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Psychologist Initial Application Process Start to Finish

State of Emergency - Time Frames

Due to the state of emergency, the time frame from receipt of application to approval may be 5-6 months on average. However, it is entirely dependent on how quickly verifications are received. For example, if you wish to be licensed in July, please send your application to the Board in January.  Due to the state of emergency, please allow up to six (6) weeks for staff to complete the initial intake of your application and email you a a notice either that the application is incomplete and what is still needed, or a notice that the application is administratively complete. If you do not receive this notice within six (6) weeks, please reach out to Board staff by email or phone call. 
 

Applications

Basically, psychologists must have a doctorate in an applied psychology from a regionally accredited program and have 3,000 hours of supervised experience to potentially qualify for licensure. The detailed requirements are many and varied.  Below are links to the statutes and rules specific to applying for approval to sit for the EPPP and/or Licensure.

Related Arizona Revised Statutes:


Related Arizona Administrative Code (A.A.C. or Rules):

 

We do not have an online application system at this time. All applicants must submit a form-fillable PDF application.  

Which Application to Submit: This is a simpler question than you might think. Answer three (3) questions and you will know which application is the best for your current professional status/history. 

  1. Do you have an active license as a psychologist in another state that was issued one or more years ago? If "YES", go to question 2. If "NO", you do not qualify to apply by universal recognition. Instead, go to question 3. 
     
  2. Have you "established residence" in Arizona? If your answer is "NO", you do not qualify to apply by universal recognition. Please go to question 3. Acceptable evidence regarding having established residence may be a copy of your AZ driver's license, or AZ motor vehicle registration, or rental, lease or mortgage contract for an AZ dwelling (with evidence of payment for rent or lease), or banking services in your name with an Arizona address, or proof of enrollment of your children in an Arizona school, etc. See the Board's substantive policy statement regarding residence determination. A list of acceptable evidence is on page 2. 
     

If you answered "YES" to both questions, above, you may qualify to apply for licensure by Universal Recognition under A.R.S. Section 32-4302. See the Psychologist Applications page for more information about this pathway to licensure and to download the application, Psychologist Application for Licensure by Universal Recognition. 
 

  1. Do you hold one of the credentials listed below that are recognized by the Arizona Board of Psychologist Examiners? If not, continue to question 4.  If "yes", you may qualify to apply by Credential. HSP credentialed individuals must be licensed at the independent level for 5 or more years, and must have their EPPP score transferred to the Arizona Board. Please go to the Psychologist Applications page to download the application, Psychologist Application for Licensure by Credential. 
  • ABPP - Board Certified Specialist issued by the American Board of Professional Psychology 
  • CPQ - Certificate of Qualification issued by the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB)
  • HSP Credential - issued by the National Register of Health Service Psychologists (NRHSP or National Register)
     
  1. All doctoral level health service psychologists may apply for licensure using the application, Psychologist Application for Exam and/or Licensure. 

    The minimum requirements for a psychologist application include:
    • completed a minimum of 1,500 hours of internship that is an integral part of your doctoral program and meets the requirements in A.R.S. § 32-2071(F)
    • graduated from a regionally accredited or APA accredited graduate institution with your Psy.D. or Ph.D. in an applied psychology such as clinical, counseling, school or educational psychology. 
    • obtained an equivalent degree in another country that meets the requirements in A.R.S. § 32-2071(B) and A.A.C. R4-26-211
       

Type of Application: On page 4 of this application, you may select the type of application you are making based on the point at which you are in your career. 
 

Use Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader for best experience when filling out an application. All other programs and apps change the functions of the document. If you send an application with an altered format than the original, you will be required to complete the application again either using Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Reader, or by printing it out and filling it in by hand. PLEASE proofread your application and make sure you have answered every question, filled in all blanks even if it's n/a for not applicable before submitting it. 

Yes Answers to Professional Conduct Questions:  If an applicant answers "yes" to one or more professional conduct questions, specific documents and a detailed written explanation regarding the event(s) must be included with the application, or sent separately if the documents are not yet available to the applicant and must be ordered. The document, "Appropriate Documentation for 'Yes' Answers", found in the application packet and on the BA Applications page, lists each professional conduct question in the application and what documents are needed for each question.  PLEASE use this tool and strictly adhere to the list of documents for the question to which you answered "Yes". 

For example, if you were charged or arrested for a criminal or misdemeanor offense, such as a DUI, any and all law enforcement (police) records AND any and all court records are REQUIRED, regardless of outcome, current status, or how long ago the event occurred. There may be one or two pages of a police record included in the court record, however, the Board still needs the ENTIRE police record. Please be aware that Board staff is familiar with these types of records and is aware of what documents should be in the record. If expected documents are not included in the record the applicant sends, such as an officers's report or narrative, sobriety tests, etc., Board staff will then ask for certified copies of these records, which will further delay substantive review of your application. An application is not administratively complete until ALL the records are received. 

Submitting Your Application and Application Fee:  There are two options for submitting your application and paying the application fee.

