To get a Pennsylvania veterinary license, you need a degree from an AVMA-accredited veterinary school, a passing score on the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination (NAVLE), two criminal background checks, and a $35 application filed through the state’s online PALS portal. The State Board of Veterinary Medicine reviews every application and handles licensing, renewals, and discipline for veterinarians practicing in the commonwealth.1Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. State Board of Veterinary Medicine
Education and the NAVLE
Your degree must come from a veterinary school accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Council on Education. The school has to send an official transcript directly to the Board. A copy you mail yourself will not count.2Legal Information Institute. Pennsylvania Code 49 Pa. Code 31.11 – Application for Licensure
After graduation, you take the NAVLE. The minimum passing score is 425, and the results must reach the Board through the AAVSB’s national score-reporting service rather than directly from you.3ICVA. NAVLE Score Information Pennsylvania does not require a separate state jurisprudence exam, so the NAVLE is the only test between your degree and your application.
If You Graduated From a Non-Accredited Foreign Program
Graduates of veterinary schools outside the AVMA accreditation system must first earn either an ECFVG certificate through the AVMA or a PAVE certificate through the AAVSB before applying.2Legal Information Institute. Pennsylvania Code 49 Pa. Code 31.11 – Application for Licensure Both involve an English proficiency assessment, a science knowledge exam, and a clinical skills evaluation. ECFVG uses a Clinical Proficiency Examination; PAVE requires a full Evaluated Clinical Year at an approved facility. Either route takes well over a year.
Applying Through the PALS Portal
All applications go through the Pennsylvania Licensing System (PALS), the state’s online portal for professional licenses.4Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Apply for or Renew Professional Licensing You create an account, complete the application, and upload supporting documents. Have these ready before you start:
- Official transcript sent directly from your veterinary school (or ECFVG/PAVE certification for foreign graduates).
- NAVLE score report transmitted through the AAVSB’s score-reporting service.
- Letters of good standing from every state where you currently or previously held a veterinary license. If Pennsylvania is your first, skip this.
- Honest answers to the criminal history disclosure. Inconsistencies between what you report and what the background check turns up will delay or sink your application.
The application fee is $35, paid by credit or debit card at submission.5Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. Pennsylvania Code 49 Pa. Code 31.41 – Schedule of Fees You can track status through your PALS dashboard. Most applications process within several weeks, though spring runs slower as new graduates apply all at once.
Two Background Checks
Pennsylvania requires both a Pennsylvania State Police records check and an FBI fingerprint-based background check. PALS initiates the state check automatically when you submit. For the FBI check, you schedule a fingerprinting appointment through IdentoGO using the Department of State service code provided during the application.6Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. FBI Fingerprinting An FBI check obtained through another agency or for another purpose will not count. It must run through the Department of State channel.
A criminal record is not an automatic bar. The Board reviews each case to decide whether the offense is relevant to veterinary practice. Failing to disclose a conviction the background check reveals is far worse for your application than the conviction itself.
Reciprocity for Out-of-State Veterinarians
If you already hold a license in another state and have practiced actively for at least five consecutive years immediately before applying, you can use the reciprocal pathway instead of the standard one. It needs more paperwork:
- A detailed description, written by you, of your clinical work over the past five years.
- A letter from the licensing board in the state where you practice confirming five continuous years of licensure.
- Two professional recommendations from licensed veterinarians speaking to your character, competence, and active practice during that period.
- Letters of good standing from every state where you have ever held a veterinary license, including any disciplinary history.
The fee is still $35.2Legal Information Institute. Pennsylvania Code 49 Pa. Code 31.11 – Application for Licensure If you have been licensed elsewhere for fewer than five years, you go through the standard application with NAVLE scores and transcripts.
Renewal and Continuing Education
Pennsylvania veterinary licenses expire on November 30 of every even-numbered year, no matter when the license was first issued. The biennial renewal fee is $360, paid through the same PALS portal.5Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. Pennsylvania Code 49 Pa. Code 31.41 – Schedule of Fees
Before each renewal you must complete 30 clock hours of continuing education from Board-approved providers during the two-year period leading up to the renewal date.7Legal Information Institute. Pennsylvania Code 49 Pa. Code 31.15 – Continuing Education The Board automatically approves courses from the AVMA and its allied organizations, AVMA-accredited schools, the Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association, other states’ veterinary associations, AVMA specialty boards, and any provider on the AAVSB’s Registry of Approved Continuing Education.8Legal Information Institute. Pennsylvania Code 49 Pa. Code 31.16 – Continuing Education Provider Approval Courses from any other provider need the Board’s advance approval at least 60 days before the program date.
Keep certificates of attendance and a list of completed courses for at least five years, not two.7Legal Information Institute. Pennsylvania Code 49 Pa. Code 31.15 – Continuing Education The Board runs random audits and will ask for documentation. One point of confusion worth clearing: unlike most Pennsylvania health-care professions, veterinarians are exempt from the Act 31 child abuse recognition and reporting training requirement, so your 30 hours do not need to include those topics.9Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Child Abuse Recognition and Reporting Continuing Education
Reactivating a Lapsed License
If your license expired and you did not practice veterinary medicine while it was lapsed, reactivation is straightforward. Pay the current $360 biennial renewal fee, submit certificates showing 30 hours of CE for the most recent renewal period, and file an Affidavit of Non-Practice stating when you stopped working. No late fees apply for periods you were not practicing.10Legal Information Institute. Pennsylvania Code 49 Pa. Code 31.13 – Licensure Renewal
If you practiced on an expired license, you owe the current renewal fee plus every biennial fee you would have paid had you renewed on time, along with late fees from the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs. You will also need CE certificates for the current period and every lapsed period during which you worked. Practicing on an expired license is separately subject to disciplinary action by the Board.10Legal Information Institute. Pennsylvania Code 49 Pa. Code 31.13 – Licensure Renewal
If your license has been expired for more than five years, whether you were practicing elsewhere or not practicing at all, the Board requires a formal reactivation process under the Veterinary Medicine Practice Act rather than a simple renewal.
A State License Is Not a DEA Registration
Your Pennsylvania veterinary license does not, by itself, let you prescribe or dispense controlled substances. You need a separate federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registration, applied for through the DEA’s online portal.11Drug Enforcement Administration. DEA Forms and Applications The registration ties to a specific practice address. If you work at multiple locations, each address needs its own registration, and changing your practice address requires an approved state license at the new location before the DEA will process the update.
Once registered, you must maintain disposition logs for every controlled substance you administer or dispense and conduct a physical inventory of your controlled substance stock at least every two years. Those records have to stay readily accessible for at least two years.