Electrician License from Montana to Minnesota: Does It Transfer? (2026)

What's different between Montana and Minnesota

Computed from both states' verified data rows, in both directions, and from the route every other origin gets into Minnesota. Exam notes are our summary of each board's published rules, with sources below.

Route, each way

Montana to Minnesota (this page): Reciprocity agreement.

Minnesota to Montana (the reverse move): Licensure by endorsement.

The two directions differ: Montana and Minnesota do not give each other's licensees the same route.

Does coming from Montana matter?

Coming from Montana matters here: only 9 of 50 origins (the other 49 states and DC) get this result for a move into Minnesota.

The others get: licensure by endorsement (28) and no state license to transfer (13).

Reciprocity agreements

Minnesota's reciprocity agreement list names 9 states (Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming), including Montana.

Montana's row names no reciprocity agreement states.

Application fee

Minnesota lists $50 for an out-of-state applicant and Montana lists $190 for the reverse move; neither may be the full cost.

Experience hours

Montana's first-time-applicant standard is 8,000 hours of documented experience for the journeyman license; Minnesota has no experience hours figure on file, so the two cannot be compared here.

Exam rules on record

Minnesota and Montana carry different exam notes (our summaries, below); any state law or jurisprudence exam is listed with each state's requirements.

• Minnesota (this move): Minnesota waives its journeyworker exam for a reciprocity applicant who earned a like (or higher) license by state-administered examination in a partner state and held it at least one year; applicants from non-partner states must pass the Minnesota examination
• Montana (the reverse move): No Montana journeyman exam is required if your existing out-of-state license is substantially equivalent (the other state required passing an electrical exam PLUS an approved apprenticeship, bona fide union/trade training, 8,000 hours of practical experience, or 20,000 hours in electrical maintenance); if it is not substantially equivalent, you must pass the Montana journeyman exam (75% to pass)

What changes, Montana → Minnesota

The destination column is what you must satisfy — Minnesota sets the rules for this move.

Step by step

1. Confirm Minnesota's current requirements on the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) — Board of Electricity website (linked below) — rules change.
2. Submit the reciprocity application to the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) — Board of Electricity (application linked below).
3. Arrange license verification from your current state.
4. Hold a current, good-standing license obtained BY STATE-ADMINISTERED EXAMINATION (not through a city/subdivision reciprocal agreement), held for at least one year.
5. Must not have failed the same or a higher class of Minnesota license examination, and must not be under any Minnesota denial/suspension/revocation order.
6. Master-license reciprocity is narrower (Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota); a master from those states may instead obtain the Minnesota journeyworker license.
7. Submit the Individual Electrical License Reciprocity Application with license verification.
8. Pay the fees listed above, and allow for the processing time shown there.

Official links

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