Virginia RN licensure 2026: $190 fee, 3–5 weeks
Last reviewed: by Jayson Minagawa, BSN, RN
Virginia licensure at a glance
| Board of nursing | Virginia Board of Nursing |
| Endorsement fee | $190 |
| Processing time quoted | 3–5 weeks |
| Renewal cycle | 2 years, by the last day of your birth month |
| Continuing education | One competency option per 2 years, e.g. 30 contact hours, or 15 hours plus 640 practice hours |
| Fingerprinting | Required for licensure by endorsement |
Apply and check current fees at www.dhp.virginia.gov/Boards/Nursing.
Virginia renewal and licensing rows checked 2026-09-26 against law.lis.virginia.gov (1, 2, 3).
Virginia RN license renewal: 2 years, by the last day of your birth month. Continuing education for Virginia renewal: one competency option per 2 years, e.g. 30 contact hours, or 15 hours plus 640 practice hours.
Same in all 51: licensing · renewal · discipline · international · CEUs · defence.
Virginia required CE topics, and free courses for them
Can Virginia nurses finish CE for free? Virginia names no required CE topic for RN or LPN renewal, so any accredited free course counts toward what Virginia asks for.
Virginia renewal CE: One competency option per 2-year renewal, e.g. 30 contact hours, or 15 contact hours plus 640 practice hours, or national certification. Topics the Virginia board names, checked Sep 2026:
- Pharmacology (APRN with prescriptive authority): 8 contact hours · every biennium · APRN. Source
No free course found for Virginia's version of this yet.
Every free course, with filters: free CEUs for Virginia nurses.
Compact status: Compact state
Virginia issues multistate licenses. With Virginia as your primary state of residence, one license covers every other NLC state; it follows your residence, not your job. Compact map.
Getting licensed in Virginia
Endorsing into Virginia runs through the Virginia Board of Nursing at $190, quoted at 3–5 weeks, with no second NCLEX. Because Virginia participates in the compact, a travel nurse holding a multistate license can start an assignment here without a separate application, which is why Virginia contracts often list short lead times.
Advanced practice in Virginia
Whether an NP may prescribe independently in Virginia is set by the Virginia Board of Nursing and moves by legislative session. Check it before accepting an APRN role there.
Practice environment
Staffing ratios: Virginia has no statutory nurse-to-patient ratio law. Staffing is governed by hospital policy and, where one exists, the collective bargaining agreement — so safe-staffing concerns are raised through the facility's chain of command and its staffing committee rather than through a state standard.
Northern Virginia DC-metro wage premiums contrast with Tidewater and Appalachian shortages; INOVA, VCU, and UVA anchor academic-medicine hiring.
Common questions
Does Virginia accept a compact nursing license?
Yes — Virginia is a Nurse Licensure Compact state, so a multistate license from another compact state covers practice here with no Virginia application.
Endorsing a license into Virginia: cost and wait?
$190 to the Virginia Board of Nursing, which quotes 3–5 weeks. Nursys verifies electronically.
Who regulates Virginia nursing?
The Virginia Board of Nursing, at www.dhp.virginia.gov/Boards/Nursing.
Licensure in states bordering Virginia
North Carolina · Tennessee · Kentucky · West Virginia · Maryland · District of Columbia.
Related Virginia guides
Virginia RN salary data · travel nursing in Virginia · compact license map · national licensing guide.