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How to get a nursing license in U.S. Virgin Islands by endorsement

If you are already licensed in another state, endorsement is usually how you get licensed in U.S. Virgin Islands. Here is how it works and when the compact is the better path.

How do I get a nursing license in U.S. Virgin Islands by endorsement?

You apply to the Virgin Islands Board of Nurse Licensure for a U.S. Virgin Islands license by endorsement, based on your existing license. Because U.S. Virgin Islands has enacted the compact but has not implemented it yet, endorsement is the main route to practice here — a multistate license from another state does not authorize U.S. Virgin Islands practice.

Last reviewed 2026-06-17

The law that governs this in U.S. Virgin Islands

Getting licensed in U.S. Virgin Islands happens under U.S. Virgin Islands’s own nurse practice act — the same act that defines what practice means here — administered by the Virgin Islands Board of Nurse Licensure. That act is Virgin Islands Board of Nurse Licensure — licensing authority and requirements.

U.S. Virgin Islands has adopted the compact, but we have not confirmed which section of its code carries it, so we do not cite one — several states replaced an earlier compact and the superseded sections still circulate. The practice act above is the citation we have read.

How verification works in U.S. Virgin Islands

An endorsement application rests on U.S. Virgin Islands receiving verification of the license you already hold, and that step is where these applications stall. What we found reading Virgin Islands Board of Nurse Licensure’s own material:

The most useful board page in this entire survey, for a reason that has nothing to do with the Virgin Islands. VIBNL is the only board we found that publishes what to do when a lookup returns NOTHING: it names the escalation path — email the board at vinurseinfo@bnl.vi.gov, or file a missing-record request with the Nursys helpdesk. Everywhere else the empty result is a dead end you are left to interpret, which is exactly how it gets misread as “no license”. Treat this as the template for what to ask any board for. Practically: RN and LPN verify on both the VIBNL portal and Nursys; APRN and CNA verify on the VIBNL portal, so an empty Nursys result for those two is the wrong system, not a missing credential.

Its own lookup is VIBNL License Verification Portal (and Nursys Quick Confirm). Confirm what the receiving board wants before you pay for anything — a printout of a public lookup is rarely the document a board means by “verification”. See the two things called verification.

What licensure by endorsement means

Endorsement is applying for U.S. Virgin Islands’s own license based on an existing license in good standing. You end up holding a U.S. Virgin Islands license. It is different from a compact license, which is one multistate license covering all compact states.

Applying through the Virgin Islands Board of Nurse Licensure

Applications go through the Virgin Islands Board of Nurse Licensure. Requirements and fees are set by the board and change over time, so we point you to the official source rather than listing specifics that could go stale.

Why the compact does not help here

Since U.S. Virgin Islands is non-compact, there is no U.S. Virgin Islands multistate license and privilege from other states does not reach U.S. Virgin Islands. Endorsement is the route. See non-compact states.

Can applying by endorsement in U.S. Virgin Islands get you a multistate license?

Not yet. U.S. Virgin Islands has enacted the compact (December 6, 2021) but has not finished implementing it, so the Virgin Islands Board of Nurse Licensure is not issuing multistate licenses to U.S. Virgin Islands residents. Until it does, applying by endorsement here produces a single-state license. Watch the board for an implementation date rather than treating the law passing as the finish line.

What usually comes next

Next-step checklist

  • Confirm your current license is active and unencumbered (Nursys).
  • Open the Virgin Islands Board of Nurse Licensure endorsement application.
  • Follow the board's current requirements and fees (do not rely on third-party figures).
  • Plan for processing time before you need to start work in U.S. Virgin Islands.

Frequently asked questions

No. U.S. Virgin Islands has enacted the compact but has not implemented it yet, so a multistate license does not authorize practice in U.S. Virgin Islands. You generally need a U.S. Virgin Islands license by endorsement.