North Dakota Occupational Therapist License Renewal
- North Dakota-licensed occupational therapists preparing for their biennial license renewal
- Occupational therapy assistants who need to submit supervision documentation with every renewal
- Licensees whose North Dakota license has lapsed and who need to understand the reinstatement window
North Dakota Occupational Therapist License Renewal — At a Glance
| Renewal Cycle | Every 2 years (even-numbered years) |
| Expiration Date | June 30 of even-numbered years |
| Renewal Fee | $150.00 |
| Late Fee | $100.00 additional after June 1 |
| Grace Period | None; license expires June 30 if not renewed |
| Continuing Education | 20 hours per 24 months (prorated for new licensees) |
| Mandatory CE Topics | None specifically required |
| Renewal Method | Online (standard); paper by request |
| Long-Expired License | Reinstatement available up to 3 years; new application required after |
| Renewal Contact | (701) 250-0847 / ndotboard@aptnd.com |
| OT Compact Renewal Note | Not applicable — compact not yet operational |
North Dakota occupational therapists renew every two years, in even-numbered years, with every license expiring June 30. The online renewal window runs April 1 through June 1 — renew during that window and you avoid the late fee. You can still renew online after June 1 and before June 30, but the $100 late fee applies; once June 30 passes and your license has actually expired, the online system deactivates entirely and you’ll need to reinstate by mail instead.
Renewal requires 20 hours of continuing education completed within the preceding 24 months, with reduced requirements if you were only recently licensed: 10 hours if your initial license was issued between July and December of an odd-numbered year, and no CE requirement at all if you were initially licensed in January or later of an even-numbered year — you’d be renewing too soon after initial licensure to owe a full CE cycle.
What Makes North Dakota Different
North Dakota draws a genuine distinction between “delinquent” and “expired” that’s worth understanding precisely: your renewal is technically late starting June 1, but your license doesn’t actually expire until June 30, so there’s a real window — with a fee attached — before you’re truly unlicensed. Once your license does expire, though, North Dakota shuts off online renewal entirely — reinstatement has to go through the mail. If your license lapses past June 30, North Dakota gives you a full three years to reinstate rather than the shorter windows some states use — but reinstatement after expiration requires retaking the jurisprudence exam, not just catching up on CE hours.
OT Compact Renewal Implications
North Dakota has enacted the OT Compact but the Board states directly that it is not yet issuing licenses or accepting applications under the compact — there are currently no compact-privilege renewal implications tied to a North Dakota license because compact privileges aren’t yet available here at all. Your standard biennial North Dakota renewal is what applies right now. Source: North Dakota Board of Occupational Therapy Practice, OT Licensure Compact
Renewal Requirements
- Submit your renewal application, online or by mail, before June 30 to avoid the license expiring
- Complete 20 hours of continuing education within the preceding 24 months, or the prorated amount if this is your first renewal after initial licensure
- Pay the $150.00 renewal fee (plus a $100.00 late fee if submitted after June 1)
- Complete the jurisprudence exam as part of the online renewal process — this is required at every renewal, though unlike the initial-licensure version, it has no passing score; it simply shows you which answers were right or wrong
- If you’re an occupational therapy assistant, submit a substantiation-of-supervision form — required at every renewal, even if your supervisor hasn’t changed
How to Renew
- Renew online, the Board’s standard method — contact the Board directly if you’re unable to renew online and need a paper form
- Create a password for the online system first if you haven’t already, using your last name, ND license number, and the last four digits of your Social Security number
- Confirm you’ve completed your required continuing education hours for the preceding 24 months
- Pay the $150.00 renewal fee with a credit or debit card if renewing online
- Complete the jurisprudence exam within the renewal process
- If you’re an OTA, submit your substantiation-of-supervision form along with your renewal, regardless of whether your supervisor has changed
- Once approved, print your own updated license card from the Board’s website — certificates are no longer mailed out
- If your license has already expired, use the reinstatement process instead of a standard renewal — you’ll need the renewal fee, the $100.00 late fee, your CE documentation, and you’ll need to retake the jurisprudence exam
Practical Notes
- Don’t assume the June 1 delinquency date is your real deadline — your license is still valid through June 30, but renewing between June 1 and June 30 costs an extra $100, so there’s a real financial reason not to wait.
