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Foreign-trained lawyers in Illinois

Illinois lets you sit its bar exam with a degree from another country only under Rule 715: you must be licensed in the country where you earned your law degree or in a U.S. state, be in good standing and have actively practiced for at least 5 of the 7 years before you apply, and the Board of Admissions to the Bar must accept your education. An LL.M. is not enough on its own. Without the exam, you can apply for a "Foreign Legal Consultant" license, also with 5 of the last 7 years of practice, or, if a company employs you in Illinois, for the limited license as house counsel. To appear in a single case, Rule 707 is open to lawyers from other countries. Admission without examination from another state, on the other hand, requires a degree from an ABA-approved law school.

The five routes in Illinois

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, with a license
Admission without exam from another state
Yes
Last reviewed
November 9, 2026

The Illinois route

The path a lawyer trained in another country takes to a full Illinois license.

  1. Check the three threshold requirements of Rule 715

    According to the Board of Admissions to the Bar: at least 5 years of licensure in the country where you earned your law degree or before the highest court of a U.S. state; good standing; and, in at least 5 of the 7 years before you apply, verifiable practice of at least 80 hours a month and 1,000 hours a year. If you do not meet all three, you cannot sit the exam, even with an LL.M.

  2. Complete the Preliminary Questionnaire and request the ECE report

    Online, on the Board's portal, with your NCBE number. The Board tells you by email whether it provisionally approves it. The Board also requires a "Course-By-Course" report on your education prepared by Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE), which you pay directly to ECE.

  3. File your exam application and your paper documents

    Once provisionally approved, the Board sends you the Rule 715 forms. Your original documents must arrive at the Board, in Springfield, by the filing deadline; the Board recommends sending them at least four weeks before the final deadline. You pay US$550 for the character and fitness registration and US$650, US$925 or US$1,325 for the exam, depending on the deadline.

  4. Pass the UBE and the MPRE

    Illinois gives the UBE in February and July, and you pass with 266; the last UBE will be in July 2027, and from February 2028 it will give the NextGen exam, with 620 to pass. On the MPRE, the professional responsibility exam, you need 80. Illinois has no test of its own law.

  5. Obtain character and fitness certification

    The Committee on Character and Fitness of your judicial district decides whether you presently have the good moral character and fitness to practice. When you meet every requirement, the Board certifies it to the Supreme Court of Illinois, which admits you. Then you register every year with the ARDC.

Without the full license, Illinois offers you two more routes: the Foreign Legal Consultant license, without examination, to advise on the law of your country, and the limited license as house counsel, to work as a company's lawyer. We explain them below.

Foreign Legal Consultant

Rule 712 of the Illinois Supreme Court lets the Court, at its discretion, license you without examination to practice as a "Foreign Legal Consultant" on foreign and international law; but its paragraph (e) limits what you do in Illinois to the law of the country where you are admitted. Rule 713 governs the application, which the Board of Admissions to the Bar processes. What comes only from Rule 713 is marked "to be confirmed in its official text": we could not open the official PDF of that rule, and we read it in a 2018 copy of the Court's page.

