Arizona Supreme Court Rule 38: Eligibility, Filing, and Approval

Attorneys already licensed in another U.S. jurisdiction can join the State Bar of Arizona without sitting for the bar exam through Arizona bar admission on motion, a process governed by Arizona Supreme Court Rule 38(h). The core requirements are five years of active legal practice within the seven years before you apply, good standing in every jurisdiction where you hold a license, a passing MPRE score, completion of a course on Arizona law, and clearance through a character and fitness investigation. A complete application typically takes about four months to process.

Who Qualifies

Rule 38(h) sets eight requirements, and you must meet all of them:

Admission by bar examination in a jurisdiction that grants Arizona-licensed attorneys the same admission-on-motion privilege on equivalent terms.
A J.D. from a law school that was ABA-approved when you graduated.
Primary engagement in the active practice of law for at least five of the seven years immediately before you file.
A passing MPRE score. Arizona’s minimum is 85.
Current membership in good standing in every jurisdiction where you are admitted.
No current lawyer discipline and no pending disciplinary matter in any jurisdiction.
The character and fitness required to practice law in Arizona.
Completion of the mandatory course on Arizona law before your application can be approved.

Reciprocity trips up applicants who assume experience alone is enough. Arizona only extends admission by motion to attorneys from jurisdictions that offer Arizona lawyers the same pathway on equivalent terms. If your home state does not, you cannot use this route no matter how long you have been practicing.¹

Read the practice requirement carefully. The rule requires five of the seven years immediately before filing, not “three of five” as some online summaries state. If you are planning around a career gap, an inactive stretch, or a leave of absence, that distinction controls the timing of when you can apply.¹

What Counts as Active Practice

The work you claim must have been performed either in a jurisdiction where you held an active license or in a jurisdiction that allows the activity by unlicensed lawyers. Work done before you were admitted to any bar does not count.¹

The following activities qualify:

Private practice representing clients in any area of law.
Government service as a lawyer for a local, state, or federal agency, including military legal service.
Teaching at an ABA-approved law school.
Serving as a judge in a federal, state, territorial, or local court of record.
Service as a law clerk to a judge.
Serving as in-house legal counsel for a business entity.

Two limits matter. Work that constituted unauthorized practice of law where it was performed does not count. And your license must have been in active status throughout the years you are claiming; time on inactive status will not satisfy the requirement.¹

Documentation You Will Need

The application asks for detailed personal and professional disclosure going back a decade or more, and the Committee on Character and Fitness reviews everything. Incomplete submissions slow the process. Start gathering:

Proof of lawful status. U.S. citizens can provide a birth certificate, passport, valid driver’s license, or naturalization certificate. Non-citizens must provide official immigration documentation.
A residence history listing city and state for every address in the last ten years, or since age 21, whichever is shorter.
Academic records showing dates of attendance for every college, university, and law school, plus documentation of any academic discipline.
A licensing history covering every bar or professional licensing application you have ever filed, and documentation of any professional discipline in the last ten years.
Employment history for your five most recent employers within the last ten years, with dates, supervisor names, job titles, and contact information, plus disclosure of any employment discipline or dishonesty.
References. If you cannot provide a legal employment reference, you need a non-employment reference from an attorney, judge, or law professor.
Certificates of good standing from the highest court or disciplinary authority in every jurisdiction where you are admitted.

The civil, criminal, and financial disclosures reach further than most applicants expect. Civil lawsuits from the past ten years require copies of complaints and dispositions. Any civil or administrative action alleging fraud, misrepresentation, or legal malpractice must be disclosed for your entire lifetime, with full supporting documents. Criminal matters resulting in an arrest, charge, or conviction at any point in your life require complete police reports and court documents. You also need a certified driving record from every state where you have been licensed in the past ten years, dated within 90 days of your application. Delinquent debt, defaults on court orders, and any bankruptcy in the past ten years must be disclosed along with what you have done to resolve them.²

The Arizona Law Course

Every admission-on-motion applicant must complete a course on Arizona law before the application can be approved. The course is a set of online video modules you can watch from anywhere at your own pace. You register through Arizona Courts Education Services, and when you finish the modules and the evaluation, the system automatically notifies the admissions staff. You do not need to upload or submit a separate certificate.²

How to File and What It Costs

You submit the completed application online through the Arizona Supreme Court Attorney Admissions portal. A single consolidated fee covers everything, including the character and fitness investigation. A separate character report is not required, because the application itself includes the materials the Committee needs.³

The one document you mail is your fingerprint card. Request the standard FBI card from Attorney Admissions by emailing attorneyadmissions@courts.az.gov with your current mailing address. Have your prints taken by live-scan or ink, and mail the completed card so it arrives within five days of your online submission. Do not mail it before you have submitted and paid online.²

The fee is non-refundable if you are denied or withdraw. There is one exception: if you ask the Committee in writing to first determine whether you meet the active practice requirement before the full investigation goes forward, the Committee will refund a portion of the fee if you do not qualify.³

How Long Approval Takes

The Committee aims to complete investigations within four months after receiving a complete application. Unresolved disclosures, difficulty verifying past employment, or other follow-up items during the character and fitness review can extend that window. The cleaner and more thorough your initial submission, the less likely you are to lose weeks to information requests.

If You Are Denied

A denial by the Committee on Character and Fitness is not final. You have 20 days to file a verified petition for review directly with the Arizona Supreme Court, stating the facts you rely on and explaining why the Court should review the decision. The Committee then transmits your file and its reasoning to the Court, which decides whether to hold further hearings or issue a final order.

After Approval

Once both the Committee on Examinations and the Committee on Character and Fitness approve your application, you take the Attorney’s Oath of Admission. That oath is what makes you a licensed member of the State Bar of Arizona.

From there, you register with the State Bar and begin paying annual dues. For 2025, dues were $505 for active members admitted three or more years in any jurisdiction, and $345 for those admitted fewer than three years, with late fees added after February 1.⁴

You also enter Arizona’s Mandatory Continuing Legal Education cycle. If you are admitted between January 1 and June 30, you are exempt from MCLE for that educational year. If you are admitted between July 1 and December 31, you must complete two-thirds of the annual requirement for that year.⁵

If You Do Not Qualify for Admission on Motion

Two other routes exist for out-of-state attorneys who cannot use Rule 38(h).

UBE Score Transfer

Arizona accepts transferred Uniform Bar Examination scores. If you took the UBE in another jurisdiction and earned at least a 270 for the July 2023 administration or later, you can apply to transfer that score to Arizona without retaking the exam. This is often the better fit for attorneys who do not yet have five years of active practice.⁶

Military Spouse Temporary Admission

Spouses of active-duty military members stationed in Arizona may qualify for temporary admission under Rule 39(d). You need a J.D. from an ABA-approved school, admission by bar exam in another jurisdiction, and active good standing. Your spouse must be on full-time active duty under military orders in Arizona, and you must be residing in Arizona because of those orders. This pathway provides a temporary license rather than permanent admission.⁷

1
Arizona Supreme Court. Rule 38(h) Admission on Motion
2
Arizona State Bar Admission Office. Admission on Motion Application Checklist
3
Arizona State Bar Admission Office. Admission on Motion
4
State Bar of Arizona. Membership Fees Deadline
5
State Bar of Arizona. Arizona Rule of the Supreme Court 45 – Mandatory Continuing Legal Education
6
Arizona State Bar Admission Office. UBE Transfer
7
Arizona State Bar Admission Office. Military Spouse