Virginia RN, LPN and APRN License Lookup

The Department of Health Professions License Lookup offers three ways in. If you have the license number you can search on that alone. A licensee looking up their own record can search by the last four digits of their Social Security number together with their last name; you would not have that for someone else, and this site never collects it. Otherwise search by occupation, name, state, ZIP code, status, or any combination, choosing the nursing occupation such as Registered Nurse, Licensed Practical Nurse or Advanced Practice Registered Nurse from the occupation list. The service is free for individual checks by people, agencies and employers, and is not intended for bulk or commercial use.

A Virginia result covers current, unexpired licensees and also anyone whose license has expired since January 1, 2000, so an expired credential from this century still appears. The status box filters between Current Licensees and Expired Licensees, and choosing Current is how you limit results to people who may practise now. The record you reach serves as primary source verification of the credential issued by the Commonwealth and meets Joint Commission requirements, so an employer does not need a separate letter from the Board. The page shows the date and time the data is current as of.

The Department of Health Professions treats its License Lookup as the official and primary source for DHP data, consistent with Joint Commission, NCQA and other primary-source verification standards, and it provides the same information the agency supplies by fax or mail. Organizations that need regular or high-volume verification use the paid License Verification service through Virginia Interactive, and a subscription service can notify subscribers of expirations, renewals and board actions.

Virginia renewal dates follow the licensee's birth month and birth year parity, so a nurse born in an even-numbered year renews by the last day of their birth month in even-numbered years and a nurse born in an odd-numbered year renews in odd-numbered years. A record that looks overdue may simply be in the other year of that two-year rhythm. The Board sends the renewal notice to the last known address, so an out-of-date address is a common reason a nurse misses renewal and later finds the record expired. A newly issued license appears once the Board issues it and the application leaves the Pending Licenses list.

Virginia is a Nurse Licensure Compact state and implemented the enhanced compact on January 19, 2018. Registered nurses and licensed practical nurses who are licensed in and reside in another compact state may practice in Virginia on their multistate privilege without a Virginia license, and Virginia residents apply to the Board for a multistate license by meeting the compact's uniform licensure requirements. A single-state license from a non-compact state does not carry that privilege.