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

Comity is Louisiana's normal route for an already-licensed engineer, and the word describes what the Louisiana Professional Engineering and Land Surveying Board (LAPELS) actually does: it extends professional courtesy to your existing PE license after confirming your record meets Louisiana'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 Louisiana, 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 Louisiana requires one it is listed above rather than folded silently into the process.

Louisiana grants licensure by comity to an out-of-state PE. It offers a Model Law Engineer (MLE) comity path (EAC/ABET degree, four years' experience, FE and PE passed) plus non-MLE variants for non-ABET degrees (8 years) or a qualifying master's (4 years). Applications are filed online through LOLA (lola.lapels.com). Five personal references are required, at least three from active PEs.