Transfer Your Engineering License to Wisconsin: Reciprocity & Endorsement (2026)
Last verified: 2026-07-21 · source: Examining Board of Architects, Landscape Architects, Professional Engineers, Designers, Professional Land Surveyors, and Registered Interior Designers — Professional Engineers Section (Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services) ↗
Yes — Wisconsin issues a new Professional Engineer license by comity to an engineer already licensed in another state. You apply to the Examining Board of Architects, Landscape Architects, Professional Engineers, Designers, Professional Land Surveyors, and Registered Interior Designers — Professional Engineers Section (Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services), which verifies your ABET-accredited degree, experience, exam record, and good standing against Wisconsin's own statute rather than re-testing you. FE and PE exam results transfer through your NCEES Council Record (or state Verification of Examination/Registration form #475) and are not retaken; Wisconsin has no state-specific exam. Application fee: $55 (Wisconsin PE reciprocity/credential application fee is $55 (paid via the online LicensE portal). Transmitting an NCEES Record costs $175 for the first board and $100 for each additional board, paid to NCEES. The biennial renewal fee is billed separately.).
Moving to Wisconsin from a specific state?
Pick your current state — the checker returns your exact pathway.
Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
Comity is Wisconsin's normal route for an already-licensed engineer, and the word describes what the Examining Board of Architects, Landscape Architects, Professional Engineers, Designers, Professional Land Surveyors, and Registered Interior Designers — Professional Engineers Section (Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services) actually does: it extends professional courtesy to your existing PE license after confirming your record meets Wisconsin'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 Wisconsin, 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 Wisconsin requires one it is listed above rather than folded silently into the process.
Wisconsin grants registration by reciprocity (Wis. Admin. Code A-E 4.08(2)) to a PE holding an unexpired out-of-state registration with requirements not lower than Wisconsin's. Reciprocity applicants uniquely must submit proof of 30 PDHs of continuing education for the 2 years before applying (A-E 13.09), unless first licensed within the last two years. NCEES Council Record accepted. Fee verified on the official DSPS application form #1736 (rev. 9/17/2024).
Wisconsin requirements at a glance
| Exam | FE and PE exam results transfer through your NCEES Council Record (or state Verification of Examination/Registration form #475) and are not retaken; Wisconsin has no state-specific exam |
|---|---|
| Additional requirements |
|
| Fees | $55 (Wisconsin PE reciprocity/credential application fee is $55 (paid via the online LicensE portal). Transmitting an NCEES Record costs $175 for the first board and $100 for each additional board, paid to NCEES. The biennial renewal fee is billed separately.) |
| Processing time | DSPS presents a completed reciprocity application to the Professional Engineers Section for review at its next scheduled meeting; no fixed turnaround is published, so timing depends on the board's meeting schedule. |
Step by step
- Confirm Wisconsin's current requirements on the Examining Board of Architects, Landscape Architects, Professional Engineers, Designers, Professional Land Surveyors, and Registered Interior Designers — Professional Engineers Section (Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services) website — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Examining Board of Architects, Landscape Architects, Professional Engineers, Designers, Professional Land Surveyors, and Registered Interior Designers — Professional Engineers Section (Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services) (application linked on this page).
- Arrange license verification from your current state via the verification system.
- Hold an unexpired PE registration in another state whose registration requirements are not lower than Wisconsin's.
- Have passed the NCEES FE and PE examinations and document 8 years of engineering experience (education included).
- Submit proof of 30 PDHs of continuing education within the 2 years before applying (exempt if first licensed as a PE within the last 2 years).
- Provide references from five registered Professional Engineers, one of whom served as supervisor in responsible charge of your work.
- Pay the fees ($55 (Wisconsin PE reciprocity/credential application fee is $55 (paid via the online LicensE portal). Transmitting an NCEES Record costs $175 for the first board and $100 for each additional board, paid to NCEES. The biennial renewal fee is billed separately.)) and allow DSPS presents a completed reciprocity application to the Professional Engineers Section for review at its next scheduled meeting; no fixed turnaround is published, so timing depends on the board's meeting schedule..
Official links
Coming from a specific state?
Direction matters — these guides cover the exact move into Wisconsin:
Frequently asked questions
Does my PE license transfer to Wisconsin?
Yes — Wisconsin issues a new Professional Engineer license by comity to an engineer already licensed in another state. You apply to the Examining Board of Architects, Landscape Architects, Professional Engineers, Designers, Professional Land Surveyors, and Registered Interior Designers — Professional Engineers Section (Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services), which verifies your ABET-accredited degree, experience, exam record, and good standing against Wisconsin's own statute rather than re-testing you. FE and PE exam results transfer through your NCEES Council Record (or state Verification of Examination/Registration form #475) and are not retaken; Wisconsin has no state-specific exam. Application fee: $55 (Wisconsin PE reciprocity/credential application fee is $55 (paid via the online LicensE portal). Transmitting an NCEES Record costs $175 for the first board and $100 for each additional board, paid to NCEES. The biennial renewal fee is billed separately.).
Do I retake the FE or PE exam to get licensed in Wisconsin?
FE and PE exam results transfer through your NCEES Council Record (or state Verification of Examination/Registration form #475) and are not retaken; Wisconsin has no state-specific exam.
What does PE licensure in Wisconsin cost an out-of-state applicant?
$55 (Wisconsin PE reciprocity/credential application fee is $55 (paid via the online LicensE portal). Transmitting an NCEES Record costs $175 for the first board and $100 for each additional board, paid to NCEES. The biennial renewal fee is billed separately.).
How long does the Examining Board of Architects, Landscape Architects, Professional Engineers, Designers, Professional Land Surveyors, and Registered Interior Designers — Professional Engineers Section (Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services) take to act on a comity application?
DSPS presents a completed reciprocity application to the Professional Engineers Section for review at its next scheduled meeting; no fixed turnaround is published, so timing depends on the board's meeting schedule..
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-07-21.
- Wisconsin DSPS — Professional Engineer Registration Application Information (#1736; reciprocity fee $55, 8 yrs experience) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- Wisconsin DSPS — PE Reciprocity Application PDH Table (#3084; Wis. Admin. Code A-E 13.09) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- Wisconsin DSPS — Professional Engineer profession page ↗ (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]