You cannot get a compact nursing license in Illinois. Illinois has never joined the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC), so every license the state issues is a single-state license that authorizes practice only inside Illinois. If you already hold a multistate compact license from another state, it does not cover you here either. To work in Illinois, you’ll need to apply for an Illinois license by endorsement; to hold a multistate license, you’ll need residency in one of the 43 jurisdictions that are compact members.
Why Illinois Is Not a Compact State
The NLC is an agreement among 43 jurisdictions that lets a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse hold one multistate license and practice in every participating state without additional applications. Illinois is not one of those jurisdictions, and that cuts both ways.
If you’re licensed in Illinois, your license works only in Illinois. You cannot use it to practice in a compact state, in person or by telehealth. If you hold a multistate license issued elsewhere, that license does not reach into Illinois. You need a separate Illinois license before you treat a single patient located here.
Is Illinois About To Join the Compact?
House Bill 1706, introduced in January 2025 during the 104th General Assembly, would amend the Illinois Nurse Practice Act to ratify the compact. The bill went to the Health Care Licenses Committee in February 2025, was re-referred to the House Rules Committee on March 21, 2025, and picked up a co-sponsor in August 2025. No substantive action has been recorded since.1Illinois General Assembly. Bill Status of HB1706 – 104th General Assembly
Even if HB 1706 eventually passes, it carries Illinois-specific carve-outs. The state would be barred from sharing criminal background check results with the Interstate Commission, employers would have to give nurses time for continuing education, and advanced practice registered nurses would be excluded from compact coverage. Watch the legislative calendar if you want, but don’t build a career plan around it yet.
Getting an Illinois License by Endorsement
Any nurse already licensed in another U.S. state or territory, including nurses who hold a multistate compact license, must apply for licensure by endorsement to practice in Illinois. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) processes these applications through its online portal.2IDFPR. Nurses
You’ll need to submit several items:
- License verification through Nursys, the national nurse licensure database, which sends the verification directly to IDFPR.
- Official transcripts from every nursing education program you attended, bearing the school seal.
- A fingerprint-based criminal background check through the Illinois State Police and the FBI.
- A personal history disclosure covering any criminal history or disciplinary action from any licensing board.
Fingerprints must be taken within 60 days before you submit your application. Illinois residents use a LiveScan session at an Illinois-licensed vendor. Out-of-state applicants have fingerprints taken on an FBI card locally, then mail the card to an Illinois vendor that offers card-scan processing; the vendor runs the prints through both systems and sends the results to IDFPR electronically.3IDFPR. Fingerprint Background Check Guide Vendor fees generally run between $20 and $100.
The endorsement application fee for registered nurses is $50. You can add a temporary permit for $25.4Cornell Law Institute. Illinois Admin Code Title 68, 1300.30 – Fees The temporary permit is useful if you need to start working before the permanent license arrives; it’s valid for six months from issuance, or until your permanent license is granted or denied, whichever comes first.5IDFPR. Instruction Sheet – RN Endorsement You remain responsible for finishing the full endorsement process before the permit runs out.
Processing generally takes two to four weeks after all supporting documents are on file, though late-arriving transcripts or fingerprint results stretch that out. The full endorsement requirements sit in the Illinois Administrative Code.6Cornell Law Institute. Illinois Admin Code Title 68, 1300.320 – RN Licensure by Endorsement
Telehealth Across State Lines
A lot of nurses assume a compact license lets them handle Illinois telehealth visits from a compact state. It doesn’t. Under the Illinois Telehealth Act, any health care professional treating a patient located in Illinois by telehealth must be licensed in Illinois.7Justia. Illinois Compiled Statutes 225 ILCS 150 – Telehealth Act Where you’re physically sitting makes no difference. If the patient is in Illinois, you need an Illinois license.
The reverse holds too. If you hold only an Illinois license and provide telehealth to a patient in another state, that state’s board considers you to be practicing within its borders. You’d need licensure there, either by endorsement or, if it’s a compact state, through a multistate license issued by a compact state where you have residency.
Military Spouse Exception
There is one meaningful exception to the Illinois-license rule. A 2023 amendment to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act created a federal license portability provision for service members and their spouses who relocate on military orders.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 4025a – Portability of Professional Licenses of Servicemembers and Their Spouses
To qualify, you must meet all five conditions:
- You relocated outside the jurisdiction that issued your license because of military orders.
- You provide a copy of the orders to the Illinois licensing authority.
- You actively used your license during the two years immediately before the move.
- You are in good standing with every licensing authority that issued you a similar license.
- You agree to follow Illinois standards of practice, discipline requirements, and continuing education rules.
If you meet all five, your out-of-state nursing license is valid in Illinois for the duration of the military orders. The statute carves out situations where both states are NLC members and the compact already governs portability, but because Illinois is not in the compact, that limitation does not block military spouses moving here.
If You Want a Multistate License as an Illinois Nurse
If you’re licensed in Illinois and want compact privileges, you have two paths. The simpler one is to apply for a single-state license by endorsement in whatever state you want to work in, just as an out-of-state nurse would apply in Illinois.
The longer-term path is to establish residency in a compact state and apply for a multistate license there. That license then covers you in every other compact state without additional applications. To qualify for a multistate license, you generally need to pass the NCLEX, hold an unencumbered license, complete a fingerprint-based background check, have no felony convictions, and hold a valid Social Security number, among other requirements. If you later move from one compact state to another, you have 60 days to apply for a new multistate license in your new home state; your old one converts to single-state status when you change residency.9NCSBN. Nurse Licensure Compact
Penalties for Practicing in Illinois Without an Illinois License
Treating this as a technicality is expensive. Knowingly practicing nursing in Illinois without an Illinois license is a Class A misdemeanor on the first offense and a Class 4 felony on a second conviction.10Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 225 ILCS 65 – Nurse Practice Act, Section 70-75 Separately, IDFPR can impose a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per offense after a formal hearing.11Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 225 ILCS 65 – Nurse Practice Act, Section 50-20 Disciplinary action can also include revocation, suspension, or probation, and that record follows you to every state where you later apply for licensure.