I currently have 5 active state licenses. Many of you have asked how I am able to manage having multiple licenses (for cost and time reasons). I usually work on obtaining about 2 new states licenses every 6 months.
I actually allow some state licenses to expire. There are state licenses that expire after one year (which can be annoying). Some people may think it’s a bad idea due to all the work that went into getting them in the first place. But the truth is, reactivating licenses is pretty easy.
I allowed my California licenses to expire. Yes, the same licenses that took more than 4 months to obtain. The fees are costly though, since you have to renew 3 licenses. I think having a California license is always a good idea because there are plenty of jobs there. I had one agency I worked with prior renew the licenses for me. It was a piece of cake. The agency’s licensing team did all of the work and paid for my renewal fees. I just had to sign a form agreeing to work with them initially with the new license.
In case I end up working with a different agency in California, I would just have them pay back the other agency for that license. It’s no big deal. Not to mention the renewal process only took 2 weeks!
I had also allowed my Texas licenses to expire. The same agency renewed the Texas licenses for me. It was nice having the licensing team work with me because they would call the board of nursing to follow up on my application. This process also only took 2 weeks!
I allowed my Washington state license to expire. Washington is really far from Miami, so I didn’t see myself going back there anytime soon.
Lastly, I always renew my Florida license because that’s my home state and initial license upon examination.
Some people may have more trouble managing their multiple licenses than me. I recommend having some agencies invest in applying for or renewing licenses for you. It facilitates the process and covers the costs upfront.
pro tip for Texas for the future- you can send in a request to have your license inactivated instead of letting it expire. Doesn’t cost anything.
Do you ever run into problems with having your licenses verified? When I went to Texas, I had to verify all my licenses and not all my states were on nursys- California took about 2 months and Pennsylvania took about a month. I also had an international license and spent a long time on the phone with very confused people, lol.
Oh yeah I think California took about 2 months to verify one of my licenses too. I prefer when States only need your initial license verification, not all of them!