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The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) recently launched a new licensing system for all health professionals and facilities in Washington state on April 29, 2025. The Healthcare Enforcement and Licensing Management System (HELMS) was developed to create efficiencies, improve user experience, streamline processing, strengthen data access, and reduce paper-based activities. Please note, you will need to manually add the HELMS Portal when renewing or applying in HELMS for the first time. We are also experiencing longer than usual application processing times due to this recent implementation. Thank you for your patience as we process applications in date order received.

Nurse License Fees

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Washington State Nurse License Fees

Fees pay for licensing and regulating nursing in Washington state.

All nurse license fees are non-refundable.

Recent Updates

  • Multistate license fees went into effect Jan 31, 2024
  • WCN surcharge increased on July 24, 2023.
  • New nurse license fees went into effect Dec 1, 2022*

*Fees increased to cover the cost of:

  • New licensing system.
  • Staffing to process applications within the 7-day timeline required by the legislature.
  • Staffing to address the long-term care crisis.

Fees Amounts 

Type

Single-State
Initial Application

 Multistate
Initial Application

Single-State
Renewal

 Multistate
Renewal

Single-State
Late Renewal 
(less than 1 year late)
Total

 Multistate
Late Renewal 
(less than 1 year late)
Total		 Single-State
Reactivation
(more than 1 year late) 
Total		 Multistate
Reactivation
(more than 1 year late) 
Total
LPN $93 $158 $93 $113 $143 $163 $213 $233
RN $138 $203 $138 $158 $188 $208 $258 $278
Retired Active (RN & LPN) Does not apply Does not apply $68 Does not apply $113 Does not apply $183 Does not apply
Inactive (RN & LPN) Does not apply Does not apply $68 Does not apply $113 Does not apply $150 Does not apply
Type

Initial Application

Renewal

Late Renewal
(less than 2 year late) 
Total

 Reactivation
(more than 2 year late) 
Total
ARNP $130 $130 $180 $180
Inactive (ARNP) Does not apply $40 $80 $120
NTEC $25 $25 $50 Does not apply
Verification of License

$25 for all license types. 

Please see Verify a License before paying.
Duplicate License*

$20 for ARNP, LPN, & RN. 

$15 for NTEC

*Duplicate licenses are issued in rare instances, please contact us first. We only print a copy if absolutely necessary. For example: The nurse needs a current copy to travel outside of the country.

Fee Information

Fees and surcharges on nurse license fees are mandated by the Washington State Legislature. These fees can't be changed or removed without the legislature’s approval.

  • The application fee is set by by the Washington State Legislature.
  • Health Evidence Resource for Washington State (HEAL-WA) is an online evidence-based library for health professionals in Washington State provided by the University of Washington. 
    • All registered nurses and licensed practical nurses are charged a $16.00 HEAL-WA fee. 
  • Washington Center for Nursing (WCN) is the statewide nursing workforce center. 
    • All registered nurses and licensed practical nurses are charged a $8.00 WCN nursing surcharge. 

Fee laws and rules:

More Information

Sending Payment by Check

We encourage you to apply and renew online, but if you are unable to, then please make checks payable to the Department of Health and mail them to the following address:
Department of Health
PO Box 1099
Olympia, WA 98507-1099

SecureAccess Washington (SAW) Account

We use SecureAccess Washington (SAW) to protect your personal information. To apply, renew, or manage your license online you need to either create or login to a SAW account.

Contact Us

111 Israel Road SE
PO Box 47864
Olympia, WA 98504
360-236-4703