California Licensing Guides for Immigrant Architects

Eligibility for Licensing

Overview

This guide assumes that you are not licensed as an architect anywhere in the U.S.  (If you already hold a license from another U.S. state, you can seek licensure by reciprocity.)  There are three pathways by which foreign-educated architects seeking to obtain their first U.S. license can seek licensure in California:

• Pathway 1:  Education from a Foreign College/University and/or Work Experience
• Pathway 2:  Degree from a CACB Program
• Pathway 3:  Foreign Architect License Pathway

Regardless of which pathway applies to you, in general, you will need to show that you meet the educational, experience, and examination requirements for licensure.

For more information about the Board and its licensing process, please see the Board’s website and its architect licensure handbook.

The Licensing Process

Establish a NCARB Council Record

Your first step, regardless of which pathway applies to you, is to establish an NCARB Record.  The NCARB Record is a detailed, verified account of your education, experience, and examination history.

As of January 2023, the initial application fee for licensure candidates is $100, which covers the initial application for an NCARB Record, maintains your active Record for one year, and includes one free Record transmittal to support your application for initial registration.  The yearly renewal fee for licensure candidates is $85 (as of January 2023). 

Submit an Application for Eligibility Evaluation (Pathways 1 and 2)

If you are pursuing licensure through education from a foreign college/university and/or work experience or you have a degree from a CACB program, you should complete and submit an Application for Eligibility Evaluation to the Board.  As of January 2023, the application fee for this form is $100.

Evaluate Your Foreign Degree

Pathway 1 – Education from a Foreign College/University and/or Work Experience

In order to be eligible for licensing, candidates are required to have at least five years of architectural educational experience to take the Architect Registration Examination (ARE), and eight years of architectural educational experience to take the California Supplemental Examination (CSE). 

The state of California does not require that the 5 or 8 years of education come from a National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) accredited institution.  Your foreign education and work experience may apply.  The CAB may credit up to 4 years for a non-NAAB accredited professional degree in architecture.  Additionally, various amounts of credit can be earned for degrees or class units that are related to the field of architecture, such as an undergraduate degree in architecture or a degree in a field related to architecture.  Applicants can also earn credit through work experience completed under the direct supervision of a licensed architect.

There are two ways to have your degree evaluated:  through the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) Education Evaluation Service for Architects (EESA) or National Association of Credential Evaluation Services, Inc. (NACES) approved education evaluation service.

• NAAB EESA Evaluation

An approved NAAB EESA automatically grants a candidate 5 years of credit, and a candidate’s testing will be authorized as soon as the Board receives the approval from NCARB.  An EESA also allows for flexibility if you plan to seek licensure in multiple jurisdictions, as it is accepted by 46 other jurisdictions.

An NAAB EESA will compare your degree against the NCARB Education Standard, which consists of six subject areas spread across 150 semester credit hours:

• Liberal Arts (42 hours)
• History, Theory, and Human Behavior (12 hours)
• Design Synthesis (40 hours)
• Building Technology (27 hours)
• Professional Practice (12 hours)
• Electives (17 hours)

More information regarding the specific breakdown of required credit hours is available in NCARB’s Education Standard Guidelines.

To initiate the EESA evaluation, log into your NCARB evaluation and request eligibility to apply.  If you are eligible, you will receive a notification from NCARB to complete the application and pay the EESA fee.  As of January 2023, the evaluation fee is $2,500.

You will need to submit the following documents for your EESA evaluation:

• Academic transcripts from each post-secondary institution attended either in a foreign country or in the U.S. should be submitted electronically by the institution directly to NAAB.
  • Transcripts that are not in English must include a certified translation.  Translations should be uploaded on NAAB’s website.
  • If you already submitted official transcripts to NCARB, you can request that NCARB forward the transcripts to NAAB.
• Descriptions of all courses taken from each post-secondary institution, including a description of the objective and outcomes of each course and the number of credit hours or contact hours per week.
  • You should submit a certified English translation of these documents as well.

