Transfer Your Engineering License to Virginia: Reciprocity & Endorsement (2026)
Last verified: 2026-07-21 · source: Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects (APELSCIDLA), Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) ↗
Yes — Virginia issues a new Professional Engineer license by comity to an engineer already licensed in another state. You apply to the Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects (APELSCIDLA), Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR), which verifies your ABET-accredited degree, experience, exam record, and good standing against Virginia's own statute rather than re-testing you. FE and PE exam results transfer through your NCEES Record (or NCEES verification) and are not retaken; Virginia requires no state-specific exam — comity relies on the examination you passed for your original license. Application fee: The pre-8/1/2025 PE license-by-comity application fee under 18VAC10-20-170 was $60 (initial and comity both $60; renewal $80). An APELSCIDLA fee-schedule amendment took effect 8/1/2025 that raised fees, so the current comity fee is higher; the exact current amount could not be confirmed on an official page because the Virginia Administrative Code portal (law.lis.virginia.gov), DPOR site, and Virginia Register were all unreachable from the research environment. Secondary reporting of the official DPOR APELSCIDLA fee-adjustment table indicates the post-8/1/2025 PE application fee is $120 (renewal $160), but this is unverified against an official page and is deliberately left out of the range pending confirmation. NCEES Record transmittal is $175 first board / $100 each additional, paid to NCEES..
Moving to Virginia from a specific state?
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Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
Comity is Virginia's normal route for an already-licensed engineer, and the word describes what the Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects (APELSCIDLA), Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) actually does: it extends professional courtesy to your existing PE license after confirming your record meets Virginia's practice act, rather than re-examining you. The lever that makes this smooth is your NCEES Record — NCEES compiles your transcripts, experience, references, and FE/PE results and transmits them straight to Virginia, and a Model Law Engineer designation speeds many boards further. One prerequisite is absolute: your current license must be active and unencumbered, so clear any open disciplinary matter before you file.
Read the exam line on this page closely before you assume the move is exam-free. Most boards add nothing to the FE and PE, but a few require a state-specific examination — seismic, surveying, or a statutes-and-rules review — that comity does not waive, and where Virginia requires one it is listed above rather than folded silently into the process.
Virginia grants licensure by comity (18VAC10-20-270) to a PE licensed elsewhere whose original education, experience, and exam requirements were substantially equivalent to Virginia's; otherwise the applicant must meet the current entry requirements. No Virginia-specific exam. The board's official code portal and DPOR site were unreachable from the research environment, so the current (post-8/1/2025) comity fee is left null rather than guessed; the last officially documented comity application fee was $60. Requirements verified via the Cornell LII reproduction of the official Virginia Administrative Code.
Virginia requirements at a glance
| Exam | FE and PE exam results transfer through your NCEES Record (or NCEES verification) and are not retaken; Virginia requires no state-specific exam — comity relies on the examination you passed for your original license |
|---|---|
| Additional requirements |
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| Fees | The pre-8/1/2025 PE license-by-comity application fee under 18VAC10-20-170 was $60 (initial and comity both $60; renewal $80). An APELSCIDLA fee-schedule amendment took effect 8/1/2025 that raised fees, so the current comity fee is higher; the exact current amount could not be confirmed on an official page because the Virginia Administrative Code portal (law.lis.virginia.gov), DPOR site, and Virginia Register were all unreachable from the research environment. Secondary reporting of the official DPOR APELSCIDLA fee-adjustment table indicates the post-8/1/2025 PE application fee is $120 (renewal $160), but this is unverified against an official page and is deliberately left out of the range pending confirmation. NCEES Record transmittal is $175 first board / $100 each additional, paid to NCEES. |
| Processing time | APELSCIDLA/DPOR publishes no comity turnaround on reachable pages; comity applications are reviewed by board staff once the education, experience, examination, and license verifications are received. |
Step by step
- Confirm Virginia's current requirements on the Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects (APELSCIDLA), Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) website — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects (APELSCIDLA), Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) (application linked on this page).
- Arrange license verification from your current state via the verification system.
- Hold an active PE license in another U.S. state or jurisdiction, in good standing.
- Show that your original licensure requirements (education, experience, and examination) were substantially equivalent to Virginia's at the time; otherwise meet Virginia's current entry requirements (18VAC10-20-270).
