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Foreign-trained lawyers in Texas

Texas is the state that certified the most Foreign Legal Consultants from 2021 to 2025, 126 of 555 according to NCBE, and the third where the most lawyers trained outside the United States take the bar exam: 365 in 2025. Its rule allows you to take the exam with a foreign law degree; if you studied in a civil-law country (every Spanish-speaking country among them), you also need to be admitted as a lawyer and an LL.M. that meets its criteria. Without the exam, you can be certified as a Foreign Legal Consultant, including to work as in-house counsel for a company, or ask permission to appear in a single case.

The five routes in Texas

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
With the FLC license
Temporary practice
To be confirmed
Admission without exam from another state
Yes
Last reviewed
October 25, 2026

The Texas route

The path a lawyer trained in a civil-law country takes to a full Texas license.

  1. Confirm that your education meets rule 13

    Your degree must be from a law school accredited in your country and be equivalent in length to a degree from an approved U.S. law school, and you must be authorized to practice law in your country or in another state. A degree earned mainly online or through distance learning does not qualify. The Board of Law Examiners decides whether you are eligible when it reviews your bar exam application.

  2. Do an LL.M. that meets the rule

    At least 24 credits at a law school approved by the Supreme Court of Texas (today, the same schools the ABA approves), over two or more semesters and within 24 months, with the subjects the rule requires. Good news: besides classes on campus, synchronous online classes, taught live, also count.

  3. Apply for the exam

    In ATLAS, the Board of Law Examiners' online system, with the US$700 fee for foreign-trained applicants. The deadline is September 1 for the February exam and February 1 for the July exam; late deadlines follow, with a late fee. Your law schools send your transcripts directly to the Board.

  4. Take the exam

    The UBE, in February or July, in person; you pass with 270. You also need the MPRE, the professional responsibility exam, with a score of 85 or higher, and the Texas Law Component, an online course at no additional cost (the Texas Law Course).

  5. Get your license

    The Board investigates your character and fitness, including your fingerprints, and must decide within 270 days of your application. Once you meet every requirement, it certifies you to the Supreme Court of Texas, you take the oath and you enroll in the State Bar of Texas, which is mandatory. You have five years from passing the exam to meet the remaining requirements.

If you studied in a common-law country, the rule has other routes, one of them without an LL.M.: we explain them below, under "Bar exam."

Foreign Legal Consultant

Rule 14 of the Rules Governing Admission to the Bar of Texas allows the Supreme Court of Texas, at its discretion and without examination, to certify a lawyer from another country as a Foreign Legal Consultant, to advise in Texas on the law of that country to the extent that country allows. You apply to the Texas Board of Law Examiners, which reviews your application and recommends your certification. You are not a member of the State Bar of Texas but are "affiliated" with it: you can be a partner of Texas lawyers and share fees with them.

Requirements

  • Have been a member in good standing of a recognized legal profession in your country, authorized to practice and subject to effective regulation and discipline, for at least 3 of the 5 years before your application.
  • The good moral character and fitness required of a Texas lawyer. The Board investigates it, with an FBI fingerprint check, and has up to 270 days to decide.
  • Be at least 26 years of age.
  • Intend to practice in Texas as a Foreign Legal Consultant and maintain an office there for that purpose. If you will work for a single employer, there is another route: we explain it below, under "In-house counsel."
  • The application is signed by you and by a sponsoring member of the Texas Bar, in good standing and admitted for at least five years.
  • A Certificate of Good Standing and a Statement of Discipline from every jurisdiction where you are authorized to practice, even if the license is inactive, issued within 30 days before you apply. Every document in another language, with an English translation.
  • Proof of your years of practice: your tax returns, or proof of your income from law practice, and the official description of each position or a detailed letter from your employer. As a rule, practice must average at least 30 hours a week.
  • A document showing your status: if you are a U.S. citizen, your birth certificate or your certificate of naturalization; if you are authorized to work in the United States, your USCIS document; if you live abroad, an ID showing your home address and an affidavit of residency outside the United States.
  • Your written commitment to follow the State Bar Act, the State Bar Rules and the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, and a notarized document with a Texas address designating the Board's Executive Director as your agent for service of process.
  • Renew every year, at least 60 days before your certificate expires, with 3 hours of ethics continuing legal education accredited by the State Bar of Texas and a sworn statement that you complied with the terms of your certificate.