  • Credit or Debit Card: If preferring to pay the application fee by credit or debit card, your application must be entered into the database first. Please upload your application to the BA Submissions Portal. The portal can accept only one document at a time. It's designed this way for internal tracking purposes. Instructions regarding how to pay the application fee online will be sent by email within 60 days as part of the incomplete notice. 
     
  • Check or Money Order:  You may mail your application with a check or money order. It is strongly recommended that when mailing an application with application fee payment, you use a delivery service for tracking purposes, such as UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc. The Board is not responsible for lost mail. 

Verifications

May be sent before the application: Applicants may request verifications or other documentation sent to the Board in advance of their application. Verifications, official transcripts, and any other documents received in the Board's office are retained for 12 months and are matched to the application once the application is received. Applications, supporting documents, and supervised experience verifications may be submitted via upload to the online Psychologist Documents Submissions portal. This is a secure upload. License verifications and official transcripts may be sent by the verifier to [email protected].

Supervised Experiences - Preinternship/Practicum, Internship and/or Postdoctoral 

 

Official Transcripts:  Official transcripts are required for your graduate degree(s) completed from an accredited institution of higher education and for your ABA coursework that meets the requirements specified by the BACB. 

Official transcripts may be sent several different ways: 

  • Digitally by the educational institution or its contracted third-party distributor to [email protected]
     
  • By mail or delivery service directly from the education institution to the Board's office.
     
  • Applicants may also mail or drop off an official transcript if it is in its original, sealed envelope. Opened transcripts cannot be accepted as official. 
     

Administrative Review

When an application is received in the Board's office, Board staff must enter the application in the database, review all answers and all documents that have been received for that application, and determine if all materials needed have been received. This is the administrative review stage of the application process and may take a significant amount of time, depending on the complexity of the application. Multiply that by the number of applications received each week, and you'll understand why applicants cannot expect to submit an application and expect Board staff to give them a comprehensive update in a matter of days. 

Please be aware that staff has up to 100 applications open in various stages of completeness at any given time, and applications and documentation are processed in the order they are received.  It may take up to six (6) weeks to complete intake of applications during the state of emergency due to an increased number of applications being received and several other factors. 

If any item has not been received, the applicant will receive a notice of incomplete application by email, listing all items that have not been received, any revisions to the application that are needed, and any clarifications needed. If your application fee has not yet been paid at the time the incomplete notice is being prepared, instructions for how to pay for the application online will be included with the notice of incomplete application.  

It is the applicant's responsibility to request an update after the initial notice of incomplete application has been emailed to the applicant by Board staff.  For updates regarding your application, please email Kathy Fowkes, the Board's psychologists licensing specialist, at [email protected].  It is up to the applicant to keep track of when documentation has been sent, and request an update regarding the Board's receipt of that documentation.  If you do not receive a response to your email within three (3) business days, please call Kathy at 602-542-8161.

"Administratively Complete" means that all required application materials (i.e., transcripts, verifications, references, etc.) have been received and processed by Board staff. Once Board staff has assessed an application is administratively complete, it will be placed on the next available Committee agenda, and a notice will be sent by email to the applicant that includes the date and time of the Application Review Committee (Committee or ARC) meeting at which their application will be substantively reviewed. 

Next Scheduled Meeting vs Next Available Meeting:  A.A.C. R4-26-201, "Application Deadline", states:

A. The Board shall consider a license application at the Board’s next scheduled meeting if an administratively complete application packet . . . is received by the Board office at least 18 days before the date of the meeting.

B. The Board shall consider a license application that is received fewer than 18 days before a scheduled meeting at a subsequent meeting.


Depending on when an application is administratively complete, the next scheduled or calendared meeting is not necessarily the next available meeting.  Because of this 18-day rule, an application that is administratively complete, for example, ten (10) days before the next scheduled meeting will be considered at a subsequent meeting, or the next available meeting, which could be a month or more after the next scheduled meeting. In other words, applicants should not expect to be on the next meeting listed on the calendar when they've submitted an application the week before. 

Once Board staff has assessed an application is administratively complete, a notice will be sent by email to the applicant that includes the date and time of the Application Review Committee (Committee or ARC) meeting at which the application will be substantively reviewed. 
 

Substantive Review

Once the Administratively Complete notice has been emailed to the applicant, the Substantive Review begins.  "Substantive review" means the review of all application materials to determine if all requirements in statute and rule have been met to qualify for licensure. Board staff cannot and does not make this assessment. This stage of the application process is conducted by the Committee. 

The Committee consists of two (2) licensed psychologists, at least one of which has a background in academics. Both Committee members also serve on the Board. The Committee meets about twelve (12) times a year. These meetings are formal, following Robert's Rules of Order.  Applications that are administratively complete and ready for substantive review are added to the Committee's next available agenda. The agenda is divided into sections by type of application. Applicants are listed alphabetically by first name.  Agendas are posted to the Board's website on the Upcoming Meetings page at least 24 hours before the meeting is scheduled to begin. 
 

Attending the Committee Meeting:  All Committee meetings are held virtually via Zoom, and the attendance information is included in the meeting entry on the Upcoming Meetings page. 

Applicants are not required to attend the Committee meeting at which their application is substantively reviewed, but the Committee encourages applicants to do so. 