- Meet Virginia's education standard (18VAC10-20-230) and qualifying engineering experience standard (18VAC10-20-240).
- Provide three professional references.
- Pay the fees (The pre-8/1/2025 PE license-by-comity application fee under 18VAC10-20-170 was $60 (initial and comity both $60; renewal $80). An APELSCIDLA fee-schedule amendment took effect 8/1/2025 that raised fees, so the current comity fee is higher; the exact current amount could not be confirmed on an official page because the Virginia Administrative Code portal (law.lis.virginia.gov), DPOR site, and Virginia Register were all unreachable from the research environment. Secondary reporting of the official DPOR APELSCIDLA fee-adjustment table indicates the post-8/1/2025 PE application fee is $120 (renewal $160), but this is unverified against an official page and is deliberately left out of the range pending confirmation. NCEES Record transmittal is $175 first board / $100 each additional, paid to NCEES.) and allow APELSCIDLA/DPOR publishes no comity turnaround on reachable pages; comity applications are reviewed by board staff once the education, experience, examination, and license verifications are received..
Official links
Coming from a specific state?
Direction matters — these guides cover the exact move into Virginia:
Frequently asked questions
Does my PE license transfer to Virginia?
Yes — Virginia issues a new Professional Engineer license by comity to an engineer already licensed in another state. You apply to the Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects (APELSCIDLA), Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR), which verifies your ABET-accredited degree, experience, exam record, and good standing against Virginia's own statute rather than re-testing you. FE and PE exam results transfer through your NCEES Record (or NCEES verification) and are not retaken; Virginia requires no state-specific exam — comity relies on the examination you passed for your original license. Application fee: The pre-8/1/2025 PE license-by-comity application fee under 18VAC10-20-170 was $60 (initial and comity both $60; renewal $80). An APELSCIDLA fee-schedule amendment took effect 8/1/2025 that raised fees, so the current comity fee is higher; the exact current amount could not be confirmed on an official page because the Virginia Administrative Code portal (law.lis.virginia.gov), DPOR site, and Virginia Register were all unreachable from the research environment. Secondary reporting of the official DPOR APELSCIDLA fee-adjustment table indicates the post-8/1/2025 PE application fee is $120 (renewal $160), but this is unverified against an official page and is deliberately left out of the range pending confirmation. NCEES Record transmittal is $175 first board / $100 each additional, paid to NCEES..
Do I retake the FE or PE exam to get licensed in Virginia?
FE and PE exam results transfer through your NCEES Record (or NCEES verification) and are not retaken; Virginia requires no state-specific exam — comity relies on the examination you passed for your original license.
What does PE licensure in Virginia cost an out-of-state applicant?
The pre-8/1/2025 PE license-by-comity application fee under 18VAC10-20-170 was $60 (initial and comity both $60; renewal $80). An APELSCIDLA fee-schedule amendment took effect 8/1/2025 that raised fees, so the current comity fee is higher; the exact current amount could not be confirmed on an official page because the Virginia Administrative Code portal (law.lis.virginia.gov), DPOR site, and Virginia Register were all unreachable from the research environment. Secondary reporting of the official DPOR APELSCIDLA fee-adjustment table indicates the post-8/1/2025 PE application fee is $120 (renewal $160), but this is unverified against an official page and is deliberately left out of the range pending confirmation. NCEES Record transmittal is $175 first board / $100 each additional, paid to NCEES..
How long does the Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects (APELSCIDLA), Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) take to act on a comity application?
APELSCIDLA/DPOR publishes no comity turnaround on reachable pages; comity applications are reviewed by board staff once the education, experience, examination, and license verifications are received..
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-07-21.
- Virginia Administrative Code 18VAC10-20-270 — Licensure by comity (Cornell LII reproduction of the official Virginia code) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- Virginia Administrative Code 18VAC10-20-170 — Fee schedule, pre-8/1/2025 (Cornell LII reproduction) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- Virginia Administrative Code 18VAC10-20-270 (official portal — unreachable at research time, cited as authority) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- Virginia DPOR — APELSCIDLA Board / PE License Application (A416-0402LIC) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-07-21
How we verify · All sources · spot an error? [email protected]