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Foreign-trained lawyers in Puerto Rico

In Puerto Rico, Spanish is an official language together with English, and the admission exam, the Reválida General, is given in Spanish. Its private law follows the civil-law tradition, with a Civil Code adopted in 2020. But it has no route for a lawyer trained in another country with only their foreign degree: the Supreme Court requires you to have your studies validated and earn a law degree at a law school approved by the ABA and by the Court. In practice it is a J.D. in which up to a third of the credits can be recognized. Puerto Rico has no Foreign Legal Consultant route, and its pro hac vice and temporary practice are only for lawyers licensed in the United States. But since 2026, its new Rules of Professional Conduct allow a lawyer from another country to work in Puerto Rico as in-house counsel for their employer.

The five routes in Puerto Rico

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

Bar exam with a foreign degree
Only after validating your degree
In-house counsel
Yes, for your employer
Admission without exam from another state
No
Last reviewed
October 30, 2026

The Puerto Rico route

The path a lawyer trained in another country takes to a Puerto Rico license. It is not a shortcut: it is a J.D., in which part of what you already studied can be recognized.

  1. Apply to a law school

    Puerto Rico's three law schools are ABA-approved: those of the University of Puerto Rico, the Inter American University and the Pontifical Catholic University. Each decides whom it admits; the Catholic University, for example, requires the LSAT from anyone who wants foreign studies validated. Advantage: you can take the LSAT in its version for Puerto Rico's law schools, the LSAT–Puerto Rico, in Spanish, or in English: all three accept both.

  2. Have your studies validated

    The law school decides which courses from your degree it recognizes. Under ABA Standard 505, no more than a third of the J.D. credits: the rest, at least two thirds, you take at an ABA-approved law school. At the Catholic University, its curriculum committee decides, at its discretion.

  3. Earn your law degree

    It is the degree Rule 4.2.1 of the admission rules requires; at Puerto Rico's law schools, the Juris Doctor. With your exam application you give the Junta Examinadora (the Board of Bar Examiners) evidence of the validation and the degree: the transcript of credits, which the law school sends directly to the Board, a copy of the diploma and an original official certification (Rule 6.2.1).

  4. Take the Reválida General

    The Board of Bar Examiners prepares and grades it, twice a year, at least six months apart; the latest was in September 2026. It takes two days, with a multiple-choice part and an essay part that weigh the same. Advantage: the exam is written in Spanish, and you may answer it in Spanish or in English. You apply online, with the US$250 fee, by the deadline set in each exam's public notice.

  5. Pass the character review and take the oath

    Once you pass, you have 10 days from the notice to file a sworn information statement. The Comisión de Reputación (the character committee) reviews your character, and the Supreme Court admits you and swears you in. Membership in the Colegio de Abogados y Abogadas de Puerto Rico, the bar association, is voluntary.

Before you start, know where it leads: in the end you hold a J.D. from an ABA-approved law school, which carries more weight outside Puerto Rico than an LL.M. We explain it at the end, under "After Puerto Rico."

Puerto Rico has mattered to NAFA from the start: UNPAM, today NAFA's credential evaluation organization, was born in San Juan, and the Puerto Rico Department of Education has recognized it since 2004 for the evaluation and homologation of foreign credentials.

Foreign Legal Consultant

Puerto Rico has no Foreign Legal Consultant route: NCBE marks Puerto Rico "No" in its 2026 guide (Chart 16), and we did not find one in the admission rules.

The bar exam

The Rules for the Admission of Applicants to the Practice of Law and the Notarial Profession require a degree from a law school approved by the ABA or by the Supreme Court (Rule 4.1.1). If you studied in another country, you must have your studies validated and earn a law degree at a school approved by the ABA and by the Court (Rule 4.2.1). Your foreign degree is not enough, and neither is an LL.M., according to NCBE.

Requirements for a foreign degree

  • Being over 21 and of good reputation.
  • A law degree from a law school approved by the ABA and by the Court, after your studies are validated, with evidence of the validation and the degree.
  • University studies equivalent to a bachelor's degree that meet the standards of Puerto Rico's Council on Higher Education or that the Court approves (Rule 4.1.1(e)).
  • Criminal record certificates: one from the Puerto Rico Police, issued within the 90 days before your application, and one from the police of every place where you lived, resided or studied for six consecutive months or more in the last ten years (Rule 6.2.1). If that country has no such procedure, political reasons prevent it, or the authorities give you no delivery date despite your diligence, the Board may accept a sworn statement.
  • If you are admitted as a lawyer in other jurisdictions, certificates of good standing and of your disciplinary record from each one, with a Board form (Rule 6.2.1(e)). Confirm with the Board whether this includes your country.
  • Passing the Reválida General.