If your application includes a Yes answer to a professional conduct question, or some other aspect of the application is irregular or unusual, attending the meeting in case the Committee has questions can prevent delays in the substantive review of your application. 
 

Committee Recommendations:  The Committee does not make final decisions regarding applications or complaints. Instead, it makes recommendations to the Board regarding an application or complaint.  Recommendations that the Committee can make include but are not limited to approval, denial, or something in between, on a case by case basis. 
 

Formal Additional Information Requests:  If the Committee is unable to make a recommendation to the Board due to a lack of information, it can make a formal additional information request, and table the application until the requested information and/or documentation has been received.

A Formal Additional Information Request (FAIR) letter from the Committee chair will be emailed by Board staff to the applicant, usually within a few weeks of the meeting. This letter will list the Committee's concerns and the additional information and/or documentation requested during the Committee meeting. 

Once all materials requested in the letter have been received, the application will be added to the next available Committee agenda for a second review.

If upon review of the FAIR letter and additional materials, the Committee still lacks the information needed to make a recommendation, it may request a second FAIR letter, go through the same process again and may even make a third request.  

Historically, after the third request is reviewed, the Committee has made a recommendation to the Board - approval, denial or substantive review by the full Board.  
 

Committee Recommendation for Approval & Board's Consent Agenda:  Statistically, for the majority of applications, the Committee finds that all requirements in statute and rule have been met and forwards them to the Board with the recommendation of approval. 

Applications recommended for approval are placed on the Board's "consent agenda".  The consent agenda is one item on the Board's agenda for the next scheduled meeting, which is held about a week or so after the Committee meeting. This agenda item lists the names of all applications for which the Committee recommended approval. The consent agenda lists both psychologist and behaivor analyst applications each month.
 

Board Meeting & Consent Agenda:  Typically, the "consent agenda" item is addressed very early in the meeting. When this agenda item is announced by the Board Chair, the chair will ask the Board members if any member is recused from reviewing any item on the consent agenda. Once this has been answered, it will be noted on the record.

The Chair's next question is if any Board member wishes to remove an item from the consent agenda for individual discussion. Once this has been answered, it is noted on the record. 

The Chair then calls for a motion on the consent agenda. A member of the Board makes a motion to approve the consent agenda, another member seconds it. The Chair usually calls for a voice vote, the vote is recorded, and the Chair moves on to the next item to be addressed.  
 

Names of Applicants are NOT read out loud during the meeting or the motion to approve the consent agenda.  The names of the applicants on the consent agenda are not read out loud, so if you are an applicant, you will not hear your name.  The applicant names are recorded on the agenda and in the minutes, which is the official record of the meeting. With the vote of approval by the majority of the Board, the applicants listed on the consent agenda are now eligible to request issuance of their Arizona license. 
 

Applications Removed from the Consent Agenda for Individual Discussion: When this occurs, typically, the Board chair will call the application for individual discussion right after the consent agenda is approved. The Board members will discuss, consider and possibly take action regarding the application. The Board may approve the application, issue a denial, or may make a combination of approval with an action. The Board may instead ask for additional information (FAIR letter) and table the application until the requested information has been received. Once received, the application is placed on the next available Board meeting agenda for substantive review. 

 

Board Approval - What Happens Next?

It takes about three (3) business days, not including the day of the Board meeting, for Board staff to complete all the associated data entry and approval letters for all applications approved by the Board. There are three documents sent by email:

  • The approval letter, which will have all the information an applicant needs to request issuance of their license, including the duration of their individual initial license period, the prorated license issuance fee, the deadline for paying the fee and requesting issuance of the license, the CE requirements for the individual renewal, and many other details.
     
  • The issuance request form: This single-page form gives the approved applicant the opportunity to update their contact information with the Board at the time the license is issued. The issuance request form also provides an explanation of how the prorated license issuance fee is calculated and how the individual expiration/renewal date is determined.
     
  • The CE Rules:  Once a license is issued, the licensee is be responsible to accrue a prorated number of CE units before their first renewal date. The Rules provide the requirements regarding CE acceptable to the Board, so staff wants to be sure all approved applicants receive a copy. 
     

Issuance of the License:  Once the initial license fee and issuance request form are received and processed, the license will be issued. This is first processed in the database, entered into the Board's Great Register, and then the receipt and wallet card are generated. The receipt and wallet card are sent by email as a PDF. Hard copies are not being sent. The commemorative wall certificate is sent at a later date by mail. Due to the backlog, these have been delayed by several months. 

Once the license has been issued, a licensee can verify their license and make sure their information is correct in our database by searching their last name in the directory maintained by the Board. At this time, we are transitioning databases. This has affected the entries to be found in the directory. The directory linked on the Board's website will take the user to the new Thentia-powered directory. This is the new database. Recently issued licenses will not be available in this directory for about a month or so. New licensees may be found in the state's e.licensing directory HERE.  However, please be aware, the e.licensing directory for psychologists is static within a month after issuance, as data is being transferred to the new Thentia system. 

For all questions relative to your license after it is issued, please contact Krishna Poe at [email protected]