Skip to content
LicenseReciprocity

Transfer Your Engineering License to Kentucky: Reciprocity & Endorsement (2026)

Updated · Data verified · source: Kentucky State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (KYBOELS) ↗
Generated from a source-cited dataset with AI-assisted research; facts checked against official sources · How these pages are made

Does my PE license transfer to Kentucky?

Yes — Kentucky issues a new Professional Engineer license by comity to an engineer already licensed in another state. You apply to the Kentucky State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (KYBOELS), which verifies your ABET-accredited degree, experience, exam record, and good standing against Kentucky's own statute rather than re-testing you. FE and PE exam results transfer through your NCEES Record and are not retaken; Kentucky requires no separate state jurisprudence or law exam. Application fee: $300 (Kentucky endorsement/comity application fee (nonrefundable), due when the application is submitted; no separate license fee until the first biennial renewal roughly two years later; transmitting an NCEES Record costs $175 for the first board and $100 for each additional board paid to NCEES).

Moving to Kentucky from a specific state?

Pick your current state — the checker returns your exact pathway.

Run the Reciprocity Checker →

Verdict

Licensure by endorsement

Comity is Kentucky's normal route for an already-licensed engineer, and the word describes what the Kentucky State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (KYBOELS) actually does: it extends professional courtesy to your existing PE license after confirming your record meets Kentucky's practice act, rather than re-examining you. The lever that makes this smooth is your NCEES Record — NCEES compiles your transcripts, experience, references, and FE/PE results and transmits them straight to Kentucky, and a Model Law Engineer designation speeds many boards further. One prerequisite is absolute: your current license must be active and unencumbered, so clear any open disciplinary matter before you file.

Read the exam line on this page closely before you assume the move is exam-free. Most boards add nothing to the FE and PE, but a few require a state-specific examination — seismic, surveying, or a statutes-and-rules review — that comity does not waive, and where Kentucky requires one it is listed above rather than folded silently into the process.

Kentucky issues a new PE license by endorsement/comity and mandates an NCEES Record as part of the application. Underlying standard is an EAC/ABET-accredited engineering degree plus four years of progressive experience and passage of the FE and PE exams. The $300 application fee is nonrefundable; Kentucky charges no additional fee until the first biennial renewal.

Kentucky requirements at a glance

Out-of-state PE license transfer requirements for Kentucky, verified 2026-07-21
Fees$300 (Kentucky endorsement/comity application fee (nonrefundable), due when the application is submitted; no separate license fee until the first biennial renewal roughly two years later; transmitting an NCEES Record costs $175 for the first board and $100 for each additional board paid to NCEES)
Processing time2–6 weeks (Board states the review can take as little as two weeks but up to six weeks after a complete application and NCEES Record are received)

Step by step

  1. Confirm Kentucky's current requirements on the Kentucky State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (KYBOELS) website — rules change.
  2. Submit the endorsement application to the Kentucky State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (KYBOELS) (application linked on this page).
  3. Arrange license verification from your current state via the verification system.
  4. Hold a PE license in another U.S. jurisdiction and establish an NCEES Record before applying (Kentucky requires the NCEES Record for endorsement/comity).
  5. Hold an EAC/ABET-accredited engineering degree (engineering-technology degrees accepted only with an accredited master's; foreign degrees need an NCEES Credentials Evaluation).
  6. Document at least four years of progressive engineering experience and passage of the FE and PE exams.
  7. Provide references and maintain a clean disciplinary record.
  8. Pay the fees listed above, and allow for the processing time shown there.

Official links

Kentucky State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (KYBOELS) ↗Kentucky application ↗License verification ↗

Coming from a specific state?

Direction matters — these guides cover the exact move into Kentucky:

California → Kentucky

Nearby states

Engineering license transfer into the states bordering Kentucky:

Kentucky for other professions

Sources

Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 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