Good to know

  • Advantage: the exam is written in Spanish and you may answer it in Spanish or in English (Rule 5.2.1).
  • Advantage: Puerto Rico does not require the MPRE, the professional responsibility exam that almost every other jurisdiction requires, according to NCBE.
  • Advantage: since Act 189-2026, of August 18, 2026, the law on the practice of law no longer requires living in Puerto Rico for 12 months before applying for admission. We did not find a citizenship requirement in the admission rules.
  • If you have your studies validated at an ABA-approved law school outside Puerto Rico, confirm first with the Board of Bar Examiners that it will accept you: Rule 4.2.1 speaks of a school approved by the ABA and by the Court.
  • The 1939 law on the practice of law empowers the Supreme Court to decide, at its discretion, whether a foreign university is equivalent to an ABA-approved one. But the Court's rules require validating your studies and earning the degree, and NCBE reports that Puerto Rico does not admit graduates of foreign law schools to the exam.
  • The Reválida is Puerto Rico's own exam, not the UBE: you cannot bring a score from another state, and Puerto Rico does not accept MBE or NextGen scores, according to NCBE. To pass you need 569 adjusted points (Supreme Court resolution of June 9, 2022). Since May 2026, the Reválida General has its own table of specifications for Professional Conduct.
  • Prepare well: in 2025, 862 people took the Reválida and 48% passed, according to NCBE. Someone trained abroad who later earned a J.D. is counted among ABA law school graduates, so there is no separate figure. Watch out: anyone who fails six times cannot take it again (Rule 5.8.1).
  • Watch the deadline: the Board sets it in a public notice for each exam, and late applications are denied. For the Reválida of September 16 and 17, 2026, the deadline was June 22.

Read the official rule

The exam, in figures

Verified on October 30, 2026. Dates and fees change every year: confirm them on the official site before you apply.

The exam
The Reválida General, Puerto Rico's own, over two days: multiple choice and essay questions, which weigh the same. Written in Spanish; you may answer in Spanish or in English.
NextGen
It has not adopted it. A special board is studying the UBE and NextGen (2026 TSPR 104).
Next exams
Twice a year, on the dates the Board publishes in a public notice. The latest exam was September 16 and 17, 2026; the notice for the next one is not out yet.
Filing deadline
The one each notice sets, at least 45 days before the exam. Late applications are denied.
Exam fee
US$250; the Reválida Notarial, US$200.
Passing score
569 adjusted points.
Attempts
Six; after that, you cannot take it again.
MPRE
Not required.
Educated abroad, 2025
NCBE gives no separate figure: someone trained abroad who earned a J.D. is counted among ABA law school graduates. In all, 862 people took the Reválida and 48% passed.

The Reválida, on the Board of Bar Examiners' site

Sources: Supreme Court of Puerto Rico: Rules for the Admission of Applicants (rules 5.2.1, 5.2.2, 5.7.1, 5.8.1 and 6.1.1; in Spanish) · Board of Bar Examiners: public notice of the September 2026 Reválida (in Spanish) · Supreme Court of Puerto Rico: 2022 TSPR 74 (passing scores; in Spanish) · NCBE: Puerto Rico admission requirements (October 30, 2026) · NCBE: Persons Taking and Passing the 2025 Bar Examination by Source of Legal Education

With NAFA: we guide you before you apply to a law school, so you know what can be recognized, and our courses prepare you in U.S. law. They do not replace the validation or the degree, which only law schools grant: each one decides what it recognizes.

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.

Puerto Rico does not admit lawyers from other states without an exam, according to NCBE. The 1939 law on the practice of law had a provision for it, with years of practice; Act 189-2026, of August 18, 2026, removed it.

Good to know

  • This may change. On October 9, 2026, the Supreme Court set up the Special Board for the Study of Professional Reciprocity in the Practice of Law and of the Reválida Exam that Act 189-2026 provided for (2026 TSPR 104), in a divided vote. It will study how to make reciprocal admission easier, for Puerto Rico lawyers in other jurisdictions and for lawyers from elsewhere in Puerto Rico, and whether to adopt the UBE or the NextGen. It has one year from when it is formally constituted to file its report, extendable by another. Meanwhile, the Reválida stays the same.
  • Nor can you bring a UBE or MBE score from another state, according to NCBE.

See the official source

How it works in the rest of the country

In-house counsel

Since January 1, 2026, the new Rules of Professional Conduct allow a lawyer admitted in another country to provide legal services to their employer or its affiliated organizations from an office or other systematic and continuous presence in Puerto Rico (Rule 5.5(d)(1)), as well as the services a federal or other law authorizes (Rule 5.5(d)(2)). The rule requires no registration of them. The Supreme Court's authorization is only for someone who works as in-house counsel under another country's laws without being an admitted lawyer (Rule 5.5(e)(2)). A comment to the rule warns that you may be subject to the regulations the Supreme Court sets (comment [15]). If you are offered such a job, confirm it in writing with the Supreme Court before you accept it.

Requirements

  • Being admitted as a lawyer in your country, not disbarred, in good standing with the requirements of its legal profession and subject to the regulation and discipline of a bar or public authority there (Rule 5.5(d) and (e)(1)).
  • Working only for your employer or its affiliated organizations (Rule 5.5(d)(1)).
  • If advice on Puerto Rico, another jurisdiction's or U.S. law is needed, basing it on the advice of a lawyer admitted and authorized there (Rule 5.5(d)(1)).

