I found out recently that because of my wife's job, we may be moving from California to Texas in a year. I have a couple of questions about the ARE and moving, and the people at the state offices haven't been very helpful. So.....
I was going to start taking the AREs in California this month. I've paid the California fees and been approved by the California Architects Board. All my IDP is complete and records have been transferred.
My question: since we're moving in a year, should I take the ARE through Texas? Or should I just start taking it in California and have the completed test results transferred to Texas when we move? Does it matter?
I don't want to take the seismic or the orals, which are required in California but not in most other states. If I start the exams in California, can I skip those two parts but have the other exam results transferred?
Can anyone give me good advice on how best to do this, saving myself hassle and money?
The easier way to deal with this tends to be to continue testing "through" California until you're finished with all the tests, then have your records (both from CA and from NCARB) transmitted to Texas and seek initial licensing there.
Testing through CA doesn't mean you need to live there or physically test there. You can test in any test center in the US. It just means that CA will continue to receive and process your results.
Make sure to send your new address to ALL of: the CA board, NCARB, and Prometric.
Be aware that because you've already used your one free transmittal to send your NCARB record to CA, there will be a $300 transmittal fee when you have your record transmitted to TX (if you haven't been paying your annual NCARB maintenance fees you'll have to pay those too before they'll transmit.)
CA may also charge a fee to send your state record to TX.
Texas charges an annual maintenance fee to testing candidates, so you may have to pay that when you send your record there (in addition to license application fee and first annual dues.)
Oh - I didn't realize until I re-read that you haven't started testing!
In that case, if you're sure you're moving to TX, by all means start testing "through" Texas!
Just have NCARB transmit to TX, and fill out TX's forms, and pay their fee.
You can actually take tests in CA if you like (or anywhere else) once you get authorization to test.
seismic/wind IS required, everywhere in the US (Lateral Forces test, at least under the test from a year or so ago). ... the ARE tests are the same everywhere ... the only thing you'll get out of is the CSE, which you can't take till the end anyway.
I started taking the exams in Arizona...movedto Connecticut and finished taking them in Arizona. Arizona registered, wrote to the
State of Connecticut and they registered me here shortly after...then I went out on my own. That was ancient History...so do some careful
checking. I always enjoyed my trip back to Arizona to finish up the exam.
You should probably ask California if they would be willing to transfer your test scores to Texas without passing the CSE, which is a beast and will add at least six months to a year to your quest for licensure. Then you'll want to ask Texas if they will accept them, because you would just be transferring your scores, not applying for reciprocity, since you won't be licensed in CA without having passed the CSE.
My advice is to have your IDP transferred to Texas, and take the exams there. One less state of bureaucracy to deal with.
Jul 17, 08 11:11 pm ·
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Record Examination Advice
I found out recently that because of my wife's job, we may be moving from California to Texas in a year. I have a couple of questions about the ARE and moving, and the people at the state offices haven't been very helpful. So.....
I was going to start taking the AREs in California this month. I've paid the California fees and been approved by the California Architects Board. All my IDP is complete and records have been transferred.
My question: since we're moving in a year, should I take the ARE through Texas? Or should I just start taking it in California and have the completed test results transferred to Texas when we move? Does it matter?
I don't want to take the seismic or the orals, which are required in California but not in most other states. If I start the exams in California, can I skip those two parts but have the other exam results transferred?
Can anyone give me good advice on how best to do this, saving myself hassle and money?
The easier way to deal with this tends to be to continue testing "through" California until you're finished with all the tests, then have your records (both from CA and from NCARB) transmitted to Texas and seek initial licensing there.
Testing through CA doesn't mean you need to live there or physically test there. You can test in any test center in the US. It just means that CA will continue to receive and process your results.
Make sure to send your new address to ALL of: the CA board, NCARB, and Prometric.
Be aware that because you've already used your one free transmittal to send your NCARB record to CA, there will be a $300 transmittal fee when you have your record transmitted to TX (if you haven't been paying your annual NCARB maintenance fees you'll have to pay those too before they'll transmit.)
CA may also charge a fee to send your state record to TX.
Texas charges an annual maintenance fee to testing candidates, so you may have to pay that when you send your record there (in addition to license application fee and first annual dues.)
Oh - I didn't realize until I re-read that you haven't started testing!
In that case, if you're sure you're moving to TX, by all means start testing "through" Texas!
Just have NCARB transmit to TX, and fill out TX's forms, and pay their fee.
You can actually take tests in CA if you like (or anywhere else) once you get authorization to test.
seismic/wind IS required, everywhere in the US (Lateral Forces test, at least under the test from a year or so ago). ... the ARE tests are the same everywhere ... the only thing you'll get out of is the CSE, which you can't take till the end anyway.
I started taking the exams in Arizona...movedto Connecticut and finished taking them in Arizona. Arizona registered, wrote to the
State of Connecticut and they registered me here shortly after...then I went out on my own. That was ancient History...so do some careful
checking. I always enjoyed my trip back to Arizona to finish up the exam.
You should probably ask California if they would be willing to transfer your test scores to Texas without passing the CSE, which is a beast and will add at least six months to a year to your quest for licensure. Then you'll want to ask Texas if they will accept them, because you would just be transferring your scores, not applying for reciprocity, since you won't be licensed in CA without having passed the CSE.
My advice is to have your IDP transferred to Texas, and take the exams there. One less state of bureaucracy to deal with.
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