Opening a nail salon in New York: the salon license
What New York State Department of State, Division of Licensing Services publishes about licensing the salon itself, checked on September 7, 2026.
- Fee and term
- The salon license in New York is the Appearance Enhancement Business license. The initial application fee is $60. The term of licensure is four years. Renewal opens 90 days before expiry; renewing more than one year late adds a $10 penalty.
- Source: New York Department of State - Become an appearance enhancement business · Checked September 7, 2026
- Required insurance and bonds
- The business must maintain a surety bond and accidental and professional liability insurance, each at a minimum of $25,000 per occurrence and $75,000 in the aggregate. It must also carry a wage bond sized by staff: 2 to 5 employees $25,000, 6 to 10 $40,000, 11 to 25 $75,000, 26 or more $125,000. Evidence is submitted with the application and kept on the premises.
- Source: New York Department of State - Become an appearance enhancement business · Checked September 7, 2026
- Nail salon ventilation
- Any nail salon licensed on or after October 3, 2016, must meet the ventilation specification from the start; salons licensed before that date had until October 4, 2022. The standard: a mechanical system supplying outdoor air at not less than 50 cubic feet per minute per nail station (or the 2015 IMC rate, whichever is greater), with at least one exhaust inlet per station within 12 inches of the chemical application point, exhausting outdoors without recirculation.
- Source: New York Department of State - Ventilation regulations · Checked September 7, 2026
- What must be posted
- Business and individual licenses must be posted where the public and employees can easily see them. The owner must post a sign at the entrance stating that the business and its operators are licensed, and nail salons must post the Nail Salon Workers' Bill of Rights. Violations carry a fine of up to $500 each, or license suspension or revocation.
- Source: New York Department of State - Nail salons: important information · Checked September 7, 2026
- The application comes in Vietnamese
- The salon application itself comes in Vietnamese. The Department of State publishes the Appearance Enhancement Business / Area Renter application, form DOS-0035, in ten languages, Vietnamese among them. The Vietnamese version is a complete seven-page form, DOS 0035-a-VI (Rev. 07/15), headed "Đơn đăng ký của Doanh nghiệp Chăm sóc Sắc đẹp hoặc Người thuê Khu vực", with the $60 fee printed in its office-use box. It is the paper form, downloaded from beside the English one on the Department's page.
- Source: New York Department of State - Appearance Enhancement Business / Area Renter application, Vietnamese (PDF) · Checked September 21, 2026
- Who may apply, and what each change costs
- The Department lists three requirements for the applicant: be 18 years old; comply with all federal, state and local health and safety laws, rules, regulations and codes, including the Americans with Disabilities Act; and operate the business, or rent, at the location listed on the license. Changes afterwards each carry their own price: $10 for a name change (unless it follows a change of marital status), $10 for a change of address, $10 for a duplicate license. Payment is by check or money order payable to the Department of State, or by MasterCard or Visa using a credit card authorization form.
- Source: New York Department of State - Become an appearance enhancement business · Checked September 21, 2026
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The oldest line on this page was checked September 7, 2026