What a Foreign Legal Consultant cannot do

  • Appear for others before Texas courts, magistrates or other judicial officers.
  • Prepare instruments that transfer or register title to real estate.
  • Prepare certain wills and trusts, or documents to administer an estate.
  • Prepare documents on marital or parental relations or rights, or child custody.
  • Advise on the law of Texas or of the United States, including immigration law, except in two cases: on the basis of advice from a lawyer authorized in Texas or in the United States, whom you identify to the client and who is your co-counsel on the matter or works with you in the same law firm, company or government agency; or as in-house counsel advising your employer, within the scope of your job.
  • Hold yourself out as a member of the Texas Bar, or use any name or title other than your own name, your firm's name, your professional title in your country (with the country's name) or "Foreign Legal Consultant" with the words "authorized to the practice of law in" and the name of your country. The Board gives "Certified Foreign Legal Consultant," "Texas Foreign Legal Consultant," "Attorney" and "Partner" as examples of what you cannot use.

Costs and fees

  • To apply: US$990, plus US$10 for the designation of an agent for service of process. Non-refundable.
  • To keep it: Every year, US$150; US$300 if you renew within the 180-day grace period.
  • Paid to: The Texas Board of Law Examiners, online, in its ATLAS system. You are not a member of the State Bar of Texas, so you pay it no dues.

Compare with other states

Official forms

You open an account in ATLAS, the Board of Law Examiners' online system, pay the fee and download the application there. The Board gives no advance opinions: do not apply if you do not meet rule 14.

Read the official rule

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The bar exam

Rule 13 of the Rules Governing Admission to the Bar of Texas (sections 4 and 5) exempts a person who studied law in another country from the U.S. law study requirement, through one of several routes. If you studied in a civil-law country, as in every Spanish-speaking country, section 5 asks for three things at once: a degree equivalent in length, an LL.M. that meets its criteria, and authorization to practice law. An LL.M. alone is not enough.

Requirements for a foreign degree

  • Civil-law country (section 5): a degree from a law school accredited in your country, equivalent in length to a degree from an approved U.S. law school; an LL.M. that meets the rule, from an approved law school; and authorization to practice law in your country or in another U.S. state.
  • Common-law country (section 4), one of three routes: your degree, equivalent in length, plus your authorization to practice and 3 of the last 5 years of practice, with no LL.M.; at least two years of common-law legal studies plus the LL.M.; or your authorization to practice in a common-law country plus the LL.M.
  • The LL.M.: at least 24 credits, with 700 minutes of instruction per credit, over two or more semesters of at least 13 weeks and within 24 months, on the U.S. campus of an approved law school or in synchronous online classes it offers. It must include professional responsibility; legal research, writing and analysis; and an introduction to U.S. law (2 credits each), and 6 credits in subjects tested on the Texas bar exam. No more than 4 credits in summer sessions. An LL.M. completed before October 1, 2016 does not have to meet these criteria.
  • A degree earned mainly through online courses or distance learning does not meet the rule (section 6).
  • Your documents: each law school sends a certified copy of your transcript directly to the Board; the one from your country, with an English translation by a disinterested third party. The Board does not accept transcripts you send yourself. You also need a Certificate of Good Standing and a Statement of Discipline from every jurisdiction where you are or have been authorized to practice.
  • The exams: the UBE, the MPRE (85 or higher) and the Texas Law Component.
  • For the license, rule 2 also requires that you be a U.S. citizen or national, a permanent resident, or authorized to work here (including on Optional Practical Training, OPT), or that you not live in the United States when you apply.

