Uniform licensure requirements (ULRs)
Uniform licensure requirements are the standardized eligibility criteria every applicant must meet for a multistate license under the Nurse Licensure Compact — 11 requirements including graduation from a board-approved program, passing the NCLEX, an unencumbered license, state and federal fingerprint background checks, no disqualifying convictions, and a valid US Social Security number.
The ULRs exist because a multistate license is only as trustworthy as the weakest member state's standards. By writing one shared bar into the compact legislation, the member states can honor each other's licenses without re-checking each nurse individually.
The requirement that most often surprises applicants is the fingerprint-based federal background check — some states run it only for multistate applicants (Wisconsin fingerprints multistate but not single-state applicants). A felony conviction or active discipline anywhere blocks the multistate license even where a single-state license might still issue.
The full ULR list is published by the compact commission and reproduced, verbatim from the data layer, on this site's NLC page.
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Frequently asked questions
What disqualifies a nurse from a multistate license?
Under the ULRs: a felony conviction, a nursing-related misdemeanor, an encumbered license, current enrollment in a discipline/diversion program, or lacking a valid US SSN. State-by-state single-state licensure may still be possible.
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-07-21
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