Arizona UBE Transfer Requirements: Score, MPRE, and Fees

To transfer a Uniform Bar Exam score into Arizona, you need a qualifying UBE score earned within the last five years, a JD from an ABA-accredited law school, an MPRE scaled score of at least 85, completion of the Course on Arizona Law, a passed character and fitness review, and the $875 application fee. The Arizona UBE transfer requirements are not just a score check: the score is one piece of a longer file, and the review runs several months.

The Score You Need

The minimum passing UBE score depends on when you sat for the exam. If you took it in July 2023 or any administration since, you need a 270. For earlier administrations, the older threshold of 273 still governs your score.¹ The score has to come from a single sitting; you cannot combine section scores from different attempts.

Your score must have been earned within five years before you take the oath of admission in Arizona.² The clock runs to the oath date, not the filing date, which gives you a little more room than it first appears. If your score is close to expiring, file early anyway, because character and fitness review can run long.

One eligibility rule surprises applicants: if you failed to earn the minimum score within four attempts at any UBE jurisdiction, you cannot transfer in and must sit for the exam in Arizona directly.²

Law Degree

You must hold a JD from an ABA-accredited law school to use the UBE transfer path.³ Foreign law degrees and degrees from unaccredited schools do not qualify for this route. If your school earned ABA accreditation after you graduated, confirm your eligibility with the admissions office before filing.

MPRE

Arizona requires a scaled MPRE score of at least 85.⁴ You can prove it with either an official MPRE score report from NCBE or a letter from a jurisdiction where you are already admitted confirming a score of 85 or higher.² The MPRE is offered three times a year, so if you have not yet taken it, build the test date into your timeline.

Course on Arizona Law

Every UBE transfer applicant must complete and pass the Course on Arizona Law, an online, open-book module covering state procedure, substantive law, and ethics rules specific to Arizona.³ You can take it before you file or within six months after your application filing date. Miss that six-month window and you cannot be sworn in, so treat the deadline as hard.

Character and Fitness

Every applicant goes through a character and fitness review by Arizona’s Committee on Character and Fitness. The review covers your criminal history, civil litigation, academic discipline, employment terminations, and financial issues like unpaid debts or bankruptcies. A past problem does not automatically disqualify you; the committee weighs how long ago it happened, what you did about it, and whether you disclosed it honestly. What does sink applications is the committee discovering something you left off.

You must also submit fingerprints on an FBI blue-and-white heavy-stock fingerprint card. Request the card by emailing attorneyadmissions@courts.az.gov with “Fingerprint Card Request” in the subject line and your mailing address. Either live-scan or ink prints work. The completed card must reach the admissions office within five days of your application submission, and the office recommends a tracked carrier.⁵

The initial character investigation takes a minimum of four months, followed by a file assessment by committee members.⁶ There is no guaranteed total processing time. Clean files move faster; anything that triggers follow-up documentation or a hearing stretches the schedule.

Application and Fees

The UBE transfer application is filed through the online portal run by the Arizona Supreme Court’s admissions office. Have these ready before you file:

The online application questionnaire covering personal, educational, employment, and legal history.
Official transcripts sent directly from every law school and undergraduate institution you attended.
Your NCBE UBE score transcript, requested through NCBE’s score services portal. NCBE charges $30 per official score transcript.⁷
An MPRE score report from NCBE, or a letter from a jurisdiction confirming a score of 85 or higher.
Your fingerprint card, mailed separately within five days of application submission.

The application fee for UBE score transfer admission is $875, paid at the time of filing, separate from the $30 NCBE transcript fee.⁸ Fingerprinting costs vary by provider and are on top of that.

From Approval to Admission

Once the Committee on Character and Fitness recommends you for admission, you complete an Oath of Admission form, executed by you and the person administering it (notary, judge, or court clerk), and upload it through your applicant portal.⁹

The oath date is not your admission date. The Clerk’s office enters your name on the court’s roll of attorneys, and that date becomes your official admission date on the Certificate of Admission. You cannot practice law in Arizona until the certificate issues.⁹

What You Owe After Admission

Within one year of admission, you must complete a mandatory, one-time professionalism course. It runs 4.25 hours, counts as ethics CLE credit, and cannot be substituted with any other ethics or professionalism program. If you take inactive status immediately upon admission, you are exempt until you go active. If you are active but neither live nor practice in Arizona, you are exempt until you become a resident or start handling Arizona matters; handling even one Arizona client’s case from out of state triggers the requirement.¹⁰

Arizona’s MCLE compliance period runs July 1 through June 30, with affidavits due by September 15 each year. Late compliance and late filing carry escalating fees, and failing to file by December 15 can lead to a motion for summary suspension.¹¹ If you are admitted mid-cycle, ask the State Bar about prorated requirements for your first year.

1
Arizona Judicial Branch. Arizona Supreme Court Announces Bar Exam Passing Score Change
2
Arizona Supreme Court Attorney Admissions. Uniform Bar Examination Transfer Application Checklist
3
Arizona State Bar Admission Office. UBE Transfer
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Arizona Supreme Court Attorney Admissions. Arizona Supreme Court Score Requirements Order
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Arizona Supreme Court Attorney Admissions. Bar Examination Application Supporting Documentation Checklist
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Arizona State Bar Admission Office. Character and Fitness General Information
7
National Conference of Bar Examiners. UBE Score Services
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National Conference of Bar Examiners. Uniform Bar Examination Jurisdictions – Arizona Admission by Transferred UBE Score
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Arizona State Bar Admission Office. Arizona State Bar Admission Office – Frequently Asked Questions
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State Bar of Arizona. Professionalism Course Dates and Exemption Form
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State Bar of Arizona. MCLE Requirements and Deadlines