Applying for a License in North Carolina

The North Carolina Board of Occupational Therapy licenses Occupational Therapists (OT) and Occupational Therapy Assistants (OTA) in the State of North Carolina.  Licensure is offered to an OT or an OTA who has graduated from an accredited curriculum including field work requirements and passed the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) exam.

The licensing process must be completed and a North Carolina license issued before practice may begin.  The Board does not offer a temporary license for individuals entering the State who wish to practice before completing the licensure process and being issued a Regular license.

Licenses expire on June 30th every year. If your license is issued between January 1st and March 31st, it will expire on June 30th of the same year it is issued.  If it is issued between April 1st and December 31st, it will expire on June 30th of the following year.

General Requirements for Licensure

1. Fee: $100.00. This fee is non-refundable, payable by credit card (Visa, Mastercard or Discover)
2. Good moral character.
3. Successful completion of an accredited Occupational Therapy or Occupational Therapy Assistant educational curriculum. (Institution transcripts should not be sent to the Board.)
4. Successful completion of the NBCOT exam.
5. Successful completion of the Board's jurisprudence exam on the North Carolina Occupational Therapy Practice Act and Rules of the Board.  Login and password information are included in the online application request email.  The exam is administered online at this website.  There is no fee to take the exam.

General Information about Licensure

1.  A license must be renewed on or before June 30 of each year. For more information please click on the Renewals tab of this website.
2. Applicant must be issued a valid license before starting work as an Occupational Therapist or Occupational Therapy Assistant in North Carolina.
3. All documents and photos will be retained by the Board.
4. The Board reserves the right to request additional information before issuing a license.
5.  Information and materials received during the application process are valid for a period of twelve months. An incomplete application file will be discarded twelve months after receiving the last item. The applicant will be required to begin the application process again by requesting an application online.

6. If you are a military-trained applicant or spouse, you will need to provide the Board with a copy of your military orders and identification to administrator@ncbot.org and the Board will waive the initial application fee of $100.

How to Apply for a License

An application may be purchased online (Visa, MasterCard or Discover) for $10.00.

The Application Request Form must be completely filled out.  This will include name, address, phone number and designation (OT or OTA). Upon receipt of the online request and the fee, an online application will be created specifically for the requesting individual.  The login information and password information will be sent to the email address included in the request.  You will be able to login to this application as much as you want until you have completed or uploaded all the required information.  Use the link below to purchase an online application.

Once you have purchased an online application and have completed all of the required fields, you will submit the application to the Board for review.  At this time, the Board may be waiting for additional documentation to arrive from 3rd party sources.  This documentation may include, but is not limited to, items such as Moral Character Forms, NBCOT Verification, State Verifications, etc.  You may check the status of your submitted application by clicking on the "Check Submitted Application Status" link.

Purchase Application Online

If you have already created an application online, and would like to continue editing it or inputting additional  information, login using the link below.

To check the status of an application that has been completed and submitted to the Board, use the link below.

Check Application Status

Agencies requesting applications for therapists may request an application only in the name of the therapist not the agency. The application fee and information above applies.  For further questions or information, contact the Board at administrator@ncbot.org