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Foreign-trained lawyers in the District of Columbia

The District of Columbia is one of the most open jurisdictions for a lawyer trained in another country. You can take its bar exam with your foreign degree, after 26 credits at an ABA-approved law school; become a Special Legal Consultant with no minimum years of practice; and work as in-house counsel for your employer without registering. And if you already hold a license in another state and have actively practiced law for 3 of the last 5 years, you can apply for admission without examination (rule in force since April 24, 2026).

The five routes in the District of Columbia

For a lawyer admitted only in another country. Each route has its own section below, with the official rule. What each one is

In-house counsel
Yes, no registration
Temporary practice
Yes, with conditions
Admission without exam from another state
Yes
Last reviewed
November 5, 2026

The District of Columbia route

The path a lawyer trained in another country takes to a full District of Columbia license.

  1. Have your degree evaluated

    Your foreign degree must be substantially equivalent to a J.D. You show it with at least 83 credits in law, on an official English transcript or a course-by-course report from an evaluator approved by the Committee on Admissions, or with that evaluator's certification that your legal education meets the educational requirements for admission to practice law in the country where you earned it.

  2. Complete 26 credits at an ABA-approved law school

    Each course must concentrate on a subject tested on the exam (the UBE), from the Committee's approved list. They can be distance courses, if they meet the ABA's definition. They must be completed before the exam.

  3. File your application

    With the Committee on Admissions, within its filing period, which has no late filing and limited seats. NCBE conducts the character and fitness investigation.

  4. Pass the exam and the MPRE

    The UBE through July 2027; the NextGen from February 2028. On the MPRE you need 75: you can take the bar exam first, but you cannot be admitted without it.

  5. Keep your D.C. Bar membership active

    Once admitted, you are a member of the D.C. Bar. To practice you must keep active status and, within 12 months of your swearing-in, take its mandatory course on the Rules of Professional Conduct.

Without the full license, the District of Columbia offers you two faster routes: Special Legal Consultant, to provide legal services mainly on the law of your country, and in-house counsel for your employer, with no registration. We explain them below.

Foreign Legal Consultant

Rule 46(f) of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals lets a lawyer admitted in another country obtain, without examination, a Special Legal Consultant license to provide legal services in the District, with the limits we explain below; among them, no advice on District of Columbia or U.S. law.

Requirements

  • Be admitted in another country, or hold the equivalent of admission there, and be in good standing.
  • There is no minimum number of years of practice.
  • Good moral character and general fitness.
  • Intend to practice in the District and maintain an office there for that practice.
  • Be at least 26 years old.
  • A certificate from your country's disciplinary authority, with its English translation.
  • A summary of the law and customs of your country on whether D.C. Bar members can open offices there: the Court may consider whether they have a reasonable and practical opportunity to do so.
  • A written commitment to follow the District's Rules of Professional Conduct, professional liability insurance (or an undertaking) in an amount the Court sets, and a District address, with the Clerk of the Court as your agent for service.
  • The application costs $450, plus NCBE's fee. Each year you pay the D.C. Bar an active member's dues: $357 from July 2026 to June 2027.

What a Foreign Legal Consultant cannot do

  • Appear for others before the District's courts or administrative agencies, or prepare pleadings or issue subpoenas in those proceedings, except by pro hac vice or the agency's rule; and pro hac vice requires admission in the United States.
  • Prepare documents affecting title to real estate located in the United States.
  • Prepare U.S. wills, trusts or estate administration documents.
  • Prepare documents on the marital relations or child custody of U.S. residents.
  • Advise on U.S. or District law, except on the advice of qualified counsel whom you identify by name to the client.
  • Hold yourself out as a member of the D.C. Bar. Your title is "Special Legal Consultant," or your title from your country or your firm's name, always with the name of the country where you are admitted.

Costs and fees

  • To apply: US$450 for the Special Legal Consultant application, plus the NCBE fee for the character and fitness investigation.
  • To keep it: Every year, the dues of an active D.C. Bar member: US$357 from July 2026 to June 2027.
  • Paid to: The application, to the Committee on Admissions of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. The annual dues, to the D.C. Bar.

Compare with other states

Read the official rule

With NAFA: we go through each requirement with you and your documents and, if you choose one-on-one guidance, we prepare the application together.