Requirements

  • Have been admitted to practice in a foreign country (or obtained the equivalent), have practiced the law of that country and have been in good standing there as an attorney or counselor at law or the equivalent for at least 5 of the 7 years immediately before your application. Admission as a notary, or its equivalent, does not count as admission as an attorney (Rule 712(a)(1)). To be confirmed: whether the years you practiced the law of your country from the United States count; Rule 712(c)(3) asks for evidence of your "period of actual practice in such foreign country."
  • The good moral character and general fitness required of a member of the Illinois bar.
  • The documents showing that you comply with U.S. immigration laws.
  • The intention to practice in Illinois as a Legal Consultant and to maintain an office in the state for that purpose.
  • A certificate from the authority in your country with final jurisdiction over professional discipline, stating your admission, its date and that you are in good standing, and a letter of recommendation from a member of the executive body of that authority or from a judge of the highest court or of a court of original jurisdiction of your country, each with an authenticated English translation if it is not in English. If strict compliance with those two requirements would cause you unnecessary hardship, the Court may, at its discretion, waive or vary them and accept other evidence (Rule 712(d)).
  • Evidence of your citizenship, education, professional qualifications, years of practice in your country and age; affidavits from reputable people on your character, substantially as Rule 708 requires them; and the character and fitness registration on the Board's form, with any other evidence the Court requires (Rule 712(c)).
  • Reciprocity: a summary of the laws and customs of your country on the opportunity for an Illinois lawyer to open an office there to advise clients. The Court may take it into account, at its discretion, if an Illinois lawyer trying to open an office in your country asks it to, or if it decides to on its own (Rule 712(b) and (c)(5)).
  • Under Rule 713 (to be confirmed in its official text): you appear before the Committee on Character and Fitness of the judicial district where you live, and there is no license without its certificate unless the Court orders otherwise. You file affidavits from three reputable people who live in Illinois and are not related to you, two of them practicing Illinois attorneys, and from two lawyers practicing in your country about your practice; the NCBE questionnaire and affidavit; a certificate from each university and law school you attended; documents showing that you may lawfully live and work in the United States; and an authenticated English translation of every document not in English. The certificate from your country must also state whether any complaint was ever filed against you.
  • The fee: US$800, paid in advance to the treasurer of the Board of Admissions to the Bar, under Rule 713(g) (to be confirmed in its official text). NCBE (Chart 16, updated November 5, 2026) gives the same figure. Rule 706, the Board's fee rule, does not mention it.
  • With the license, you file with the ARDC your written commitment to observe the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct as they apply to your services; an instrument with your Illinois address designating the Clerk of the Supreme Court as your agent for service of process; and evidence of professional liability insurance or other proof of financial responsibility, in the form and amount the Court prescribes (Rule 712(f)). The amount: to be confirmed; the rule does not say.
  • Before taking custody of money, securities or other valuables of a client who lives in the United States, an undertaking from an authorized surety company, approved by a justice of the Supreme Court, for at least their value (Rule 713(h); to be confirmed in its official text).
  • Every year you register with the ARDC (Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission) and pay an active lawyer's registration fee (Rule 777). For 2027 it is US$385 if you were admitted before January 1, 2026; those admitted later pay no fee. Which one applies to a Foreign Legal Consultant: to be confirmed with the ARDC.
  • For registration and discipline, the Supreme Court rules (Rule 751 et seq.) and the ARDC's rules treat you as an attorney, except where they concern matters unrelated to the activities your license allows (Rule 777). You do not have to meet Illinois continuing legal education requirements, according to its MCLE Board.
  • The rule sets no minimum age: it only asks for evidence of your age.

What a Foreign Legal Consultant cannot do

  • Provide services or advice in Illinois on any law other than that of the country where you are admitted. Nor may you quote or summarize advice that an Illinois lawyer, or a lawyer of another jurisdiction, gave on the law of Illinois or of another jurisdiction.
  • Appear as attorney for others before an Illinois court, judicial officer or administrative agency, except in isolated cases under Rule 707 (below, under "Appearing in a single case"), or prepare pleadings or other documents or issue subpoenas in those proceedings.
  • Prepare deeds, mortgages, assignments, discharges, leases or other instruments affecting real estate located in the United States.
  • Prepare wills, codicils or trust instruments disposing after death of property located in the United States and owned by a U.S. citizen, or instruments for administering a decedent's estate in the United States.
  • Prepare documents on the marital relations, rights or duties of a U.S. resident, or on the custody or care of their children.
  • Advise on a personal injury that occurred in the United States, or on U.S. immigration, customs or trade laws.
  • Advise on the law of Illinois, of the United States, of any state, territory or possession, of the District of Columbia or of any other jurisdiction, domestic or foreign, where you are not authorized to practice, whether in preparing instruments or otherwise.
  • Offer or solicit work, directly or through someone else, for yourself, your partner or your associate, in matters outside what the rule allows you.
  • Use any title other than "Foreign Legal Consultant," which must always go with the name of the country where you are admitted (you may add the name of your firm), or hold yourself out in any way as an attorney licensed in Illinois or in another U.S. jurisdiction. Doing what the rule prohibits is the unauthorized practice of law: it can lead to contempt and to disciplinary proceedings (Rule 712(i)).

