Expanding Eligibility for Professional and Occupational Licensing for Immigrants

This report from the President’s Alliance for Higher Education makes the case for easing federal and state barriers to occupational licensing for all work-authorized immigrants, including DACA recipients, TPS holders and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) recipients. As the report notes, nationally one in four jobs require some sort of license to practice, with the vast majority of licenses issued at the state level. Under federal law, only “qualified” immigrants (including LPR holders, asylees, refugees, and certain other categories) are eligible for a range of federal and state public benefits, including professional licenses. In addition to widely varying state requirements for specific professions, hundreds of thousands of non-qualified but work-authorized immigrants also face a daunting patchwork of state-level requirements and barriers based on individual immigration status as well as foreign education and training. At least twelve states have enacted legislation to reduce licensing barriers for immigrants, especially DACA recipients, and other states have pursued administrative or regulatory actions to facilitate licensing. The potential benefits of these changes include boosting states’ economies by filling in-demand jobs and promoting economic self-sufficiency. The report offers a number of recommendations to address licensing barriers facing work-authorized immigrants, including calling on Congress to enact legislation rescinding the federal and states prohibition of licenses for non-qualified immigrants, and prohibiting the federal government and states from denying licensure based solely on immigration status. The report also recommends that states – many of which are already exploring ways to reduce or streamline licensing requirements for all workers, including immigrants – should re-examine and update licensing regulations that unfairly exclude immigrants and refugees.  

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