How to Get Your Delaware Nursing License

How Delaware Issues Nursing Licenses

Delaware licenses RNs and LPNs through the Delaware Board of Nursing, housed inside the Division of Professional Regulation within the Delaware Department of State. Applications flow through DELPROS (the Delaware Professional Regulation Online Services portal). The Board application fee is $181 for both licensure by examination and licensure by endorsement, for both RN and LPN applicants. NCLEX itself costs an additional $200 paid directly to Pearson VUE. Every initial applicant — examination or endorsement, RN or LPN — must complete state and FBI fingerprint-based background checks through IdentoGO using the Delaware-issued service code, and submit a driver's license or state ID showing home state of residence.

The Board is small — a handful of nurse, public, and consumer members — and meets the second Wednesday of each month at 9:00 a.m. at the Cannon Building in Dover, excluding August and December. Complete files are reviewed at the next scheduled meeting; flagged files are referred for further review.

Delaware and the NLC

Delaware is a fully participating Nurse Licensure Compact state. Delaware joined the enhanced NLC effective January 19, 2018, alongside neighboring Maryland. RNs and LPNs whose Primary State of Residence (PSOR) is Delaware are eligible for a multistate license that authorizes practice in every other NLC state without separate licensure. PSOR is established by Delaware driver's license, voter registration with home address, federal tax return, military Form 2058, or government-issued W-2 — and the jurisdiction shown on the ID you submit through DELPROS is treated as your home state. Nurses who move to Delaware from another NLC state must apply for the Delaware multistate license within 60 days of establishing residency; the prior state's multistate privilege deactivates on Delaware issuance, since holding two compact licenses simultaneously is not permitted. Note that Delaware does not currently issue multistate APRN licenses — the NLC multistate privilege applies only to RN and LPN licenses.

Where Most Delaware Applications Get Stuck

Four Delaware-specific issues drive most delays:

• Board meeting cadence. The Board reviews complete files at scheduled monthly meetings on the second Wednesday of each month (excluding August and December). A complete file submitted shortly before a meeting can be approved at that meeting; one missing document pushes the file to the following month. Most state nursing boards approve administratively, so this Delaware-specific cadence catches applicants used to a continuous-review process.
• IdentoGO service codes. Delaware uses IdentoGO for digital fingerprinting, but the prints must be submitted under the Delaware-issued service code generated within DELPROS. Prints submitted under a different state's code or before the DELPROS application is open will not match — the file appears stuck while the prints sit unmatched.
• License verification routing. For endorsement applicants, verification from the originating state must come directly through Nursys (for Nursys-participating states) or by paper Verification of Original Licensure form sent directly from the issuing board for non-Nursys states. Applicants who upload their own license copy are routinely delayed.
• Practice-hours gate for endorsement. Endorsement applicants must show 1,000 hours in 5 years, 400 hours in 2 years, graduation within 24 months, or a Board-approved refresher. Applicants who fall short need a supervised practice plan, which adds time.

What You'll Pay

Delaware application fees are middle-of-pack nationally. Both RN and LPN applicants pay $181 to the Board for either licensure by examination or licensure by endorsement. NCLEX itself costs $200 paid directly to Pearson VUE for either NCLEX-RN or NCLEX-PN. Add roughly $69 for IdentoGO digital fingerprinting. A 90-day temporary permit is $40 and is available to graduate nurses awaiting NCLEX results and to endorsement applicants with a Delaware job offer. Biennial renewal is approximately $135 through DELPROS for both RNs and LPNs — verify exact current amount at renewal. Late renewal within 2 months of expiration carries a late fee equal to 50% of the renewal fee; beyond 2 months, reinstatement is $272. None of the Board fees are refundable.

Realistic Timeline

Most Delaware endorsement applications run 6-8 weeks from a complete submission to issuance — but the timing depends heavily on Board meeting cadence. A complete file submitted just before a meeting can be approved that month; one submitted just after, or held up by a single missing document, slips to the next monthly meeting. Some applicants experience 10-12 week timelines when verifications come in slowly or the Board meeting cycle compounds with one of the no-meeting months (August or December). Examination applicants typically take 4-6 weeks from application to NCLEX seat, since NCLEX cannot be scheduled until the Board notifies Pearson VUE of eligibility. Plan to submit at least 8-10 weeks before you need to practice; longer if you have any criminal history, out-of-country training, or require a CGFNS/TruMerit CES report.

Renewal and CE

Delaware nursing licenses run on a biennial renewal cycle. RN licenses expire February 28, May 31, or September 30 of odd-numbered years — newly issued RN licenses expire September 30 of odd years. LPN licenses expire February 28 of even-numbered years. The CE requirement is:

• RN: 30 contact hours of Board-approved continuing education every two years.
• LPN: 24 contact hours every two years.
• Both RN and LPN must include at least 3 hours of substance abuse education.
• Both must include at least 1 hour on recognition of and response to suspected or known sexual abuse, physical abuse, exploitation, trafficking, or domestic violence of vulnerable persons.

First-renewal CE prorates by months licensed (0-30 hours for RN, 0-24 for LPN). CE must be entered course-by-course in the DELPROS CE Tracker — aggregate lists are not accepted. The Board conducts random audits; selected licensees must upload certificates of completion plus proof of practice hours (1,000 hours in 5 years, 400 in 2 years, or a Board-approved refresher within 2 years). Do not upload CE documentation unless specifically notified of audit selection.

Single State Versus NLC

If Delaware is your Primary State of Residence, your Delaware RN or LPN license can be issued as a multistate license at no extra fee, authorizing practice in every other NLC state. If your PSOR is a non-compact state (California, New York, Oregon, etc.), the Delaware license must be issued as a single-state license — same $181 fee, same fingerprinting, but it only authorizes practice in Delaware. PSOR rules are strict: you cannot hold two multistate licenses simultaneously, and a move from one compact state to another deactivates the prior state's multistate privilege. The 60-day rule applies to compact-to-compact moves into Delaware.

How White Glove Helps

We manage Delaware RN and LPN applications end-to-end through DELPROS: timing submissions to align with the Board's monthly meeting cycle (second Wednesday, no August/December), sequencing the IdentoGO fingerprint step under the right Delaware service code, routing every prior-state verification directly through Nursys or paper-board-to-board, and pre-checking the recent-practice-hours gate before submission. For nurses establishing Delaware as their Primary State of Residence under the NLC, we coordinate the PSOR documentation and the deactivation of any prior compact-state multistate license so the Delaware multistate is clean from issuance. For first-time graduates, we file early enough that the temporary permit can bridge the gap between NCLEX pass and final licensure.