Transfer a Real Estate License to Arkansas

Verified July 2026 · 31 official sources

No exam from 7 states, 60 hours if you move here

Live in and stay licensed in Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska or Pennsylvania and Arkansas issues a nonresident license with no exam and no Arkansas education, $160 flat. Twelve more states (Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Washington, West Virginia) skip the 60 hours of pre-license education but still sit the exam. The trap is moving here, since an agent who becomes an Arkansas resident loses all of it and owes the full 60 hours, the resident packet demanding an education certificate with no out-of-state exception. Brokers get no exam waiver on any path.

First year: $235 plus coursesRenewal: $60 / yearWait: 5 to 10 weeks, 3 to 6 with no examWork while waiting: No, not until the pocket card landsTravel required: None

What carries over to Arkansas, and what does not

Comes with you

Your out-of-state license drives every waiver
The entire exam, from the 7 List A states
60 hours of pre-license education, 19 states
National exam portion, any state, salesperson only
Broker experience, 24 of the previous 48 months

New for this state

State and FBI check, good only 6 months
FD-258 fingerprint card, mailed in the packet
Notarized application and consent to service
An Arkansas principal broker to hang it with
18 hours of post-license education inside 6 months

If you hold a broker license

Brokers get ZERO exam waiver. AREC and Pearson VUE merged the general and Arkansas law portions into one unified 120-question exam on December 1, 2015, and AREC says in writing that no general-portion waiver is granted. Out-of-state broker experience does count by express statute, 24 of the previous 48 months licensed elsewhere with no fixed transaction count, but off Lists A and B a broker also owes the 45-hour Commission-developed Broker Pre-License Course. A List A broker pays $180 flat.

Working in Arkansas without a Arkansas license

On a single deal No. Arkansas has no cooperative brokerage agreement statute and no commercial carve-out, and a single unlicensed act is a violation carrying up to $5,000 plus repayment of what you collected. Arkansas courts will not hear a suit for the commission either. The nonresident license is the answer, and it is cheap.

Referrals Probably, broker to broker. Arkansas bars only paying for acts performed in violation of the chapter, and Rule 8.3(b) sends the fee to your principal broker, never to an Arkansas salesperson direct. Lease referrals are licensed activity, and AREC gives no sale-side guidance, so treat it as confirming.

Your send-off checklist

YOUDecide the door first. Staying out of state runs on A.C.A. 17-42-305 and one of two nonresident packets. Moving to Arkansas voids every waiver. AREC packets and forms

STATE BOARDSOrder an original license history from every state that ever licensed you. Arkansas puts no expiry on it, so ordering early is safe. varies

YOUR SCHOOLOnly if you are outside the 19 named states, take the 60 hours or send your old course in for equivalence review. school sets price

YOUGet rolled on an FD-258 fingerprint card anywhere, reason A.C.A. 17-42-315, then notarize the application and the Non-Resident Acknowledgment and mail it to AREC in Little Rock with a cashier's check or money order. $85, or $160 from a List A state New applicant page

YOUAREC reviews in 7 to 14 business days, then Pearson VUE emails an Authorization to Test. Book 48 hours ahead at any center nationwide. A salesperson licensed elsewhere sits only the 30-question Arkansas law part. $75 Pearson VUE Arkansas

YOUWithin 90 calendar days of passing, mail AREC all pages of the score report, the fees, and your sponsoring principal broker paperwork. No extensions. $75

YOUR SCHOOLFinish 18 hours of post-license education by the end of the month 6 months after licensing, or the license goes inactive plus $30 to restore it. school sets price

The money

Application fee	$50
Arkansas State Police check	$22
FBI check	$13
Exam, both parts on one order	$75
License fee at issuance	$50
Real Estate Recovery Fund fee	$25
FD-258 fingerprint card rolled locally	varies
License history from each old state	varies
60 hours of pre-license education, if owed	school sets price
18 hours of post-license education	school sets price
E&O insurance	$0, not required
List A resident, one flat packet, no exam	$160
TOTAL First year, typical	$235 plus courses
Then: renewal every year	$60

Watch out in Arkansas

Arkansas publishes three state lists that do not match. Seven get no exam, twelve get the education waiver, and the public Reciprocal States page names fifteen, dropping Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and North Carolina. The packets control.
Post-license education catches every new licensee including transfers, 18 hours salesperson and 30 hours broker, due by the end of the month 6 months after licensing. It cannot be taken early and it gates the broker tiers.
The adopted rule text still describes a split broker exam Arkansas dropped in 2015, and the 2026 rewrite was unadopted on 2026-07-27. Trust the AREC notice and the 2026 handbook.

Official links for Arkansas

Keep going

The real estate planner, which builds a plan across several states at once.
Errors and omissions insurance by state, the 15 states that mandate it.
All three professions we cover.

Every other state

Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · District of Columbia · Florida · Georgia · Hawaii · Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming