North Dakota Occupational Licensing for Military Members and Spouses

Chapter 43-51 carries three military licensing provisions, and the mechanism in the middle one is unusually strong. Renewal hardship. Section 43-51-11 requires a board to adopt rules providing for, or to grant case by case, exceptions to its licence renewal requirements to address hardship from activation of more than thirty days of a licensee who is a Guard member or a military member, or from service in a theater or area of armed conflict. Licensure for a member or spouse. Section 43-51-11.1 requires a board to adopt rules, or grant case-by-case exceptions, allowing a military spouse or military member to practise where the applicant demonstrates competency by methods the board determines and the board finds that issuing the licence will not substantially increase the risk of harm to the public. Where those requirements have been substantially met the board "shall issue a provisional license or temporary permit", and may not charge any fee for it. The provisional licence runs up to two years and stays valid while the holder is making progress toward the unmet requirements. Then subsection 5, which is the provision to remember. If within thirty days of receiving a completed application the board has neither granted nor denied a licence nor issued a provisional licence or temporary permit, "the board automatically shall issue a provisional license or temporary permit", valid until the board finally acts. Silence is not an answer available to the board. A spouse who has waited thirty days after filing a complete application is already licensed provisionally, and the thing to do is say so in writing rather than wait longer. Section 43-51-11.2 puts a duty on the board at the front end. Every licensure application and renewal form must ask whether the applicant or licensee is a military member or military spouse, and where an applicant self-identifies and provides satisfactory proof, the board "immediately shall commence the process" to issue a licence, provisional licence or temporary permit. Boards report military member and spouse data annually to the Department of Commerce. Who is covered. A "military member" under 43-51-01(5) is a member of the armed forces or a reserve component stationed in North Dakota under military orders, or stationed here before a temporary assignment out of state. A "military spouse" is a foreign practitioner, meaning someone who currently holds a licence in good standing in another state and is not subject to pending discipline, who is the spouse of a military member. These provisions are aimed at the family posted to North Dakota, not at a North Dakota veteran seeking a first licence. The coverage is wide. The general definition of "board" in 43-51-01 excludes seven bodies, including the board of medicine, the board of dental examiners and the secretary of state for contractor licensing, but each of the three military sections then names those seven and pulls them back in. An agency outside Title 43 is covered only if it has elected in by administrative rule, which is the one gap to check before relying on this. Federal law reaches further for a family moving on orders. Since December 23, 2024, 50 U.S.C. 4025a, as rewritten by section 587 of Public Law 118-159, requires a state licensing board to treat as valid, within its scope of practice, a licence in good standing that a service member or spouse holds in another state when they relocate on military orders, on application with the orders, a marriage certificate for a spouse and a notarized affidavit; a board that cannot act within 30 days may issue a temporary licence meanwhile. Licences held under an interstate compact follow the compact. The federal rule covers people serving and their spouses, not veterans after separation, and it does not depend on the board having adopted a rule.