The bar exam

Rule 46(c)(4) of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals lets a graduate of a law school not approved by the ABA, including a foreign one, take the bar exam after at least 26 credits at a law school that was ABA-approved when the credits were earned.

Requirements for a foreign degree

  • Your foreign degree must be substantially equivalent to a J.D.: at least 83 credits in law subjects, on an official English transcript or a course-by-course report from an evaluator approved by the Committee on Admissions; or that evaluator's certification that your legal education meets the educational requirements for admission to practice law in the country where you earned it.
  • At least 26 credits at an ABA-approved law school, each course concentrated on a single UBE subject. The approved subjects: Business Associations, Civil Procedure, Conflict of Laws, Constitutional Law, Contracts (with UCC Article 2), Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Family Law, Real Property, Torts, Trusts and Estates and UCC Article 9; also Legal Ethics and Legal Research and Writing, and since January 1, 2026, because of the NextGen, Trial Advocacy and alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
  • The credits can be earned remotely, if the course meets the ABA's definition of a "distance education course."
  • The 26 credits must be completed before the exam. You file a declaration, and the Committee reviews your law school transcript.
  • The rules do not require you to be admitted as a lawyer in your country to take the exam.
  • The MPRE, with 75 or more, and NCBE's character and fitness investigation.

Good to know

  • An LL.M. alone is not enough, according to NCBE: what counts is the 26 credits in the approved subjects.
  • The exam is the UBE through July 2027, and from February 2028, the NextGen. After four failed attempts, in the District or on another UBE, you can sit again only by showing extraordinary circumstances.
  • Deadlines are strict: for the February 2027 exam, registration ran from October 1 to 21, 2026, with no late filing and limited seats.

Read the official rule

The exam, in figures

Verified on November 5, 2026. Dates and fees change every year: confirm them on the official site before you apply.

The exam
The UBE (NCBE's Uniform Bar Examination), over two days. Your score can be transferred to the other jurisdictions that use it.
NextGen
From February 2028. The last UBE will be in July 2027.
Next exams
February 23 and 24, 2027. The July 2027 dates have not been published yet.
Filing deadline
For February 2027, filing ran from October 1 to 21, 2026, with no late period and limited seats: it has closed.
Exam fee
US$405 for the exam application and US$150 for using a laptop. NCBE's character investigation is paid separately.
Passing score
266 on the UBE. On the NextGen, 616, according to NCBE.
Attempts
After four failed attempts, in the District or on another UBE, only by showing extraordinary circumstances (Rule 46(c)(13)).
MPRE
Yes, with 75 or higher, to be admitted; you can take the bar exam first.
Educated abroad, 2025
339 people educated outside the U.S. took the exam; 86 passed (25%).

Instructions for the February 2027 exam, from the Committee on Admissions (PDF)

Sources: District of Columbia Court of Appeals: Rule 46, admission to the Bar (text published by the Committee on Admissions) · Committee on Admissions: instructions for the February 2027 exam · Committee on Admissions: fees, in effect since April 1, 2024 · Committee on Admissions: news (February 2027 filing) · NCBE: District of Columbia to administer the NextGen bar exam beginning February 2028 (February 10, 2025) · NCBE: Persons Taking and Passing the 2025 Bar Examination by Source of Legal Education

With NAFA: your credential evaluation shows you what you are missing, and our courses prepare you in U.S. law and legal English.

Admission without exam for lawyers from other states

This is the route for a lawyer already licensed in another U.S. state (admission on motion). A license from another country or a Foreign Legal Consultant certification does not count.

Rule 46(e)(3), in force since April 24, 2026, admits without examination anyone who actively practiced law as a member in good standing of the bar of a court of general jurisdiction in the United States for at least 3 of the 5 years before applying. It does not require a degree from an ABA-approved law school.

Years of practice
3 of the last 5
Requires a degree from an ABA-approved law school
No
Only with reciprocity
No

Requirements

  • Active practice includes representing clients, working as a lawyer for a government agency or the military, teaching at an ABA-approved law school, serving as a judge or a judicial law clerk, or working as corporate counsel.
  • A declaration of three years in good standing, and the $595 fee, plus NCBE's.