Costs and fees

  • To apply: US$800, paid in advance, under Rule 713(g) (to be confirmed in its official text) and NCBE (Chart 16, November 5, 2026).
  • To keep it: Every year you register with the ARDC and pay an active lawyer's fee: for 2027, US$385 if you were admitted before January 1, 2026, and nothing if you were admitted later; which one applies to a Foreign Legal Consultant, to be confirmed. Also the insurance or financial guarantee the Court prescribes (Rule 712(f)).
  • Paid to: The application, to the Board of Admissions to the Bar, which processes it; under Rule 713 (to be confirmed in its official text), the fee goes to its treasurer. The annual registration, to the ARDC, the commission that registers and disciplines Illinois lawyers.

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 715 of the Illinois Supreme Court lets a person who received their legal education and law degree in another country apply to the Board of Admissions to the Bar for admission by examination, if they meet its conditions: licensure, at least 5 of the 7 previous years of active and continuous practice, and an education the Board considers acceptable. The rule has not changed since it took effect on January 1, 2003. Outside it, Rule 703 requires a J.D. or LL.B. from an ABA-approved law school and says that an LL.M. is not a first professional degree in law.

Requirements for a foreign degree

  • Be licensed to practice in the country where you earned your law degree, before the highest court of a U.S. state or territory or in the District of Columbia, or both, and be in good standing there as an attorney or the equivalent (Rule 715(a)). According to the Board, with at least 5 years of licensure.
  • Have actively and continuously practiced under that license for at least 5 of the 7 years immediately before your application (Rule 715(b)). According to the Board, in each of those years, verifiable practice of at least 80 hours a month and 1,000 hours a year of the law of your country or of the U.S. jurisdiction where you are licensed. If you practiced outside the place where you are licensed, you must be able to show that it was permitted in both places.
  • The Board must decide that your preliminary, college and legal education is acceptable (Rule 715(c)). It may take into account the legal system of your country, the curriculum of your law schools and the courses you took, their accreditation in your country, your postgraduate studies in your country and in the United States, and your results on bar exams in other states. According to NCBE, an LL.M. is not enough on its own.
  • A "Course-By-Course" report on your legal education prepared by Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE), which you pay directly to ECE, according to the Board's instructions for the February 2027 exam.
  • The documents, as originals: official transcripts from each law school you attended and proof of your degree with its date; a certificate from each country and jurisdiction where you are licensed, with an original signature, that you are admitted and in good standing; proof of your practice; your own notarized affidavit and those of at least three lawyers; the Attorney Verification of Character and Fitness forms; and, depending on your answers, your driving records for the last 10 years and police or court documents. Every document not in English, with an official translation: the Board does not accept translations you made yourself.
  • First, the Preliminary Questionnaire online, with your NCBE number; the Board must approve it in writing before you can request to sit the exam. Its provisional approval only means that you may meet the three threshold requirements. Then the Board sends you the Rule 715 paper forms, and your application counts as filed when you pay the fee.
  • Your paper documents must arrive at the Board by the filing deadline; sending them that day is not enough: if they do not arrive, you do not sit the exam and you lose the fee. The Board recommends sending them at least four weeks before the final deadline.
  • Pass the MPRE with 80 or higher, in Illinois or another jurisdiction, and obtain certification from the Committee on Character and Fitness (Rule 715(e) and (f)).
  • The Rule 706 fees: US$550 for the character and fitness registration, and for the exam US$650, US$925 or US$1,325, depending on the deadline (Rule 715(g)).

