LicensedAnywhere

Transfer a Real Estate License to Kansas

Verified July 2026 · 34 official sources

Any state, movers skip even the exam, $296 + course

Kansas runs two inbound doors and the better one rewards moving here. Door 1, the standard path under K.S.A. 58-3040, takes a licensee from any state with no named list, waives the national exam and half the education, and leaves a salesperson one 30-hour Kansas Practice Course plus a 30-question state exam. Door 2, the 2021 universal recognition law K.S.A. 48-3406, lets anyone who moves to Kansas or intends to, holding a license active for 2 or more years, skip all education and both exam portions, with the same deal for military members and spouses and zero KREC fees for spouses since July 2025. The money below prices Door 1, the nonresident path, and the sharpest trap is that no license issues on inactive status, so sign a Kansas supervising broker before you file.

First year: $296 + 30-hour courseRenewal: $125 / 2 yrsWait: 2 to 5 weeks, prints run up to 10 business daysWork while waiting: No, no temporary license existsTravel required: One trip, exam sites in Kansas plus Kansas City MO

What carries over to Kansas, and what does not

Comes with you

  • Your current license from any state, it powers every waiver
  • National exam portion, waived at both tiers
  • The 30-hour Principles course, waived (Fundamentals for brokers)
  • Broker experience in full, other-state years included
  • Everything, even the state exam, if you move here with 2 active years

New for this state

  • 30-hour Kansas Practice Course, under 6 months old at application
  • Kansas state exam, 30 questions, scaled 70 to pass
  • Fresh KBI and FBI fingerprints, old checks never transfer
  • License history from every state that ever licensed you
  • A Kansas supervising broker approved inside the application

If you hold a broker license

Plan on 34 class hours, not the 30 that KREC's own Broker Requirements page misstates, because the statute, the FAQ, the education page, and the Pearson VUE handbook all require the 30-hour Management Course plus a 4-hour Kansas Law Course. Out-of-state broker experience counts in full toward the 2-of-3-years requirement, scored on a transaction point matrix proven by a deal log or MLS reports, and a thin file can draw a restricted license that bars supervising anyone. Fixed state costs run $381 ($120 pre-licensure + $70 for the 40-question state exam + $175 license + $16 prints) plus $100 to open an office, and a broker who would rather skip the experience showing may take a Kansas salesperson license instead.

Working in Kansas without a Kansas license

On a single deal For COMMERCIAL, yes. K.S.A. 58-3077 lets a Kansas broker cooperate with you on a full commission split, and you may perform licensed work on the deal without a Kansas license, if you sign a written broker cooperation agreement that reaches KREC within 5 business days of execution, all escrow money stays in Kansas, and the property is not agricultural, not 1 to 4 residential units, and not improved with a single-family home. RESIDENTIAL and agricultural are turf, so your options there are a referral fee or the full license. Two quiet carve-outs, residential leasing and property management are not licensed activities in Kansas at all, and agricultural leases are exempt too.
Referrals Yes, expressly. K.S.A. 58-3038(c) says nothing in the act precludes a person properly licensed as a broker or salesperson in another jurisdiction from collecting a referral fee. Do not solicit referral fees without a real client introduction or a contractual referral relationship, a limit that binds out-of-state licensees too (58-3076), and the money moves broker to broker.

Your send-off checklist

YOUCreate a Kansas Public Portal account and file the Salesperson Pre-Licensure application. Your PL number arrives by email and tracks everything that follows. $85 Public Portal
YOUGet fingerprinted at once, the report takes up to 10 business days and is the long pole. Out of state, roll ink cards at any local police or sheriff's office and mail them to KREC in Topeka. In Kansas, livescan or Pearson VUE's digital service. Prints sit unprocessed until the pre-licensure application is on file. $16 at Pearson, local card fees vary Fingerprinting
YOUR SCHOOLTake the 30-hour Kansas Practice Course from a KREC-approved school, distance formats count. Give the school your PL number so it uploads your completion. The certificate must be under 6 months old when KREC receives your application. school price Approved courses
YOUSit the Kansas state exam at Pearson VUE once the authorization email lands, 30 scored questions, 1.5 hours, scaled 70 to pass. Test centers only, in Kansas plus Kansas City, Missouri, with no online proctoring, so plan the one trip. $70 Pearson VUE
STATE BOARDSOrder a Certification of License History from every state that ever licensed you, expired ones included. Each is valid 6 months and a photocopy of your license is rejected. varies
YOUSign with a Kansas supervising broker BEFORE you file the license application. Kansas issues no original license on inactive status, and the broker approves your affiliation inside the application itself, so get the company registration number now.
YOUFile the license application online when KREC's invitation email arrives, with your criminal, litigation, and discipline disclosures and, if you stay out of state, the service of process form (REL-110) consenting to KREC jurisdiction. $125
STATE BOARDSWait for the approval email. Most complete applications issue in 2 to 3 business days, though KREC's requirements pages quote 7 to 10 for staff review. You may start work the moment that email arrives, and not one day sooner.

The money

Pre-licensure application + background$85 ($15 + $70)
Kansas state exam, Pearson VUE$70 per sitting
Fingerprints$16 at Pearson in Kansas, local card fees vary
License fee$125, refundable if withdrawn or denied
30-hour Kansas Practice Courseschool price, distance ok
Old state license historyvaries, each valid 6 months
E&O insurance$0, Kansas mandates none
Recovery fund$0 today, $5 only if the fund dips under $100,000
TOTAL First year, typical$296 plus course and history fees
Then: renewal every 2 years$125

Watch out in Kansas

  • No license issues on inactive status, so a Kansas supervising broker must be signed up inside the application. Arrive with no broker lined up and nothing issues, however complete the rest of the file is.
  • Home-state discipline mirrors automatically. A revocation or suspension where you live revokes or suspends the Kansas license with no hearing beyond establishing the fact (58-3040(h)), and Door 2 arrivals carry the same rule under 48-3406(g).
  • KREC's Broker Requirements page understates broker education as 30 hours total. The statute, the FAQ, the education page, and the Pearson VUE handbook all say 34, meaning the Management Course plus the 4-hour Kansas Law Course. Plan on 34.
  • Arkansas's packet names Kansas a full reciprocity state, $160 or $180 with no exam, but no Kansas statute, rule, or publication names Arkansas back. Coming this way, an Arkansas licensee gets the same any-state deal as everyone else. One way in effect, unresolved on the Kansas side, ask KREC at krec@ks.gov.

Official links for Kansas

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