For any documents that require a certified English translation, the NAAB requires that that document include a signed statement attesting to the accuracy and completeness of the translation.  The translator must be certified, and the document should have the translator’s seal showing his or her credentials.  The American Translators Association maintains a list of ATA-certified translators.

An EESA evaluation takes up to 45 business days from the time that all of your required documents have been submitted.

If the evaluation finds that you have not met the NCARB Education Standard because of one or more deficiencies, it will identify the areas of those deficiencies.  You may be able to satisfy those deficiencies through additional coursework, but you will need to seek pre-approval from NAAB regarding any proposed courses to determine if they will satisfy deficiencies.

The evaluation will state if your degree is equivalent to either a U.S. professional degree (B.Arch. or M.Arch. equivalent) or a pre-professional degree (technical school or 4-year Bachelor’s).  This will determine the amount of training you need to qualify for licensure in California. 

If you disagree with the EESA evaluation report, you may request reconsideration of the evaluation results within 60 days of receiving the report.  You will be required to show that the evaluation did not account for factual evidence that was in your record when it was submitted for evaluation or that the evaluation process failed to comply with the established guidelines in the NCARB Education Standard.  If the your request is granted, there is no additional fee for the reconsideration process.  The results of a reconsideration evaluation is final and cannot be appealed.

If the response to your request for reconsideration is denial of reconsideration, you can initiate an appeal to the NCARB Education Committee within 60 days of receiving the denial of reconsideration. You will need to show that the response to the request for reconsideration was not supported by sufficient factual evidence cited in the record or that the review for the request for reconsideration failed to comply with established guidelines in the NCARB Education Standard.  The results of a reconsideration evaluation is final and cannot be appealed.

For more information about the Reconsideration and Appeal processes, please refer to NCARB’s Education Guidelines.

NACES Evaluation

California permits you to have your education evaluated through a NACES Evaluation, as an alternative to EESA.  A NACES Evaluation is valid only in California, and cannot be submitted to NCARB or other jurisdictions.

The maximum credit that a candidate may earn through a NACES evaluation is four years.  Any additional work experience under an architect licensed in the U.S. must be separately documented and submitted to the California Board.

A list of the approved educational evaluation services is available on the California Board’s website.  The “short” or “general” evaluation should be sent directly by the evaluation service to the California Board.

• Documenting Work Experience

A minimum of one year work experience under an architect licensed in a U.S. jurisdiction or two years under an architect licensed in Canada is required to earn your architect license in California.

If you have work experience under an architect licensed in a qualifying foreign country, you can receive credit at 50%.  You will need to document that work experience using the CAB’s Employment Verification Form, which should be submitted in hardcopy with original signatures directly to the Board.

Pathway 2 – Degree from a CACB Program

If you earned a degree from a Canadian Architectural Certification Board (CACB) program, you should contact your school and have your transcript sent to NCARB.

Further, if you completed the Internship in Architecture Program (IAP) in Canada, you should request the Canada Province where you completed the IAP to send their record to the California Board in English.  If you did not complete the IAP in a Canada province, you must complete the Architectural Experience Program (AXP) requirement (discussed further below).

Pathway 3 – Foreign Architect License Pathway

If you hold a foreign license for architecture, you should contact NCARB and earn a NCARB Certificate for Foreign Architects.  Once you have the NCARB Certificate and it has been transmitted to the Board, you will need to submit a California Architect Reciprocity Application to the Board.

You can request an NCARB Certificate for Foreign Architects through your NCARB Record.  You will need to submit official paperwork showing your credentials and your university transcripts.  All paperwork should be submitted in English, so you may need to submit certified translations of any documents that are not in English.  More information regarding the NCARB Certificate for Foreign Architects, including an application checklist, is available on the NCARB website.

