Transfer a Veterinary License to Texas

Verified July 2026 · 25 official sources

Full application plus a real law exam

Texas licenses everyone the same way: a $560 application, fingerprints through IdentoGO, and the State Board Examination, which is really a law exam taken online on demand, needing 85% to pass. There's no years-in-practice requirement and your national exam scores never expire. A 2025 law lets Texas sign reciprocity deals with other states, but none exist yet. We're watching.

First year: about $720Renewal: $340 / yrWait: ~45 days + 7 days after the examWork while waiting: Task-specific 60-day license onlyTravel required: None expected (IdentoGO + online exam)

What carries over to Texas, and what does not

Comes with you

Your NAVLE or NBE/CCT scores (no time limit)
Your degree (AVMA or ECFVG/PAVE)
No years-in-practice minimum at all

New for this state

Texas State Board Exam: online law exam, 85% to pass
Fingerprints via IdentoGO
Good-standing letters from your license states

Working in Texas without a Texas license

To advise another vet Free: Texas exempts consultation given to a Texas vet by a vet lawfully qualified in another state. Advice only; the Texas vet keeps the case.

For visits or one-time work The $220 temporary license is Texas's visiting valve: 60 days, tied to a SPECIFIC patient, client, course, or task, maximum twice a calendar year, with a named Texas vet signed on as supervisor. It fits the fly-in surgery case; it does not fit general relief shifts.

For remote care Texas license required, and state law says the vet-client relationship may not be established solely by electronic means (a federal appeals court ruled against that ban in one case, but the statute stands). From September 2026, even remote practice must run from a registered Texas facility.

Your send-off checklist

YOUCreate a portal account and file the application. $560 Texas licensing portal

YOUAfter applying, get your IdentoGO service code from licensing and schedule fingerprints at any IdentoGO location nationwide. vendor fee

STATE BOARDSYour license states send good-standing letters directly, issued within the last 6 months. (From Pennsylvania: PALS, $15.) PALS portal

YOUOrder the VAULT score transfer. $105 AAVSB VAULT

YOUOnce approved, purchase the online State Board Exam with your candidate ID and finish it in one sitting within 10 days. You need 85%. State Board Exam info

YOUThe license issues within 7 business days of passing. Opening a practice after September 1, 2026 means registering the facility too.

Where documents go. Everything runs through the portal; third parties (state boards, AAVSB, schools) send documents directly through it. Mail if needed: 1801 Congress Ave., Suite 8.800, Austin, TX 78701.

The money

Application (regular license)	$560
Fingerprints (IdentoGO, confirming)	~$40
Score transfer (VAULT)	$105
VER
TOTAL First year, typical	~$720
Then: renewal every year	$340

Watch out in Texas

The law exam needs 85% and must be finished in one sitting within 10 days of purchase; a retake means a whole new application and fee.
Old PDFs with a $515 fee and in-person testing centers still rank in Google; the portal process and the September 2024 fees govern.
Renewal is annual, tied to your birth month, and jumps to $510 or $680 if late; after a year unrenewed the license is cancelled.
From September 1, 2026 every practice location, including mobile and remote, must be a registered facility; the rules are still being written.

After you are licensed

Renew $340 every year around your birth month. CE is 17 hours per calendar year (carryover allowed) including 2 opioid hours every two years; RACE counts.
One-day clinics (spay/neuter, vaccination) must be registered with the board 48 hours ahead.
Former Texas licensees who practiced 2+ years elsewhere skip the exam when returning.

Official links for Texas

Board. Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners · Portal. apps.veterinary.texas.gov · Phone. 512-305-7555

Keep going

The veterinary planner, which builds a plan across several states at once.
What transfers when you move a veterinary license, covering NAVLE, VAULT and DEA.
All three professions we cover.

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