How to get a nail technician licence in the US

In the US, doing nails is a licensed trade. Every state requires a licence issued by its own board, and working without one breaks state law for the worker and for the salon owner alike. This guide is about the worker's licence, not the salon's.

The most important thing to know before reading on: there is no national nail licence. Every state writes its own law, its own hour requirement, its own exam and its own fees. Someone advising you from their own state's experience may be right about where they live and wrong about where you live.

Can the exam be taken in Vietnamese?#

Yes, in some states. This is the part most people do not know, and it changes the picture entirely for a newcomer.

As checked on 7 September 2026, four of the states verified on this site say on their own pages that the exam comes in Vietnamese:

• California: the written exam is available in English, Korean, Spanish, Vietnamese and Simplified Chinese
• Texas: the Manicurist exam is published in English, Spanish and Vietnamese
• New York: the written exam is offered in Vietnamese and eleven other languages
• Oregon: both the trade exam and the state laws and rules exam come in Vietnamese

Virginia is the opposite case: no translated exam, but a candidate who speaks English as a second language may request time and a half on the English one.

Other states do not address this on their pages. Silence is not a no. If your state is not listed above, call its licensing board and ask two questions: is the exam available in Vietnamese, and if not, may an interpreter or extra time be requested.

How many training hours are required?#

This is where states differ most. Among the states verified on this site as of 7 September 2026, the requirement runs from 150 hours in Virginia to 600 hours in Texas and Oklahoma. The same trade, the same work, and a fourfold difference in training time.

A few things travel with those hours:

• They must be earned at a school the state approves. Learning on the job or from a friend generally does not count
• Hours earned in one state do not automatically transfer to another, though some states will assess a comparable course
• Some states add a schooling requirement, such as the 10th grade in California and Pennsylvania, and the minimum age is 17 in California, Texas and New York

What does the exam cover?#

Usually two parts: a written exam on sanitation, disinfection, chemical safety, nail anatomy and state law, and a practical exam performed on a mannequin hand or a live model.

Not everywhere still has both. California dropped the practical exam entirely on 1 January 2022 and now tests only the written paper. Oregon instead has two written exams, one on the trade and a separate one on Oregon law.

The passing score is 75 percent in North Carolina and Oklahoma. A failed exam can be retaken, but nearly everywhere the exam fee is payable again.

What does it cost?#

There are three separate costs, and they are often mistaken for one:

1. School tuition. The largest of the three, set by private schools rather than by the state. This site carries no figure for it because there is no official page to check it against
2. Exam fees, paid to whoever administers the exam
3. Application and licence fees, paid to the state

The last two typically run from a few tens of dollars to a little over a hundred, and are published on the state's own page. See your state's page for the real number.

What if I am already licensed in another state?#

Most states have a route that recognises an existing licence, called reciprocity or endorsement. The usual conditions are a current licence in good standing and requirements in the old state equal to or greater than those in the new one.

California, for instance, issues a licence by reciprocity without repeating the written exam, while Florida accepts endorsement but excludes anyone licensed through an apprenticeship. Some states, Virginia among them, publish no written conditions and ask you to call the board.

If you are about to move states, ask before you move rather than after. Making up a shortfall in hours is sometimes required, and knowing early leaves room to plan.

After the licence#

Licences expire and must be renewed, commonly every two years. Some states require continuing education to renew and some do not.

Once you hold the licence, the hard part is no longer the trade but your rights at work. These four guides are written for nail technicians:

• Employee or independent contractor, the most commonly misclassified point in the trade
• Pay and overtime
• Chemical safety in nail salons
• Injured at work

They sit together at the nail industry hub, alongside job listings and people looking for work.