- If you’re an OTA, don’t skip the supervision form just because nothing has changed — North Dakota requires it at every renewal regardless of whether your supervisor is the same person as last time.
- If your license lapses, don’t assume CE catch-up is all you need for reinstatement — North Dakota also requires retaking the jurisprudence exam, so budget time for that alongside your continuing education documentation.
Editorial note: Practical Notes are reviewed by AlliedLicenseGuide.com’s ARDMS-credentialed editorial reviewer before publication.
Relevant Statutes
- Source: North Dakota Board of Occupational Therapy Practice, Application for Renewal of License
- Source: North Dakota Board of Occupational Therapy Practice, Continuing Education Requirements
- Source: North Dakota Century Code, Chapter 43-40, Occupational Therapists
Related Pages
Frequently Asked Questions
How often do occupational therapists renew their license in North Dakota?
Every two years, in even-numbered years. All North Dakota OT licenses expire June 30. Source: North Dakota Board of Occupational Therapy Practice, Application for Renewal of License
How many continuing education hours does North Dakota require?
20 contact hours within the preceding 24 months for most renewals. Reduced requirements apply for recently licensed OTs: 10 hours if initially licensed July through December of an odd-numbered year, and no CE requirement at all if initially licensed January or later of an even-numbered year. Source: North Dakota Board of Occupational Therapy Practice, Continuing Education Requirements
What happens if my North Dakota OT license expires?
If it’s been expired less than 3 years, you can reinstate it with the renewal application, renewal fee, $100.00 late fee, 20 hours of continuing education documentation, and the jurisprudence exam. If it’s been expired 3 years or more, you must go through the initial application process instead. Source: North Dakota Board of Occupational Therapy Practice
Can I renew my North Dakota OT license by mail?
Online renewal is the Board’s standard method. If you’re unable to renew online, contact the Board directly to request a paper form. Source: North Dakota Board of Occupational Therapy Practice, Application for Renewal of License
Is North Dakota a member of the OT Compact for renewal purposes?
North Dakota has enacted the compact but isn’t yet issuing licenses or accepting applications under it. There are no compact-privilege renewal implications tied to a North Dakota license right now because the compact isn’t operational here yet. Source: North Dakota Board of Occupational Therapy Practice, OT Licensure Compact
- 2026-08-17: Page created. Renewal data verified directly against the Board’s official Application for Renewal of License and Continuing Education Requirements pages, and North Dakota Century Code Chapter 43-40.
- 2026-08-17: OT Compact status confirmed as “enacted but not yet operational” directly from the Board’s own page, correcting an initial data-collection source’s more confident “member” framing.
- 2026-08-17: Following editorial review, CE category limits were corrected after direct verification against the Board’s Approval of Continuing Education page: earlier figures for Level II fieldwork supervision, professional leadership, and employer-based CE (12/6/6 hours) could not be confirmed and were removed. The confirmed limits are an 8-hour cap on community-organization presentations, no stated limit on in-service/conference presentations, and specific academic-coursework credit conversion rates. The online renewal window (April 1–June 1) and the confirmation that the online system deactivates entirely once a license has actually expired were added after direct verification against the Board’s renewal and reinstatement pages.
- 2026-08-17: A citation audit was run against every source link on this page. Two URLs (the Continuing Education Requirements page and the Application for Renewal of License page) had previously been cited without being directly fetched — the underlying details had been carried over from the original data-collection sources. Both were fetched directly and their content confirmed. This also surfaced two additional corrections: the exact CE first-renewal proration figure (10 contact hours if initially licensed after June 30 and on or before December 31 of an odd year) was confirmed precisely; and a jurisprudence exam requirement at every standard renewal — separate from the reinstatement-specific exam already described — was added, along with the detail that it carries no passing-score threshold at renewal (unlike the 80% threshold at initial licensure). The renewal notice’s exact send date for the current cycle (April 6, 2026) and the fact that license certificates are no longer mailed were also added.