Good to know

  • The exam is the UBE, NCBE's uniform exam, over two days: on the first, the MPT and the MEE; on the second, the MBE. The next one is on February 23 and 24, 2027. You pass with 266, your passing score is valid for four years, Illinois has no test of its own law and, according to NCBE, it does not limit attempts. On the MPRE you need 80.
  • The NextGen exam: the last UBE in Illinois will be in July 2027, according to NCBE, and the Court announced on May 28, 2025 that it will give the NextGen exam from February 2028. The passing score will be 620 (Court announcement of July 29, 2026).
  • The Rule 706 deadlines and fees: for the February exam, US$650 by September 15, US$925 by November 1 and US$1,325 by November 30; for the July exam, the same by February 15, April 1 and April 30. Plus US$550 for the character and fitness registration. They are non-refundable, and the Board does not accept applications after the final deadline. For February 2027 only the final deadline is left, November 30, 2026; under Rule 715, by then your questionnaire must be approved and your paper documents must have arrived at the Board.
  • Transferring your score (Rule 704A): if you passed the UBE in another jurisdiction, with 266 or higher within the previous four years, you can apply for admission without sitting the Illinois exam, also with a foreign degree if you meet Rule 715. It costs US$1,500. Since the July 2026 exam, Illinois also accepts NextGen scores from other jurisdictions, with 620 or higher.
  • In 2025, according to NCBE, 85 people educated outside the United States sat the exam in Illinois, and 28 passed (33%).

Read the official rule

The exam, in figures

Verified on November 9, 2026. Dates and fees change every year: confirm them on the official site before you apply.

The exam
The UBE, NCBE's uniform exam, over two days: the MPT and the MEE on the first, and the MBE on the second. Illinois has no test of its own law. With a foreign degree, only under Rule 715: a license, at least 5 of the 7 previous years of practice and the Board's decision on your education, with an ECE report.
NextGen
From February 2028, with 620 to pass. The last UBE will be in July 2027, according to NCBE. Since July 2026, Illinois accepts NextGen scores from other jurisdictions.
Next exams
February 23 and 24, 2027.
Filing deadline
For February: September 15, November 1 (late) and November 30 (final); for July: February 15, April 1 and April 30. Under Rule 715, your paper documents must arrive at the Board by the deadline.
Exam fee
US$650, US$925 or US$1,325, depending on the deadline. Non-refundable. The character and fitness registration (US$550) is paid in addition.
Passing score
266 on the UBE. On the NextGen, 620.
Attempts
No limit, according to NCBE.
MPRE
Yes, with 80 or higher.
Educated abroad, 2025
85 people educated outside the U.S. took the exam; 28 passed (33%).

Rule 715 at the Board of Admissions to the Bar

Sources: Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar: Rule 715 instructions for the February 23–24, 2027 exam · Illinois Supreme Court: Rule 706, deadlines and fees (effective January 1, 2026) · Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar: frequently asked questions (passing score of 266) · Illinois Supreme Court: the passing score for the NextGen exam (July 29, 2026) · NCBE: Illinois admission requirements · NCBE: Persons Taking and Passing the 2025 Bar Examination by Source of Legal Education

With NAFA: we guide you through each step of the route, and our courses prepare you in U.S. law and legal English. They do not replace the 5 years of practice that Rule 715 requires or the ECE report the Board asks for.

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 705 allows admission without examination for a person licensed by the highest court of a U.S. state or territory or of the District of Columbia for at least three years who actively practiced for 3 of the 5 previous years. But it requires the education of Rule 703: a J.D. or LL.B. from an ABA-approved law school. With a foreign degree, even with an LL.M., it does not work for you.

