Veterinarian Licensure Requirements in Louisiana

Louisiana requires the NAVLE for DVM applicants and adds two timing rules that are easy to miss.

A pass must be no more than five years old at the application submission date — an older score means retaking the exam unless the applicant qualifies under the Board's separate retake-waiver criteria.

Board Rule 303.B.7 also limits an applicant to five national-exam attempts; at its February 5, 2026 meeting the Board voted to amend that rule to align with ICVA's revised retake policy, but until the amendment is promulgated, graduates who have attempted the NAVLE more than five times remain ineligible in Louisiana even if they retake and pass.

All scores, passing or failing, must be submitted to the LBVM, and a candidate who originally applied through a different board transfers scores via AAVSB VAULT.

Every DVM applicant must also pass the Board's own State Board Exam, a jurisprudence test on the laws and regulations governing veterinary practice in Louisiana.

It runs 30 minutes and 26 multiple-choice questions, with 70% or more required to pass.

The exam is independent of the NAVLE and can be scheduled before or after it, which lets a new graduate clear the state test while NAVLE results are still pending — currently enrolled students may sit it once they are within 60 days of graduation.

Retakes are unlimited: the $200 DVM exam fee applies to every attempt, a $50 vendor fee is added for the online option, and a passing score stays valid for five years from the date the exam was completed.

Louisiana accepts both ECFVG and PAVE certification, so an internationally trained graduate can use either route and then faces the same NAVLE-plus-state-board-exam stack as every other applicant.

Approval to sit the NAVLE runs directly through ICVA, with the LBVM designated as the licensing board, or through an AAVSB VAULT transfer for a candidate who originally applied to a different board.

Applications for licensure are valid for one year from the submission date, so exam scheduling and document gathering need to move on that clock.

The Board's application portal also lists a separate Military Transfer Application alongside the standard DVM and DVM-Faculty categories.

The Board's application portal lists an "Actively Licensed in Another State" application category, but its detailed conditions could not be verified from the sources read — the category's detail page sits behind a dropdown that did not render — so an out-of-state veterinarian should not assume any particular waiver and should ask the Board directly.

What the sources do show is the 2024 Welcome Home Act (Act No. 253, La.

R.S. 37:53): a veterinarian who establishes Louisiana residency and meets the Act's criteria can be issued a conditional license while normal licensure is still processing.

The Board notes its application forms now include a declaration requiring applicants to verify whether proof of residency can be provided under the Act.

This is a residency-based pathway aimed at Louisiana residents and returnees, not a general reciprocity route.

Louisiana licenses renew annually, with every license expiring September 30 and the renewal window running July 1 through that date.

Each DVM must complete at least 20 hours of continuing education within the fiscal year (July 1 through June 30), and no more than half may be earned online, including interactive Zoom-style formats.

Programs accepted by another state's regulatory board, a governmental entity, or the AAVSB count automatically; programs outside that list need Board pre-approval at least 14 days before the session.

The active DVM renewal fee is $250, a late renewal adds $150, and hours completed after June 30 draw a $25 late fee — certificates missing required details, including the delivery method, count as incomplete at the September 30 deadline.

The sources read identified four Louisiana license types — DVM, DVM-Faculty, Registered Veterinary Technician, and Certified Animal Euthanasia Technician — and none of them is a distinct temporary, relief, or locum tenens permit.

That is a null result from the Board's own application materials rather than a confirmed statement that no such permit exists, so a relief veterinarian should not assume short-stint coverage is available.

An out-of-state veterinarian planning relief days in Louisiana should budget for full licensure on the timeline above unless the Board says otherwise.

The Board's fee page prints the DVM application total as $560–570: a $100 non-refundable application fee, a $250 original certification fee, the $200 State Board Exam fee, and a score-transfer fee of $10 for a transferred NAVLE score or $20 for NBE/CCT — those two transfer-fee values are what move the printed total between $560 and $570, though the page also notes the transfer fee is paid only when the score is being transferred from another state.

Choosing the online version of the state board exam adds a $50 third-party vendor fee.

The cost of the required criminal background check is not included and is the applicant's own responsibility, and paying by credit or debit card carries a 2.5% service fee.