Good to know

  • This is one of the few jurisdictions where admission without examination does work with a foreign degree: if you hold a license in another state, New York for example, and actively practiced as a member of that bar for 3 of the last 5 years, you can apply.
  • With substantial international experience, the process can take 12 months or more, according to the Committee; otherwise, 4 to 6 months.
  • Transferring a UBE score is different: it requires a J.D. or LL.B. from an ABA law school or, with a foreign degree, the 26 credits and the same degree evaluation (83 credits or the certification); plus the MPRE. UBE scores of 266 or more, no more than five years old, qualify, and so do NextGen scores from July 2026. A score earned on a fifth or later attempt cannot be transferred.

See the official source

How it works in the rest of the country

In-house counsel

Since January 13, 2025, Rule 49(c)(6) lets anyone who is not a D.C. Bar member provide legal services to their employer and its affiliates, as long as the employer understands that the person is not a member. It does not require admission anywhere, or registration: according to its commentary, the employer is well situated to assess its employee's qualifications.

Requirements

  • Work for your employer or its affiliates.
  • Your employer understands that you are not a D.C. Bar member.

What in-house counsel cannot do

  • Appear before any court or before U.S. or District agencies.
  • Represent other employees in their personal matters.
  • Use titles such as "General Counsel" without making clear you hold them for that organization. The District's Rules of Professional Conduct and the jurisdiction of its courts apply to you.

How to apply

  • There is no application or registration: it is enough that your employer understands you are not a D.C. Bar member.

Read the official rule · How it works in other states

Appearing in a single case (pro hac vice)

Rule 49(c)(7) lets a person admitted in another U.S. jurisdiction act in a specific proceeding, under the supervision of a D.C. Bar member. It does not cover a lawyer admitted only in another country.

Limit: Not having applied in 5 or more proceedings (not counting pro bono ones) in the prior 365 days, unless there is good cause.

Requirements

  • Be admitted in another U.S. jurisdiction.
  • Not practice in the District in any other way.
  • An application under penalty of perjury, with a copy to the Office of Admissions, and a $100 fee.

Read the official rule

Temporary practice, without a state license

Handling a matter in the state on a temporary basis, without a license or registration there, as some rules allow a lawyer from another country to do: usually matters tied to the law of their own country or to international law.

Rule 49(c)(13) allows incidental and temporary practice in the District, and its commentary says expressly that it covers a lawyer authorized to practice in another country.

Conditions

  • The matter is a proceeding in a jurisdiction where you are admitted, or arises from your practice there.
  • You have no office, systematic and continuous presence, or address for practicing law in the District.
  • You are not disbarred or suspended in any jurisdiction.

What it does not allow

  • Regular work: it exceeds what the rule allows.
  • As a rule, matters before the District's courts or agencies.

Read the official rule

Other routes

  • Alternative dispute resolution (Rule 49(c)(12)): someone admitted in another jurisdiction may act in no more than 5 ADR proceedings in the District per calendar year (excluding pro bono proceedings), provided they do not otherwise practice in the District. For Rule 49, "admitted" includes admission in a foreign country (Rule 49(b)(7)).
  • U.S. and District agencies (Rule 49(c)(2)): only if a statute or the agency's rule expressly permits and regulates that practice, and with a prominent notice, in all business documents concerning that practice, that you are not a D.C. Bar member and that your practice is limited to those services. Rule 49 has no general exception for federal law: each agency's rule decides.

Good to know

In the District of Columbia, the Court of Appeals sets the admission rules, and its Committee on Admissions applies them. To practice as a lawyer you must be an active member of the D.C. Bar.

New admittees take, within 12 months of their swearing-in, a mandatory 4-hour course on the Rules of Professional Conduct and practice in the District ($229); those who do not are suspended. The D.C. Bar has no continuing legal education requirement beyond that.

According to NCBE, 339 people educated outside the United States took the exam in the District in 2025, and 86 passed. And from 2021 to 2025, the District issued 64 Special Legal Consultant licenses: it is one of the five jurisdictions that account for nearly 9 in 10.

General information, not legal advice. Rules change: always check the official source before you make a decision. Last reviewed: November 5, 2026.

Sources

How we choose and check these sources: How we verify.

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