Pass ARE Testing (Pathways 1 and 2)

The Architect Registration Examination (“ARE”) is developed by NCARB and tests candidates’ knowledge, skills, and ability to provide the various services required in the design and construction of buildings.  You will need to pass this exam for licensure in California.

You may apply for an ARE eligibility evaluation at any time you believe you have met the requirements.  You must have five years of experience through education/work experience and possess an active NCARB Record.  The Board will determine whether you are eligible based on your educational evaluations and any Employment Verification Forms you have submitted for consideration.  

The Board will notify NCARB whether you are eligible.  NCARB will send eligible candidates an email confirmation that you are authorized to test.  Your testing eligibility remains valid as long as you are active in the active in the examination process (i.e., you have taken one ARE division within five years of being determined eligible or since the last exam).

You will schedule your ARE test through NCARB at a test center.

You must complete each division of the ARE within a five-year rolling clock period.  The current divisions of the ARE are:

• Construction and Evaluation
• Practice Management
• Programming and Analysis
• Project Development and Documentation
• Project Management
• Project Planning and Design

As of January 2023, the fee for all six divisions of the ARE is $1,410.  Individual divisions and retakes are $235.  

More information on ARE testing is available in the Test section of this guide.  Please also see the NCARB’s ARE 5.0 Guidelines.

Complete the Architectural Experience Program (AXP) or Internship in Architecture Program (IAP) (Pathways 1 and 2)

Architectural Experience Program (AXP)

You will need to report real-world experience through the Architectural Experience Program (AXP) for licensure in California.  

As of January 2023, to complete your AXP by documenting hours, you will need to report a total of 3,740 hours across six practice areas:

• Practice Management (160 hours, 16 tasks)
• Project Management (360 hours, 32 tasks)
• Programming and Analysis (260 hours, 18 tasks)
• Project Planning and Design (1,080 hours, 17 tasks)
• Project Development and Documentation (1,520 hours, 7 tasks)
• Construction and Evaluation (360 hours, 6 tasks)

1,860 of these hours must be gained while you are employed by an architecture firm legally practicing architecture and under the supervision of an architect licensed in the United States or Canada.  More information about the AXP is available in NCARB’s AXP Guidelines.

You may begin reporting AXP hours once you turn 18 or the equivalent of a graduate from high school.  These hours can be completed concurrently with your completion of the ARE.

If you are an experienced professional who has worked for firms in the past and are currently unable to complete the AXP because of the reporting requirement, you may be able to complete the AXP requirement through the AXP Portfolio.  For more information about the AXP Portfolio, including eligibility requirements, please see NCARB’s AXP Guidelines.

Internship in Architecture Program (IAP)

You may also be able to meet California’s experience requirement by completing the Canadian Internship in Architecture Program.  You will need to complete a minimum of 5,600 hours of work experience in specified areas of architectural practice.  It typically takes 2.5-3 years to complete the process.  For more information about the IAP, please see the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s website.

Complete California Supplemental Examination (CSE) (All Pathways)

You will also need to take the California Supplemental Examination (CSE) for licensure.  

To be eligible, you must provide verification of five years of education equivalents and three years of architectural practice experience, for a total of eight years of experience.  Your work experience must include at least one year under the direct supervision of an architect licensed in a U.S. jurisdiction or two years under an architect registered in a Canadian province.  You will also need to have successfully completed all divisions of the ARE.

As of January 2023, the fee for registering for the CSE is $100.

For more information about the CSE, please see the Board’s website, which includes the CSE Handbook, Test Plan, and sample test questions.

Complete Application for Licensure (All Pathways)

Once you have passed the CSE, the Board will send you an Application for Licensure.  The Board’s website includes a calculator for determining the appropriate fee for your initial license application.

As part of your application for licensure, you will need to submit your fingerprints to the Board for a background check.

You should expect the Board to take at least 30 days to process an Application for Licensure and approximately 6-8 weeks to issue the license.