Shifts › Guides › CNA Reciprocity: How to Transfer Your Certification to Another State

CNA Reciprocity: How to Transfer Your Certification to Another State

Your CNA certificate is state-level, not national. How reciprocity and endorsement work, the federal 24-month rule, what transfers cost, and what the same credential pays state by state, with live posted per-diem rates from real markets.

Updated September 21, 2026 · live AllShifts shift data

Your certificate does not move with you

CNA certification is not a national license. Federal law (42 CFR 483.156) requires every state to keep its own registry of nurse aides, and to work in a nursing facility you must be listed on the registry of the state where the building sits. Move from Pennsylvania to New Jersey and your PA listing, by itself, gets you nothing until New Jersey adds you to its registry.

The good news: you almost never repeat training. Every state offers a transfer path, usually called reciprocity or endorsement, that accepts your existing training and competency exam and simply verifies you into the new registry. The typical requirements:

• Active, unexpired listing on your current state's registry (temporary or provisional listings usually do not qualify).
• Good standing: no findings of abuse, neglect, or misappropriation of property. A finding on any state registry is permanent under federal rules and blocks transfer everywhere.
• Recent paid work in some states. North Carolina, for example, asks for at least 8 hours of paid nurse aide work under RN supervision within the past 24 months (or a fresh competency exam pass) before it grants reciprocity.
• A verification form your old state sends directly to the new registry. This registry-to-registry step is the single most common source of delay; states using the same test vendor (Credentia or Headmaster) can often verify electronically and faster.
• A fee that varies wildly: some states charge nothing, others charge $200 or more once fingerprinting is included. Budget for it before you move.

A few states run non-standard processes. Alabama, for instance, only lists out-of-state CNAs when a hiring facility submits the application, so you apply for the job first and the employer starts the transfer. Always check the receiving state's nurse aide registry page for the current form before you rely on any summary, including this one.

Same federal credential, four different names

State titles differ even though the underlying federal training and competency standard (42 CFR 483.151-154) is the same. These are the CNA-family titles posting shifts on AllShifts right now:

If you are transferring into Maryland, note that the GNA title was retired on April 1, 2026 and existing GNAs became CNA-I automatically. Our GNA vs CNA in Maryland guide covers that change in detail. Ohio calls the credential STNA and New Hampshire actually licenses it (LNA), but reciprocity in and out of both works the same way as everywhere else.

What moving your certificate is worth

Transfers cost time and a fee, so it helps to know what the other side pays. These are live posted per-diem rates by state, not survey estimates. Among states with at least 3 live markets, the spread between Maine ($21.00-$21.54/hr median) and Nebraska ($27.00-$28.80/hr median) is about $7.26/hr at the top of the range:

City-level tables live in our CNA pay-by-city guide, built from the same live data as this page.

The 24-month rule: keep the clock alive while you transfer

Two federal provisions make long gaps expensive for CNAs:

• Registry removal: a state must remove your registry entry if you perform no paid nursing or nursing-related services for 24 consecutive months (42 CFR 483.156).
• Required retraining: once a continuous 24-month unpaid gap exists, a facility cannot use you as a nurse aide until you complete a new training and competency evaluation program or pass a new competency evaluation (42 CFR 483.35(d)(6)).

Volunteer work does not count; the regulation says services for monetary compensation. Even a handful of paid per-diem shifts keeps the clock alive, which is exactly why picking up occasional shifts during a move, a school semester, or a family break protects the certificate you already earned. Our first 90 days of per-diem guide covers how to start light.

The Nurse Licensure Compact does not cover CNAs

RNs and LPNs in compact states can carry one multistate license across 40-plus jurisdictions. There is no CNA equivalent: no compact, no multistate certificate. Reciprocity paperwork is the only path, state by state. (If you are working toward LPN, that changes: see our compact guide and the CNA-to-LPN bridge guide.)

Common questions

Pay figures on this page come from shifts currently posted in the AllShifts app and change daily. AllShifts is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.