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

Requirements

  • A license from another U.S. state or territory or from the District of Columbia for at least three years; good standing in all your jurisdictions and active status in at least one. Your license from your country does not count.
  • "Active and continuous" practice: at least 80 hours a month and 1,000 hours a year in 36 of the previous 60 months. Among other things, private practice, work as a lawyer for a company or a government, judicial service and teaching at an ABA-approved law school count (Rule 705(g) and (h)).
  • The MPRE if you have been licensed for fewer than 15 years, character and fitness certification, and not having failed an Illinois exam in the previous five years.
  • The fee: US$1,500 (US$150 for the Preliminary Questionnaire and US$1,350 for the application).

Good to know

  • With a foreign degree, the route without a new exam is transferring your UBE score (Rule 704A, above, under "Bar exam"): it requires you to meet Rule 715, with its 5 of the 7 years of practice. According to the Board, it also starts with a Preliminary Questionnaire, and you must complete the application within 90 days of its approval.
  • The time you practice under the Rule 716 house counsel license counts toward Rule 705 if you meet its other requirements; but with a foreign degree you do not meet Rule 703, so that time does not open this route for you.

See the official source

How it works in the rest of the country

In-house counsel

Rule 716 of the Illinois Supreme Court allows a limited license to practice in Illinois as house counsel for a person who, as determined by the Board of Admissions to the Bar, is admitted before the highest court of a U.S. state or territory, of the District of Columbia or of a foreign jurisdiction, or is otherwise authorized to practice in a foreign jurisdiction, if they are employed in Illinois as house counsel exclusively for a single entity, with its parents, subsidiaries and affiliates, whose business is not the practice of law or the provision of legal services. With it you act on behalf of your employer for all purposes as if licensed in Illinois. The version in force is the one amended on June 6, 2025, effective January 1, 2026.

Requirements

  • Be admitted before the highest court of your country, or otherwise authorized to practice there, and not be disbarred, suspended or otherwise prohibited from practice in any jurisdiction by reason of discipline, resignation with charges pending or permanent retirement (Rule 716(d)).
  • The education of Rule 715(c) if you are a foreign lawyer: the Board must consider your preliminary, college and legal education acceptable. Here the rule does not ask for the 5 of 7 years of practice of Rule 715(b). How the Board decides this for house counsel, for example whether it asks for the ECE report: to be confirmed.
  • Certification from the Committee on Character and Fitness.
  • If you have been licensed for fewer than 15 years and are admitted only outside the United States, the course on ethics for foreign lawyers approved by the Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism, instead of the MPRE (Rule 716(c)). According to the Commission, it is its online course "The Buck Stops Here: Ethics and Professionalism for In-House Counsel," approved for 1.0 hour of professional responsibility CLE credit; when you finish, you send its certification by email to the Board.
  • A certification from your employer that it does not practice law or provide legal services, that it is qualified to do business under the laws of its organization and of Illinois, that you work exclusively as its employee to provide it with legal services, and that it will notify the Clerk of the Supreme Court if your employment ends (Rule 716(f)).
  • The fee: US$1,500 (Rule 706(g)); NCBE (Chart 16) gives the same figure.

What in-house counsel cannot do

  • Offer legal services or advice to the public, or hold yourself out in any way as engaged or authorized to practice law (Rule 716(g)).
  • Work for anyone other than your employer, with its parents, subsidiaries and affiliates.
  • Provide free (pro bono) services: the rule allows them for house counsel, but not for those licensed only on the basis of admission or authorization in another country (Rule 716(g)).

