Can out-of-state journeymen work your job? Reciprocity basics

An out-of-state journeyman can work your job only if the board in the job state accepts his card. Most licensing states that do want it earned by a state exam, held at least one year and active. California, Connecticut and Michigan accept no out-of-state card at all, so every hand tests there.

Everything below is as of 2026, from each state board's own page. Lists change, and they don't always match from one board to the next, so confirm with the board where the work is before you make an offer. This is one step in staffing a job in a state where you have no crew, and it comes after the company license.

01Reciprocity, endorsement and temporary cards are three different things

Reciprocity is a list of named states, endorsement is a test of equivalence, and a temporary card is a short-term permit while the real one processes.

Utah is the best-known endorsement state. Utah DOPL's journeyman endorsement map says an applicant "must have held the license type indicated on the map for at least one year," active and in good standing, with an official verification. The map is dated July 2020, so call DOPL to confirm a specific state.

Alaska runs the most open setup. Since August 8, 2025, the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development accepts journeyman applications from other states "without a mutual agreement." Its Provisional Certificate of Fitness costs $150, lasts up to a year or until the home license expires, can't be renewed, and doesn't let the holder supervise trainees.

Oklahoma's Construction Industries Board lists a Temporary Journeyman application on its journeyman page. Its terms are on the form, so read it or call before you plan around it.

02Who accepts whose journeyman card

Each board keeps its own list, so read the list of the state where the job is, not the state the hand is from.

Most of these boards belong to or work with NERA, the National Electrical Reciprocal Alliance, which began as the Multi-State Reciprocal Electrical Licensing Group. NERA doesn't issue a card. It's why the plains and mountain states trade cards so freely, but each board still decides for itself.

03The one-year rule

Nearly every board on that table wants the home license held at least a year before it will honor it, so a hand who just topped out can't bring his card yet.

North Dakota wants the license "held continuously" for the year before he applies. Wyoming counts the year from the exam date. South Dakota wants it active for a year. Minnesota and Oklahoma want a year held. Utah's endorsement map says the same.

That changes who you recruit. A journeyman with 14 months on his card is a hire. One with 8 months can only work your job under the job state's apprentice or unlicensed rules, if it has them, until his anniversary.

04Only exam-earned cards travel

Most boards won't take a card that wasn't earned by passing a state exam, and they won't take a card that itself came by reciprocity.

• Grandfathered cards. Oklahoma says a reciprocal license "can NOT be a 'grandfathered license'."
• City cards. Minnesota says the license "must not have been obtained through a reciprocal agreement with a city or other political subdivision." A city card from a state with no statewide license usually won't carry into a licensing state. Utah lets a hand use a city or county license to document hours and exams toward its own requirements, which helps but isn't the same as endorsement.
• Failed the exam here before. Minnesota won't reciprocate a hand who failed the same Minnesota exam. North Dakota says a hand who failed its written exam "shall not be eligible for a reciprocal license in that state."
• One shot. Wyoming lets a hand reciprocate "one (1) time." If that Wyoming card lapses, he tests.
• Apprenticeship hours. Oregon wants at least 576 classroom hours and 8,000 hours under a licensed journeyman behind the home card. Washington takes only Oregon, and only for apprenticeship-trained hands, per Washington L&I.

05Nebraska's restricted license trap

A Nebraska journeyman card can look like a NERA card and still go nowhere.

The Nebraska State Electrical Division says that if a journeyman's verifiable experience "is less than 4000 hours in the State of Nebraska," he gets a "Restricted" license that "will not be able to reciprocate with any other state." Ask any Nebraska card holder where he logged his hours before you count on moving him.

06Agreements often run one way

A state taking a card doesn't mean that state's card goes back the other way.

New Mexico accepts Oklahoma journeymen, but Oklahoma's own list doesn't include New Mexico. North Dakota and Wyoming accept Utah journeymen, but Oklahoma's and Nebraska's lists don't name Utah. Wisconsin is a NERA state that names only two states. The rule that never fails: read the list of the board where the job is.

07The states that take no one

California, Connecticut and Michigan have no journeyman reciprocity, so every hand tests before he works.

• California. The DIR Electrician Certification Unit says an out-of-state license "will make you eligible to sit for the test," and that out-of-state electricians must be certified before they work: "there is no grace period."
• Connecticut. The Department of Consumer Protection says "Connecticut does not have reciprocal agreements with any other jurisdiction." It does list an application route for holders of an equivalent out-of-state license, so call before you assume a hand can skip anything.
• Michigan. The Bureau of Construction Codes says "Michigan does not hold reciprocity with any other state/country." Out-of-state applicants send their license and their home state's requirements for review.

08How long it takes

No board on this list publishes a reliable processing time for reciprocity, so ask when you call.

The steps you can see: the hand applies, his home board sends a verification straight to the job state, and the job state issues the card. Home boards take time too. Oregon's Building Codes Division quotes 4 to 6 weeks just to process a request to verify an Oregon license. Build a month or more into the plan, start the day you make the offer, and check the card on the job state's lookup before day one. The lookup steps are in how to verify an electrician's license.

One national electrical contractor told us their plan was to bring in journeymen from other states who had held their card over a year. The paperwork was the easy part. The hard part was finding hands in those states who weren't already on a data center job. If the job is in a state with no journeyman license, none of this applies; see what to check where there's no state card. The company side, which usually comes first, is in do you need a contractor license in another state.

Short on licensed hands for an out-of-state job? Apply here and we'll see if we can put 5 licensed electricians in front of you in 14 days.

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