What in-house counsel cannot do

  • Providing personal legal services to your employer's officers or employees (comment [14]).
  • Services that require admission pro hac vice, such as appearing in a case before the courts: that admission is only for U.S. lawyers (Rule 5.5(d)(1)).
  • Advertising legal services in Puerto Rico (comment [19]).

Read the official rule · How it works in other states

Appearing in a single case (pro hac vice)

Rule 12(f) of the Rules of the Supreme Court allows admission pro hac vice, in special cases, before the courts and administrative agencies and in alternative dispute resolution, only for someone admitted to practice law in a U.S. jurisdiction. A license from another country is not enough. The federal court in Puerto Rico has its own pro hac vice (Local Rule 83A(f)), with a US$300 fee per case: check there who may apply.

Requirements

  • With a U.S. license: an application endorsed by a lawyer admitted in Puerto Rico, who appears with you as attorney of record.
  • A certificate of admission, active status and good standing from the highest court of every U.S. jurisdiction where you are admitted, issued within the 90 days before the application, and US$800 in internal revenue stamps. The Court may waive the fee in a pro bono case or for good cause.
  • If you apply often, the Court weighs factors such as a shortage of local lawyers specialized in the subject or a long-standing relationship with the client.

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 5.5(c) of the Rules of Professional Conduct allows temporary legal services in Puerto Rico only for a lawyer admitted in another U.S. jurisdiction. For a lawyer admitted only in another country, Rule 5.5 allows work for an employer (see "In-house counsel"). In addition, to be confirmed, Rule 5.5(f) lets a lawyer admitted in a U.S. jurisdiction "or in a foreign jurisdiction" work remotely from Puerto Rico while there, within what their license allows and without holding out as a Puerto Rico lawyer.

Read the official rule

Other routes

  • Notary: in Puerto Rico, only a lawyer admitted and sworn in there can become a notary, after also passing the Reválida Notarial (US$200 fee; passing score, 596). It is not a route for someone who does not yet hold a Puerto Rico license (Rule 7.1.1 of the admission rules). If you are thinking of becoming a notary, keep it in mind when you validate your studies: for those who started law school from August 2021, the rule requires specific credits in notarial law, successions, mortgage law, family law, and obligations and contracts.

After Puerto Rico

What the Puerto Rico license opens, or does not, beyond the island if your first degree is from another country.

  • Advantage: you end up with a J.D. from an ABA-approved law school, the degree almost every state requires to take its exam. With a foreign degree, by contrast, you depend on each state's conditions, and 18 of 56 jurisdictions will not let you take it, according to NCBE (Chart 4).
  • Florida: with a J.D. from an accredited law school you can take its exam directly, without the other state's license or the years of practice the route for foreign degrees requires. We explain it in the Florida guide.
  • Admission on motion: more than 30 jurisdictions require a degree from an ABA-approved law school for it, according to NCBE, and yours is one. But each state also requires years of practice, and those that require reciprocity, such as New York and Virginia, only admit lawyers from jurisdictions that do the same: as long as Puerto Rico does not admit on motion, its license will not help you there.
  • Your score does not travel: the Reválida is not the UBE, so in another state you generally take its full exam.
  • With a Puerto Rico license, as with that of any state, you can represent clients before the immigration authorities and courts throughout the country: the federal rules count lawyers admitted in a state, territory or Commonwealth (8 CFR 1001.1(f) for the immigration courts; 8 CFR 1.2 for the Department of Homeland Security).
  • Watch out: the license does not admit you to the federal court in Puerto Rico. To practice there you generally pass its own exam, on federal law, given twice a year and including a mandatory essay question to verify that you read and write English (Local Rule 83A). You pay US$100 to apply for the exam, which is credited toward the US$300 admission fee, and US$75 a year.

Good to know

In Puerto Rico, the Supreme Court regulates the profession: it sets the admission rules, admits lawyers and swears them in. The Junta Examinadora de Aspirantes al Ejercicio de la Abogacía y la Notaría (the Board of Bar Examiners) prepares and grades the Reválida, and the Comisión de Reputación reviews the character of those who pass it. Puerto Rico does not use NCBE's character service. Membership in the Colegio de Abogados y Abogadas de Puerto Rico is voluntary, according to the ABA.

Since January 1, 2026, the new Rules of Professional Conduct have been in force; the Supreme Court approved them on June 17, 2025, and they replace the 1970 Canons of Professional Ethics. Every active lawyer, with some exemptions, must complete 24 hours of continuing legal education every three years, 4 of them in ethics, and 9 in notarial law if they practice as a notary. In addition, once only, 6 hours on the new Rules by December 31, 2026.

General information, not legal advice. Rules change: always check the official source before you make a decision. Last reviewed: October 30, 2026.

Sources

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