege here.

By credential: Puerto Rico RN & the compact, Puerto Rico LPN, and Puerto Rico 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 Puerto Rico does not issue multistate licenses to its residents, making it your PSOR means holding a single-state Puerto Rico license; a compact license from your former state does not transfer to Puerto Rico. Coming from another state, you generally apply to the Puerto Rico Board of Nurse Examiners by endorsement. If you are relocating, the 60-day rule governs the timing.

Verifying a Puerto Rico nursing license

Look any Puerto Rico 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 Puerto Rico Board of Nurse Examiners. See the full Puerto Rico verification guide. CompactStates is an independent reference, not a verification service, and holds no license records.

Travel assignments and telehealth in Puerto Rico

Because Puerto Rico does not currently grant compact privilege, a Puerto Rico travel assignment — or telehealth to patients located in Puerto Rico — generally needs a Puerto Rico license by endorsement. Telehealth licensure generally follows the patient’s location. See the Puerto Rico travel and telehealth guides.

Renewal and continuing education

Renewal cycles, fees, and continuing-education requirements are set by the Puerto Rico 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 Puerto Rico renewal guide.