Transferring Your Massage Therapist License from Another State

If you have a massage therapist license from another state, US territory, or a foreign country, you may be eligible to apply for a Texas Massage Therapy license.

How to Apply:

Step 1 - Determine Your Experience Requirements

Select the state where you are licensed to determine how much experience you must have:

Step 2 - Educational Credentials

Obtain the following documents:

• Official certified transcript(s) of all relevant massage coursework from the massage school you attended
• Course descriptions from the school catalog for each course listed on your transcript

Your documentation should prove that you meet the 500-hour minimum educational requirements specified in Section 117.20(a)(8) of the Massage Rules.

Step 3 - License Verification Letter

You will need to contact the state licensing board that issued your license and request a "License Verification Letter".

This letter must contain the following information:

• Full legal name
• License number
• Date the license was first issued
• A statement that your license is in good standing
• Contact information for the licensing agency

Step 4 - Complete the Exams

Before you can apply for a Texas Massage Therapist license, you must pass the following exams:

• The Texas Massage Therapist Jurisprudence Examination is an exam covering the state rules and laws relating to the practice of massage therapy.

• The Massage and Bodywork Licensing Examination (MBLEx) is a nationally recognized licensing exam that is currently utilized in most states, including the District of Columbia and the territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

  If you have previously taken the MBLEx exam and passed it, use the MBLEx Result Transfer Form to send the results to TDLR.

The current Board certification examination (the BCETMB exam) from the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB), is not an acceptable licensing examination.

If the state where your license was issued uses a different licensing examination, please include as much information about the exam as you can, including your scores, and dates that you took the exam. Your credentials will be evaluated on an individual basis.

Step 5 - Begin Your Application

Please include the following documentation on the “Attachments” section of the application form:

• Official certified transcript(s) and catalog course descriptions of all relevant massage coursework from each school where you attended training
• Proof of successfully passing the Massage and Bodywork Licensing Examination (MBLEx)
• Proof of successfully passing the Texas Massage Jurisprudence Exam
• A copy of your out-of-state license
• A license verification letter from the state licensing board that issued your license
• If you have ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor in any state (including deferred adjudication) please see the instructions for applicants with criminal convictions

The non-refundable application fee is $100.

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NOTE: Your license will not be issued until you have completed the fingerprinting requirement (see below).

A massage therapist license is valid for two years from the date of issue.

Step 6 - Get Fingerprinted

After submitting your license application, you must be fingerprinted for a national criminal history record review before a license may be issued.

This is a one-time requirement, and TDLR will be notified of any arrests or criminal convictions that occur after you are fingerprinted.

Please see the Instructions for Massage Industry Fingerprinting page for detailed instructions on the fingerprinting process, including any fees you will be responsible for.

Applicants with Criminal Convictions

If you have ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor (other than a minor traffic violation) or pleaded guilty or no-contest (resulting in a deferred adjudication) to any in-state, out-of-state or federal criminal offense, you must provide a completed Criminal History Questionnaire (PDF) along with your application materials.

Criminal convictions are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Licenses may be denied based on the nature of the conviction and how long prior to the application the conviction occurred. Depending on your criminal history, a review can take from one to six weeks to complete.

Individuals may request TDLR review their criminal background before actually applying for a license. TDLR uses the same process for this pre-application evaluation as the process described below. See the Criminal History Evaluation Letter page for more information.

Please see the Guidelines for License Applicants with Criminal Convictions, which describe the process that TDLR uses to determine whether a criminal conviction renders an applicant an unsuitable candidate for the license, or whether a conviction warrants revocation or suspension of a license previously granted.