How to apply

  • In two steps, according to the Board: first, online, the Application for Limited Admission of House Counsel, the full Character & Fitness Questionnaire and the Illinois State Police Criminal History form, with the fee; then the paper forms completed by you, your employer and your law school, with the other documents the Board requires.
  • Do it within 90 days of your first day of work in Illinois: if you apply within that period, you are not deemed to have practiced without authorization before the license (Rule 716(l)). According to the Board, the application counts from the moment you file those three online forms and pay the fee.
  • If more than 90 days pass, you must petition the Supreme Court to waive the period. If it does, you also pay US$1,500 if you applied between day 91 and the first year, and US$500 more for each additional year or part of a year, unless the Court sets less for good cause; and the Committee on Character and Fitness may consider the delay, its reason and its impact (Rules 706(g) and 716(l)).
  • According to the Board, it expects this application from house counsel working in Illinois for an entity located in Illinois and from those working remotely from Illinois for an entity located elsewhere; those working from outside Illinois for an Illinois entity may apply.

Once you are certified or registered

  • Every year, register with the ARDC, pay an active lawyer's fee and meet the continuing legal education requirements for active lawyers (Rule 716(i)). For 2027, the fee is US$385 for those admitted before January 1, 2026, and those admitted later pay nothing; which one applies to your license: to be confirmed with the ARDC.
  • You are subject to the Court's discipline like any lawyer licensed in Illinois (Rule 716(j)).
  • The license ends if you are admitted under another rule, if you are suspended or disbarred in any jurisdiction or, if you are admitted only outside the United States, if you are disbarred, suspended or otherwise prohibited from practice in any jurisdiction by reason of discipline, resignation with charges pending or permanent retirement. It also ends if you leave that job, unless within the next 120 days you start with another employer that meets the rule and you file with the Clerk of the Court your notice, your former employer's certification that your departure was not based on your character or a failure to comply, and the new employer's certification (Rule 716(h)).
  • The time under this license counts toward admission without examination under Rule 705 if you meet the rest; but that route requires a degree from an ABA-approved law school (above, under "Admission without exam").

Costs and fees

  • To apply: US$1,500 (Rule 706(g)). If you apply more than 90 days after starting work in Illinois and the Supreme Court waives the period, another US$1,500 if you apply within the first year, and US$500 more for each additional year or part of a year, unless the Court sets less for good cause.
  • To keep it: Every year you register with the ARDC and pay an active lawyer's fee (Rule 716(i)): for 2027, US$385 if you were admitted before January 1, 2026, and nothing if you were admitted later; which one applies to your license, to be confirmed. You also meet Illinois continuing legal education requirements.
  • Paid to: The application, to the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar, online and on paper. The annual registration, to the ARDC.

Compare with other states

Read the official rule · How it works in other states

Appearing in a single case (pro hac vice)

Rule 707 lets an attorney from outside Illinois, admitted without limitation and authorized to practice in another U.S. state or territory, in the District of Columbia or "in a foreign country," appear in a single proceeding in Illinois without an order of the tribunal: a case before an Illinois court, a court-annexed alternative dispute resolution proceeding, or a case before a state or local government agency. It is enough to file a verified Statement and for an active-status Illinois attorney associated with you to appear in the proceeding. Holding the Foreign Legal Consultant license or the house counsel license does not keep you from using it.

Limit: Up to six proceedings per calendar year, according to the ARDC: the rule requires that you have not appeared under it in more than five other proceedings in the year in which you file the Statement.

Requirements

  • Be admitted without limitation and authorized to practice in your country, and not be prohibited from practice in any jurisdiction by reason of discipline, resignation with charges pending or permanent retirement.
  • An active-status Illinois attorney who appears with you in the proceeding and participates actively. Without one, the court may terminate your permission.
  • The verified Statement, which is filed with the court or agency in the proceeding and served on the ARDC, the Illinois attorney, your client and the parties. It sets out your details and offices, whom you represent, your other proceedings under this rule in the year, all your admissions with a certificate of good standing from each, your presence in Illinois, your submission to the Court's disciplinary authority and the details of the Illinois attorney.
  • US$250 per proceeding, non-refundable, to the ARDC (except, among other cases, if you are appointed to represent an indigent person or work with a nonprofit legal service organization). In addition, you register with the ARDC within 30 days, if you are not registered, and every year in which you have a proceeding open; according to the ARDC, the annual fee is US$121.
  • Notify the ARDC in writing, within 30 days of learning of it, of any change in your admissions, your presence in Illinois or your associated attorney, and of the end of your participation; and report a criminal conviction or discipline as Rule 761 and Rule of Professional Conduct 8.3(d) require (Rule 707(e)).