Good to know

  • Deadlines: September 1 for the February exam and February 1 for the July exam. Two late deadlines follow: until November 1 or April 1, with a US$150 late fee, and until December 1 or May 1, with US$300. After the last one, the Board does not accept applications for any reason.
  • You complete the Texas Law Component with the Texas Law Course: 10 to 12 hours of online video, with questions you must answer correctly to move ahead, at no additional cost. You can take it up to a year before the exam or up to two years after you pass, and it is required for the license.
  • Prepare well: in 2025, of the 365 people trained outside the United States who took the exam in Texas, 85 passed (23%), according to NCBE. The rule limits you to five attempts in all, unless the Board waives the limit.
  • If you already took the UBE in another state, you can transfer your score to Texas if it is 270 or higher and you earned it in the five years before you apply. Your education still has to meet rule 13.
  • Texas will give the NextGen UBE from July 2028; the last current UBE will be in February 2028, according to NCBE. To transfer a NextGen score, Texas requires 620 or higher.
  • Since January 6, 2026, the Supreme Court of Texas approves law schools itself. For now, its list is the same schools the ABA approves.

Read the official rule

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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 13 (section 2) exempts from the exam a lawyer authorized to practice in another U.S. state who has practiced, as their principal occupation, for at least 5 of the last 7 years. Texas does not require a degree from an ABA-approved law school or reciprocity. Good news: it is possible with a foreign degree too, if your education meets sections 4 or 5 of the same rule, for example with an LL.M. that meets its criteria.

Years of practice
5 of the last 7
Requires a degree from an ABA-approved law school
No
Only with reciprocity
No

Good to know

  • Practice includes, among others, work in a law firm or as a sole practitioner, as a lawyer for a company or the government, as a judge, and full-time law teaching at an approved law school. Time practicing pro hac vice does not count.
  • You also need the MPRE with 85 or higher, the Texas Law Component and the character and fitness review. There are no deadlines: you can apply at any time.
  • Watch out: apply only once you have the 5 years of practice. The Board asks applicants not to file earlier.

See the official source

How it works in the rest of the country

In-house counsel

Texas has no separate registration for in-house counsel: it handles it through its Foreign Legal Consultant certification, which has its own route for someone who works for a single employer (rule 14, section 1(b)). As its employee, you can advise it within the scope of your job, including on the law of Texas and of the United States.

Requirements

  • For at least 3 of the 5 years before your application, one of these three: being authorized to practice law in another country; being a member in good standing of the bar of another state; or having been actively, substantially and lawfully engaged in the practice of law in another country or another U.S. jurisdiction.
  • Good news: if your country requires you to give up your license to work as a company lawyer or in the judiciary, you can still qualify through the third option, by proving your practice. The Board explains it this way.
  • The good moral character and fitness required of a Texas lawyer, and being at least 26 years of age.
  • Practicing in Texas only as an employee of, and on behalf of, a single individual, corporation, company, partnership, association, nonprofit organization or government agency whose primary business is not providing legal services to the public.

What in-house counsel cannot do

  • Practice for anyone other than your employer, or outside your job for it.
  • Appear for others before Texas courts.
  • The other limits of a Foreign Legal Consultant, above: real estate, wills and estates, family matters, and holding yourself out as a member of the Texas Bar.

How to apply

  • It is the same application as the Foreign Legal Consultant one, filed with the Board of Law Examiners in ATLAS: the forms are above, in that section.
  • If you qualify through your practice and not through a license, instead of the Certificate of Good Standing you submit proof of at least 3 of the last 5 years of active and substantial practice.
  • If you practiced without a local license, written confirmation from that jurisdiction that your practice was lawful or, if you cannot get it, a verifiable written statement citing the governing authority.
  • Everything else, as for any Foreign Legal Consultant: the signature of a sponsoring Texas lawyer, fingerprints, your commitment to the Texas rules and the designation of an agent.

Once you are certified or registered

  • You renew every year, at least 60 days before your certificate expires, with 3 hours of ethics accredited by the State Bar of Texas.
  • If you stop meeting the requirements, the Board may recommend that the Court revoke your certification.

