Texas has been a Nurse Licensure Compact state since January 2000 and adopted the enhanced NLC (eNLC) on January 19, 2018. The Texas Board of Nursing licenses both Registered Nurses (RNs) and Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVNs — Texas uses LVN, not LPN) and issues a multistate license when Texas is your Primary State of Residence (PSOR). The application is procedurally distinct: open-book Jurisprudence Exam, FAST fingerprinting through a dedicated vendor portal, and a Declaratory Order detour for any criminal-history flag. Here is the chronological walkthrough for 2026.
Step 1: Confirm Your Education and PSOR
Confirm two things before you touch a portal. First, your nursing program must be Board-approved — for RNs an accredited associate, baccalaureate, or diploma program; for LVNs, an approved one-year vocational nursing program. Internationally educated nurses route through CGFNS credential evaluation before re-entering at the NCLEX step. Second, decide whether Texas is your PSOR — your legal residence as proven by driver's license, voter registration, or federal tax return. If Texas is your PSOR, the BON issues a multistate license with practice authority across all 41 NLC jurisdictions. If not, you receive a single-state Texas license only.
Step 2: Open the Texas Nurse Portal Application
All Texas nursing applications start in the Texas Nurse Portal. Create an account, then select Examination as your application type (RN or LVN). The application fee is paid online — the BON's current schedule of fees lists $100 for the examination application, with a $39 fingerprint-processing fee added. Texas applications and fees are valid for one year from the date received; if the file is not complete in twelve months, you start over.
While the portal application is processing, your nursing program's dean or director files an Affidavit of Graduation (AOG) directly with the Board. The AOG is the BON's primary verification that you actually completed the program — without it, the file does not move.
Step 3: Pass the Nursing Jurisprudence Exam (NJE)
The Nursing Jurisprudence Exam is required of every initial Texas applicant under 22 TAC §217.17. It is a 50-item, two-hour, open-book exam taken online through the BON's website. You must score 75% or better — meaning at least 38 of 50 questions correct — and you can retake the exam after a 24-hour wait if you fail. The NJE is free, runs in a separate browser window so you can reference Board statutes and rules during the exam, and must be passed before you are issued an Authorization to Test (ATT) for the NCLEX. Plan to take it the same week you submit the Nurse Portal application — there is no benefit to waiting, and a passed NJE clears one of the gating requirements early.
Step 4: FAST Fingerprinting Through IdentoGO
Texas runs all nursing background checks through the Fingerprint Applicant Services of Texas (FAST) program, operated by IdentoGO. Wait roughly 10 business days after submitting the Nurse Portal application, then you will receive a FAST service code (FAST Pass) used to schedule fingerprinting at an IdentoGO enrollment center — or, if you live more than 25 miles from one, to request a paper fingerprint card by mail.
The Board cannot finalize license approval, issue a temporary permit (GN for graduate nurses, GVN for graduate vocational nurses), or release your NCLEX ATT until clean fingerprint results are on file. If your prints come back smudged or the FBI flags a record, the file is held — and Step 5 enters the picture.
Step 5: Declaratory Order (If You Have a Criminal History)
If your fingerprint check returns any criminal history — including arrests without conviction, deferred adjudication, or pre-1970 offenses — the BON sends a request for a Petition for Declaratory Order of Eligibility. The Declaratory Order (DO) is a formal, pre-licensure ruling on whether your history disqualifies you from licensure under the BON's "good professional character" standard. You submit a personal statement, court documents for every offense, character references, and proof of rehabilitation.
The DO process typically runs three to six months. Nursing students with known issues can — and should — file a Petition for Declaratory Order before graduation, so the eligibility question is resolved by the time the AOG hits the Board. If you wait until after graduation to disclose, your NCLEX ATT is held until the DO is decided, which is often the single longest delay in a Texas file.
Step 6: Receive ATT and Sit for the NCLEX
Once the NJE is passed, fingerprint results are clean (or a DO has issued favorably), and the AOG is on file, the Board releases your Authorization to Test through Pearson VUE. RN candidates take the NCLEX-RN; LVN candidates take the NCLEX-PN. Both are computer-adaptive exams at Pearson VUE test centers — $200 paid to Pearson VUE, separate from the BON application fee. Texas allows retakes every 45 days for up to four years; failing for four years requires re-completing an approved nursing program. While waiting for ATT, RN graduates can request a Graduate Nurse (GN) permit and LVNs a Graduate Vocational Nurse (GVN) permit for up to 75 days of supervised practice.
Step 7: License Issuance and PSOR-Based Multistate
NCLEX results post to the BON within 48 hours. On a pass, the license appears on the public BON verification site within one to two business days and is mailed in seven to ten. If Texas is your PSOR, the license issued is a multistate license — same number, practice privileges across every NLC state. If Texas is a secondary state because you live elsewhere, you receive a single-state Texas license only; the multistate version comes from your home state. Texas RN and LVN licenses renew every two years on a birth-month cycle. Our Texas state guide covers renewal CE and changing your PSOR into or out of Texas without losing multistate privileges.
Total Time and Total Cost
For a clean file with no DO, plan on 8 to 12 weeks from Nurse Portal submission to license issuance — driven by AOG timing, fingerprint processing, and NCLEX scheduling. A DO adds three to six months. Out-of-pocket: $100 application, $39 fingerprint processing, IdentoGO scan ($10–$15), $200 NCLEX, $0 for the NJE — about $360 before prep-course or transcript-evaluation costs.
Sources: Texas Board of Nursing — Examination Information; Texas BON — Nursing Jurisprudence Examination; Texas BON — Declaratory Order; Texas BON — Schedule of Fees; 22 TAC §217.17 — Nursing Jurisprudence Exam; NCSBN — Nurse Licensure Compact.
The two real risk factors are the DO process for anyone with a criminal-history flag and the AOG arriving late from your nursing program. Front-load the NJE, schedule FAST fingerprinting the day you receive the FAST Pass, and disclose any criminal history early. Done in that order, a Texas RN or LVN license is one of the cleaner files in the country.
Need Help with Your Application?
We handle the NLC and single-state nursing license process end-to-end — eligibility screening, documents, board follow-ups, and tracking.