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.

Illinois Rule of Professional Conduct 5.5(c), the temporary practice rule, is only for lawyers admitted in another U.S. jurisdiction. A lawyer admitted only in another country cannot use it. What Rule 5.5(d) does allow you, even from an office in Illinois, is above, under "In-house counsel," and below, under "Other routes"; and to appear in a single case you have Rule 707.

Read the official rule

Other routes

  • Services you are authorized to provide by federal or other law or rule (Rule of Professional Conduct 5.5(d)(2)): a lawyer admitted or otherwise authorized in another country, a member in good standing of a recognized legal profession there and not disbarred or suspended, may provide them in Illinois, even from an office. Which services those are is decided by each law or by each agency's rules.
  • Remote work from Illinois: Rule 5.5 does not address it expressly. An ARDC article published on the Court's website on December 21, 2020 explains that Rule 5.5(d)(2) lets a U.S. or foreign lawyer in good standing provide legal services in Illinois when Illinois or federal law authorizes them, but that it is not entirely clear whether that exception lets a lawyer continue to practice the law of the jurisdiction where they are licensed after relocating to Illinois. For a lawyer from another country working remotely from Illinois on the law of their country: to be confirmed.
  • Careful: the limited license for legal service program lawyers (Rule 717) is only for lawyers admitted in another U.S. state or in the District of Columbia.

After Illinois

What an Illinois license opens for you, or not, in other states if your degree is from another country.

  • Your UBE score travels, your license does not: other UBE jurisdictions may accept the score you earned in Illinois, each with its own minimum score, its time limit and its own requirements for a foreign degree. Illinois gives the UBE until July 2027; from February 2028, the NextGen exam will serve the same purpose among the jurisdictions that give it.
  • Careful: admission without examination does not work for you everywhere. According to NCBE, 31 of the 56 jurisdictions in its table require a degree from an ABA-approved law school for it, Illinois among them, and a foreign degree with an LL.M. is not one; 17 do not require it, and for the other 8 the table gives neither a yes nor a no.

Good to know

In Illinois, the Supreme Court issues the rules and admits lawyers. The Board of Admissions to the Bar receives applications, gives the exam, decides whether the education of a lawyer trained abroad is acceptable (Rule 715(c)) and certifies to the Court who meets the requirements. In each of the five judicial districts, a Committee on Character and Fitness, made up of Illinois lawyers appointed by the Court, decides on each applicant's character (Rule 708). The ARDC registers every year lawyers, holders of a limited license and those appearing under Rule 707, and handles discipline.

In the character and fitness review, the Committee decides whether you presently possess the good moral character and general fitness to practice: your record of conduct must show that you meet the essential eligibility requirements for the practice of law and that you deserve the trust of clients, adversaries and courts. A deficiency in honesty, trustworthiness, diligence or reliability may be a basis for denying you admission, and until you are admitted you must keep what you disclosed up to date (Rule 708). According to NCBE, Illinois does not use its character and fitness services.

To keep a lawyer's license, Illinois requires continuing legal education: 30 hours in each two-year period, with at least 6 of professional responsibility, including 1 on diversity and inclusion and 1 on mental health and substance abuse. Rule 716 house counsel must also meet it; a Foreign Legal Consultant does not, according to the Illinois MCLE Board.

According to NCBE, from 2021 to 2025 Illinois licensed 3 new Foreign Legal Consultants: 1 in 2021, 1 in 2023 and 1 in 2025; for 2022 and 2024, its table shows none.

General information, not legal advice. Rules change: always check the official source before you make a decision. Last reviewed: November 9, 2026.

Sources

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

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