Costs and fees

  • To apply: US$990, plus US$10 for the designation of an agent for service of process. Non-refundable. It is the same application as the Foreign Legal Consultant one.
  • To keep it: Every year, US$150; US$300 if you renew within the 180-day grace period.
  • Paid to: The Texas Board of Law Examiners, online, in its ATLAS system.

Compare with other states

Read the official rule · How it works in other states

Appearing in a single case (pro hac vice)

Rule 19 of the Rules Governing Admission to the Bar of Texas and section 82.0361 of the Government Code allow a reputable lawyer, licensed in another state or another country and living outside Texas, to ask permission to take part in a single case before a Texas court.

Requirements

  • Live outside Texas.
  • First, pay the non-resident attorney fee to the Board of Law Examiners: US$250 per lawyer, per case, online. It cannot be refunded or transferred. The Board emails you an Acknowledgment Letter, which is your proof of payment.
  • Then file a written, sworn motion with the court, with that letter, your contact information, the Texas cases from the past two years in which you appeared or asked to, the jurisdictions where you are licensed and whether you are in good standing, any discipline or denial of admission in the past five years, and your commitment to the Texas ethics rules.
  • Together with it, the motion of a lawyer who lives and practices in Texas, with whom you associate, stating that they find you reputable and recommend that permission be granted.
  • The court decides, and it may deny the motion, for example, to someone who appears in Texas courts frequently.

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.

We did not find in the Texas rules a temporary practice rule like other states have. Its professional conduct rule 5.05, amended on October 1, 2024, allows two things to a lawyer admitted outside Texas, without saying whether it includes someone admitted only in another country: providing legal services only to their employer and its affiliates, where pro hac vice is not required (5.05(c)), and practicing from their home or another location in Texas (5.05(d)). That is why we mark it "to be confirmed": ask before you rely on it. The conditions for practicing from Texas:

Conditions

  • Do not use advertising, letterhead, a website, signs or other communications that suggest you are authorized in Texas or have an office there.
  • Do not solicit or accept Texas residents as clients on matters that mainly call for advice on Texas or local law, unless Texas or federal law allows it.
  • If you know someone mistakenly believes you are authorized in Texas, correct them.

Read the official rule

Other routes

  • Limited licenses: in 2024 the Supreme Court of Texas proposed the Licensed Legal Paraprofessional and Licensed Court-Access Assistant licenses, and in November 2024 it postponed them to study the comments it received. No new date has been published.

After Texas

What a Texas license opens for you in other states, or does not, if your degree is from another country.

  • Watch out: admission without exam rarely helps you. 32 jurisdictions require a degree from an ABA-approved law school for it, according to NCBE's 2026 guide, and a foreign degree with an LL.M. is not one.
  • Your UBE score: each UBE state decides whether to accept it and whether your foreign degree meets its requirements. New York, for example, accepts it if it is 266 or higher and no more than three years old, but your education must meet its own rule, 520.6: with a civil-law degree, an in-person LL.M. that meets its criteria. Watch out: an LL.M. with online classes, which Texas does count, does not work for New York.
  • Florida: with a Texas license and an LL.M. that meets the criteria of its Board of Bar Examiners, two years of practice let you take the Florida exam (rule 4-13.4); without that LL.M., five. Florida does not admit lawyers without examination.
  • California: if you are already admitted in your country, you do not need a Texas license to take its exam. But with four years of active licensure in Texas you can take a shorter one, the Attorneys' Examination: only the written part, in one day.

Good to know

In Texas, the Supreme Court sets the admission rules and grants the license. The Board of Law Examiners, nine lawyers appointed by the Court, gives the exam, decides whether you are eligible, investigates your character and fitness and certifies you to the Court. The State Bar of Texas is mandatory: you enroll in it when you are licensed.

If meeting a specific requirement of the rules is impossible or unfair for you, you can ask the Board in writing to waive it: it may do so for good cause (rule 20(e)).

For Foreign Legal Consultants, the Board warns that it gives no advance opinions on whether you meet rule 14: it decides when you apply. Do not apply if you do not meet its requirements, because the fee is not refunded.

General information, not legal advice. Rules change: always check the official source before you make a decision. Last reviewed: October 25, 2026.

Sources

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