Provisional licence for veterinarians and veterinary technicians

It is a temporary licence to practise veterinary medicine, or to work as a veterinary technologist or technician, in Puerto Rico while the permanent licence process is completed. Depending on the route, it is used under the direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian and has its own expiry.

Four groups, depending on the applicable article. Article 12(a): a graduate of an AVMA-accredited school who meets all the law's requirements and is pending the board exam. Article 12(b): someone holding a veterinary technologist or technician licence from a US state whose examining bodies require professional education equal to or above Puerto Rico's. Article 12(d): a graduate of a school accredited by AVMA and its Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities (CVTEA) pending the board exam, to practise as a technologist or technician. Article 12.2: a graduate of a non-accredited veterinary school who passed the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination (NAVLE).

• Identify which of the four routes you are applying under: Article 12(a), 12(b), 12(d) or the new 12.2. The requirements and the expiry are not the same.Verified against the official source
• On the Article 12.2 route, present evidence of graduation from a veterinary school and passing results for the NAVLE exam.Verified against the official source
• On the Article 12(b) route, pay the corresponding fees, show official evidence of your out-of-state licence and meet the Sub-board's other requirements.Verified against the official source
• Name in the application the licensed veterinarian who will provide direct supervision, where the route requires it.Verified against the official source

• Evidence of graduation from the veterinary school and, depending on the route, passing NAVLE or board exam results, or official evidence of the licence issued by the other state. The law publishes no more detailed list: the Board or Sub-board sets the provisional licensing details by regulation.

1. 1

   Step 1: Place your situation among the four routes

   If you graduated from an AVMA-accredited school and are pending the board exam, the route is Article 12(a) as a veterinarian, or 12(d) if it is as a technologist or technician graduated from a school accredited by AVMA and its CVTEA committee. If you already hold a technologist or technician licence from a US state, the route is 12(b). If your veterinary school is not accredited but you passed the NAVLE, the route is the new Article 12.2. Each has its own expiry.

2. 2

   Step 2: Line up the licensed veterinarian who will supervise you

   Article 12(c) says the provisional licence may be granted for private practice or to work with the Government of Puerto Rico, provided the applicant acts under the direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian, named for that purpose in the provisional licence application. On the Article 12.2 route, direct supervision by a Puerto Rico licensed veterinarian is also a condition of use.

3. 3

   Step 3: File the application with the Board or the Sub-board

   The Board handles veterinarian licences and the Sub-board handles veterinary technologist and technician licences. The law provides that the Board or Sub-board set the provisional licensing details by regulation, and Article 12.2(f) ordered the Board to create a regulation and file it with the Department of State within six months of the law's approval. We did not verify whether that regulation has been filed, so confirm the form and the process before filing.

4. 4

   Step 4: Note when yours expires

   Article 12 provisional licences expire when the results are notified for board exams held after the licence was issued; if you pass, the provisional stays valid until it is replaced by the permanent one. The Article 12.2 licence is different: it expires one year from the date it is issued and may be renewed once for eight additional months. Any of them may be revoked by the Board or Sub-board for just cause, after a public hearing is held.

With the Veterinary Medical Examining Board, or with the Sub-board for veterinary technologists and technicians. The regulation on the Article 12.2 provisional licence is filed with the Department of State.

• Treating the four routes as one: the requirements, who issues it and when it expires change by article.
• Believing the provisional licence lets you practise alone: on the routes that require it you must act under the direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian named in the application.
• Forgetting the Article 12.2 clock: it expires in a year and renews only once for eight further months.
• Assuming a non-accredited school closes the door: since Act 25-2026, passing the NAVLE opens the Article 12.2 route.
• Taking for granted that every provisional licence costs money: Article 12.2(e) bars charging for that one.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Estado de Puerto Rico

  Departamento de Estado

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov