Electrician License from New Hampshire to Arkansas: Does It Transfer? (2026)
Does Arkansas accept a New Hampshire electrician license?
Yes — Arkansas has a reciprocity arrangement covering New Hampshire license holders. Apply to the Arkansas Board of Electrical Examiners (Department of Labor and Licensing) under its reciprocity/endorsement track; it typically waives the journeyman exam and complete Arkansas's remaining requirements.
Verify this exact pair in the checker
Same data, interactive — with share link and board links.
Verdict
Reciprocity agreement
New Hampshire is on Arkansas's journeyman reciprocity list, which puts this move on the fast track: Arkansas waives its journeyman exam for electricians who earned a qualifying New Hampshire license by examination, held it at least a year, and meet the experience hours. Two conditions decide whether you actually qualify — your New Hampshire license must have come from an exam, not a grandfather clause, and it must be current. The list is also revocable; the verification date on this page is when we last confirmed New Hampshire on it, and the Arkansas Board of Electrical Examiners (Department of Labor and Licensing) is the live source.
What's different between New Hampshire and Arkansas
Computed from both states' verified data rows, in both directions, and from the route every other origin gets into Arkansas. Exam notes are our summary of each board's published rules, with sources below.
- Route, each way
New Hampshire to Arkansas (this page): Reciprocity agreement.
Arkansas to New Hampshire (the reverse move): Licensure by endorsement.
The two directions differ: New Hampshire and Arkansas do not give each other's licensees the same route.
- Does coming from New Hampshire matter?
Coming from New Hampshire matters here: only 16 of 50 origins (the other 49 states and DC) get this result for a move into Arkansas.
The others get: licensure by endorsement (21) and no state license to transfer (13).
- Reciprocity agreements
Arkansas's reciprocity agreement list names 16 states, including New Hampshire.
- Application fee
Arkansas lists $25–$75 for an out-of-state applicant; New Hampshire has no verified fee figure on file, so the two cannot be compared here.
- Experience hours
Arkansas's first-time-applicant standard is 8,000 hours of documented experience for the journeyman license; New Hampshire's is 8,000.
The two standards are the same.
- Exam rules on record
Arkansas and New Hampshire carry different exam notes (our summaries, below); any state law or jurisprudence exam is listed with each state's requirements.
- Arkansas (this move): No Arkansas examination is required if the applicant qualifies for reciprocity: they must hold a current, in-good-standing journeyman license from a listed reciprocal state, have held it at least one year, and have been tested (examined) for it in that state. Applicants from non-reciprocal states, or whose license was not earned by exam, must pass the Arkansas journeyman exam.
- New Hampshire (the reverse move): No New Hampshire exam is required to license a journeyman by endorsement if you hold a current license in a listed qualifying jurisdiction and have at least 1 year of professional experience in the journeyman category (Plc 313.24); applicants from non-listed jurisdictions must license by examination (verify 8,000 hours of on-the-job training and pass the NH journeyman exam)
What changes, New Hampshire → Arkansas
| New Hampshire (current) | Arkansas (destination) | |
|---|---|---|
| Experience hours | 8,000 | 8,000 |
| Application fee | OPLC application/license fees are published only on the board's fee page (the application states 'SEE WEBSITE FOR FEES'); the official fee schedule was access-restricted and could not be retrieved as of 2026-07-21 - see https://www.oplc.nh.gov/find-board/electricians-board/electricians-license-fees | $25–$75 (Journeyman license fee is $25 per year; a license is issued for 1-3 years depending on the year within the NEC code cycle (about $25-$75 up front), and reciprocal applicants pay no $80 examination fee because they are not examined. Master license fee is $50 per year.) |
| Processing time | OPLC does not publish a processing time for endorsement/reciprocal applications | Board does not publish a processing time; applications must be received at least 5 business days before the monthly board meeting at which they are reviewed |
| Licensing authority | New Hampshire Electricians' Board (Office of Professional Licensure and Certification) | Arkansas Board of Electrical Examiners (Department of Labor and Licensing) |
The destination column is what you must satisfy — Arkansas sets the rules for this move.
Step by step
- Confirm Arkansas's current requirements on the Arkansas Board of Electrical Examiners (Department of Labor and Licensing) website (linked below) — rules change.
- Submit the reciprocity application to the Arkansas Board of Electrical Examiners (Department of Labor and Licensing).
- Arrange license verification from your current state.
- Provide certification from the sister state that you are currently licensed as a journeyman and in good standing.
- Have held the sister-state license for at least one year and have been tested (examined) for it — grandfathered/non-exam licenses are not eligible.
- Only an original license from a listed state qualifies; you cannot reciprocate a license that was itself obtained by reciprocity.
- Non-reciprocal journeyman experience is a 4-year (8,000-hour) DOL-approved apprenticeship, or 16,000 hours without an approved apprenticeship.
- Pay the fees listed above, and allow for the processing time shown there.
Official links
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
What could disqualify me even though New Hampshire is on Arkansas's list?
A New Hampshire license you were grandfathered into rather than earning by exam, a license held less than a year, or falling short of the experience-hour minimum. Arkansas's reciprocity is conditional, not automatic.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-07-21.
- Arkansas Dept. of Labor & Licensing — Electrical Inspection and Licensing (journeyman & master reciprocal partner lists) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- Arkansas Board of Electrical Examiners — Administrative Rules (April 2024): fees, reciprocity, experience ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- NH OPLC - New Changes for Reciprocity (Plc 313.24 Electricians' Board qualifying jurisdictions) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- NH OPLC Electricians' Board - Journeyman/Master/Reciprocal Application (8,000-hour journeyman requirement; reciprocity section) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
Reviewed by the License Reciprocity Editorial Team · verified against primary sources 2026-07-21
How we verify · All sources · Corrections log · spot an error? hello@licensereciprocity.com