Licensed Dispensing Optician Requirements

Original Applicant
  • Successful completion of Spectacle written  examination ABO-NCLE or NCSORB**
  • Successful completion of Contact Lens written examination ABO-NCLE or NCSORB**
  • Successful completion of Spectacle and Contact Lens Practical examination ABO-NCLE or NCSORB**
  • Three (3) of the past six (6) years experience working as an optician***
  • High school graduate or equivalent
  • Picture of yourself taken within the past 6 months
  • Completed application and $100* license fee
  • One or more letters verifying employment (in the field of opticianry) over the past six years
  • 3 letters attesting to good moral character

Apply for your Dispensing Optician license online

**ABO/NCLE www.abo-ncle.org 6506 Loisdale Road Suite 230 Springfield, VA 22150   703-719-5800

**NCSORB Email: [email protected] www.ncsorb.org 2025 Woodlane Dr. Woodbury, MN 55125  855-208-9349

ABO - American Board of Opticianry

NCLE - National Contact Lens Examiners

NCSORB - National Commission of State Opticianry Regulatory Boards

THE STATEMENT OF CITIZENSHIP AND DOCUMENTATION MUST BE SUBMITTED WITH EVERY APPLICATION FOR A DISPENSING OPTICIAN LICENSE.

License by Comity ** (Reciprocity)

  • letter from licensing board in current state verifying that your license is valid and in good standing
  • photocopy of license
  • picture of yourself taken within past six months
  • completed application and $100 License fee

 If you were not required to successfully complete the written exams and the practical exams as a prerequisite to becoming licensed in your present state, you may not be eligible to obtain a license by comity from Arizona. Also if you were not licensed to dispense contacts and/or have had no experience in contact lens dispensing, you would not be eligible to obtain a license by comity from Arizona. 

***If applying under A.R.S §32-1683.5.(c) must submit evidence of graduation from a school of optical dispensing that presently meets the standards required for approval by a nationally recognized body on opticianry accreditation as determined by the board. The applicant must also have served an apprenticeship in optical dispensing as prescribed in subdivision (b) for one of the six years immediately preceding the date of application.


$135.00 renewal fee and completed application due by December 31st each year.

Reinstatement
  • completed application and $235 fee

  •     Must be submitted within one year of expiration of the license. May be Required to take the Practical Examination (if not completed within the five-year period immediately preceding the license expiration).