Interstate licensure compact
An interstate licensure compact is a legal agreement enacted as identical legislation by multiple states that creates a shared licensing framework — typically one multistate license or practice privilege valid in every member state. The Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) is the model: one license, valid in all member states, anchored to your primary state of residence.
A compact outranks every other transfer mechanism because it is state law on both ends of the move. Where reciprocity agreements are policy that boards can rewrite, a compact binds until the legislature withdraws — which is why the checker on this site evaluates compact membership before anything else.
Compacts are spreading profession by profession. Nursing's NLC is active in 40 states. Cosmetology's compact is enacted in ten states but not yet issuing licenses — a common phase: compacts activate only after enough states join and the commission builds its data systems. Physical therapy, psychology (PSYPACT), social work, counseling, and EMS run their own compacts; medicine's IMLC takes a different shape (expedited licensing rather than one multistate license).
The catch every compact shares: eligibility keys to where you legally live, not where you work. Move your residence out of the member states and the multistate privilege dissolves, whatever your work address says.
Related terms
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Frequently asked questions
What professions have licensure compacts?
Active: nursing (NLC), physical therapy, psychology (PSYPACT), EMS, medicine (IMLC, expedited model), and others. Enacted but not yet operational: cosmetology, and the APRN Compact for advanced practice nurses.
Is a compact the same as reciprocity?
No. Reciprocity is a courtesy between separate licensing systems; a compact is one shared system created by identical laws. A compact license works in member states without any application to them.
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-07-21
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