Arizona Supreme Court Rule 38: Eligibility, Documents, and Process

Arizona admission on motion lets attorneys already licensed in another U.S. jurisdiction join the State Bar of Arizona without sitting for the bar exam. The pathway is governed by Arizona Supreme Court Rule 38(h), and the core requirement is five years of active legal practice within the seven years before you apply, combined with good standing wherever you hold a license. You will also go through a character and fitness investigation, complete a required course on Arizona law, and pay a single consolidated fee. A complete application typically takes about four months to process.

Who Qualifies

You need to meet every one of the following to be eligible:

You were admitted by bar examination in a jurisdiction that extends the same admission-on-motion privilege to Arizona attorneys. Reciprocity is a hard gate: if your home state does not admit Arizona lawyers on equivalent terms, your years of experience do not matter.¹
You hold a J.D. from a law school that was approved by the ABA’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar at the time you graduated.
You were primarily engaged in the active practice of law for at least five of the seven years immediately before you file.¹
You have a passing score on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination. Arizona’s minimum is 85.
You are a current member in good standing in every jurisdiction where you are admitted.
You are not under current lawyer discipline and are not the subject of a pending disciplinary matter anywhere.
You satisfy the character and fitness required to practice in Arizona.
You complete the mandatory course on Arizona law before approval.

What Counts as Active Practice

The rule reads “active practice” broadly but with firm limits. The work has to have been performed either in a jurisdiction where you held an active license, or in a jurisdiction that allowed the activity by lawyers not licensed there. Any work done before you were admitted to any bar does not count toward the five years, and anything that was unauthorized practice where you did it also does not count. If your license sat on inactive status for a stretch of those seven years, that time will not satisfy the requirement.¹

Qualifying work includes private practice, government service (including military legal service), teaching at an ABA-approved law school, service as a judge in a federal, state, territorial, or local court of record, service as a law clerk to a judge, and in-house counsel work for a business.

If you are not sure your years will add up, Rule 38(h) lets you ask the Committee to decide the practice question first. Submit the request in writing. If the Committee finds you do not meet the active practice requirement, a portion of your fee is refunded rather than consumed by a full investigation that was going to fail anyway.²

Documents to Gather

The application calls for detailed personal and professional disclosure going back a decade or more, and incomplete submissions slow everything down. Prepare these before you start:

Proof of lawful status. U.S. citizens use a birth certificate, passport, valid driver’s license, or naturalization certificate. Non-citizens provide official immigration documentation.
Every residence (city and state) over the last ten years, or since age 21 if that period is shorter.
Dates of attendance for every college, university, and law school, plus documentation of any academic discipline.
Dates and outcomes of every bar or professional licensing application you have ever filed, with documentation of any professional discipline in the last ten years.
Your five most recent employers within the last ten years in chronological order, with dates, supervisor names, job titles, and contact information. Disclose any employment discipline or dishonesty.
A reference. If you cannot provide a legal employment reference, submit a non-employment reference from an attorney, judge, or law professor.
Official certificates of good standing from the highest court or disciplinary authority in every jurisdiction where you are admitted.

The civil, criminal, and financial disclosures are especially thorough. Civil suits from the last ten years require complaints and dispositions. Any civil or administrative action alleging fraud, misrepresentation, or legal malpractice is disclosed for your entire lifetime with supporting documents. Any criminal arrest, charge, or conviction at any point in your life requires full police and court records. You will also need a certified driving record from every state where you have been licensed in the last ten years, dated within 90 days of submission. Delinquent debts, defaults on court orders, and any bankruptcy within the last ten years must be disclosed along with how you resolved them.³

The Arizona Law Course

Every admission-on-motion applicant has to complete a course on Arizona law. It is a set of online video modules you can finish at your own pace from anywhere. Register through the Arizona Courts Education Services website. When you complete the modules and the evaluation, the system notifies admissions staff automatically, so there is no separate certificate to upload.³

Applying and Paying

The application is submitted online through the Arizona Supreme Court Attorney Admissions portal. A single consolidated fee covers the whole process, including the character and fitness investigation; a separate character report is not required because the application itself gathers the character materials. The fee is non-refundable if you are denied or withdraw, except in the practice-requirement scenario described above.²

One piece of paper still travels by mail: your fingerprint card. Email attorneyadmissions@courts.az.gov with your current mailing address to request the standard FBI fingerprint card. Have your prints taken (live-scan or ink), and mail the completed card so it arrives within five days of submitting your online application. Do not send it before you have submitted and paid online.³

How Long It Takes

The Committee aims to finish investigations within four months of receiving a complete application. Unresolved disclosures, difficulty verifying employment, or follow-up questions can stretch that timeline. Thorough preparation up front is the single biggest factor in avoiding delay.

If You Are Denied

A denial by the Committee on Character and Fitness is reviewable. You have 20 days to file a verified petition for review directly with the Arizona Supreme Court, laying out the facts you rely on and why the Court should take up the decision. The Committee then transmits its file and reasoning, and the Court decides whether to hold hearings or enter a final order.

After You Are Approved

Once the Committee on Examinations and the Committee on Character and Fitness both approve you, you take the Attorney’s Oath of Admission. The oath is what makes you a licensed member of the State Bar of Arizona.

You then register with the State Bar and start paying annual dues. For 2025, active dues were $505 for members admitted three or more years in any jurisdiction and $345 for those admitted fewer than three years, with late fees added after February 1.⁴

Mandatory Continuing Legal Education kicks in based on when you are admitted. Admission between January 1 and June 30 exempts you from MCLE for that educational year. Admission between July 1 and December 31 requires two-thirds of the annual requirement for that year.⁵

If You Do Not Qualify Under Rule 38(h)

Two other routes exist for out-of-state attorneys who cannot use admission on motion.

UBE Score Transfer

Arizona accepts transferred Uniform Bar Examination scores. A score of at least 270 (for the July 2023 administration or later) can be transferred to Arizona without retaking the exam. This is often the better route for lawyers who have not yet accumulated five years of active practice.⁶

Military Spouse Temporary Admission

Spouses of active-duty military members stationed in Arizona may qualify for temporary admission under Rule 39(d). You still need a J.D. from an ABA-approved school, admission by bar exam in another jurisdiction, and active good standing. Your spouse must be on full-time active duty under military orders in Arizona, and you must be residing in Arizona because of those orders. The license granted this way is temporary, not full permanent admission.⁷

1
Arizona Supreme Court. Rule 38(h) Admission on Motion
2
Arizona State Bar Admission Office. Admission on Motion
3
Arizona State Bar Admission Office. Admission on Motion Application Checklist
4
State Bar of Arizona. Membership Fees Deadline
5
State Bar of Arizona. Arizona Rule of the Supreme Court 45 – Mandatory Continuing Legal Education
6
Arizona State Bar Admission Office. UBE Transfer
7
Arizona State Bar Admission Office. Military Spouse