What a temporary or walk-through license actually is
A temporary license (some boards call it a temporary permit) is a short-term authorization to practice that a board issues to a nurse who already holds a valid license in another state, while the full endorsement application — license verification, background check, fees — is still being processed. “Walk-through” is staffing-industry slang, not a legal term: it describes the handful of boards where a nurse could historically walk in (or apply online) and leave with a temporary permit within roughly a business day.
The appeal is speed. Endorsement in a new state can take weeks; a temporary permit can put you to work in days. The trade-offs: the permit expires — commonly somewhere between about 30 days and six months, depending on the state — it may be non-renewable, and it usually requires that your endorsement application already be underway.
Which states are walk-through states?
There is no official list — the compact administrators don’t define “walk-through,” and boards change their processes without much notice. As of July 2026, travel-nurse staffing guides and licensure references (such as RegisteredNursing.org and major staffing agencies) most consistently name:
- Arizona — known for expedited temporary licenses for endorsement applicants, including a fast-track option tied to an imminent start date.
- Louisiana — same-day temporary permits have been reported for in-person endorsement applicants.
- Missouri — temporary licenses issued quickly while endorsement is processed, with a comparatively long validity period.
- South Carolina — walk-in processing for short-term temporary licenses has been reported.
- Idaho — historically listed as a walk-through state; it still issues temporary licenses to endorsement applicants, though recent guides note the “walk-through” label is no longer clearly reflected on the board’s site.
Some guides also mention same-day permits in a few other states, such as Hawaii. Treat every item above as a starting point, not a promise: confirm current availability, eligibility, and timing directly with the board of nursing before you commit to a start date. You can find each board from our state pages.
How this relates to the compact
If your primary state of residence is a compact state and you hold a multistate license, you can generally practice in every other compact state immediately — no temporary license, no endorsement application, no waiting. That makes temporary and walk-through licenses most relevant when:
- Your destination is a non-compact state — a multistate license doesn’t work there, so endorsement (and possibly a temporary permit to bridge the gap) is the path.
- You don’t hold a multistate license — for example, your legal home state is non-compact — so even compact destinations require their own endorsement process.
Notably, the classic walk-through states are themselves compact members today, so a nurse with a multistate license usually doesn’t need their temporary permits at all. Not sure where you stand? Run your states through the compact state checker, and see nursing license reciprocity for how endorsement works generally.
Timing, fees, and conditions — always verify
Processing speed, fees, permit length, and eligibility rules are set by each board, not by any national body, and they change. Boards have suspended or reshaped temporary-permit programs before, and “same day” often assumes in-person visits, on-site fingerprinting, or a complete application. Before relying on a walk-through timeline, verify your existing license is active and in good standing via Nursys QuickConfirm, then confirm the current process on the destination board’s official website.