First time license renewal but in different state

[PJishere]

I am from California and now live in Florida and will be here for the next 3-5 years. My CA license is up for renewal... is it worth renewing even though I most likely will not be practicing there any time soon? It would be my first renewal and therefore would be exempt for CE hours according to CA regulations. I would just have to pay $190 renewal fee.

If I dont renew... can anybody share what the re-activating process is like?

[adventure_rn, MSN, NP]

I haven't been licensed in CA, but I did have a similar situation with another state license.

You can check to see if there's a way to put your status to 'inactive' instead of 'expired,' which might make renewal/reinstatement easier when you do need it again.

That said, I put a license into 'inactive' status, and I still had to jump through many of the hoops of initial licensing (fingerprints, background check, etc.) even though mine was inactive for less than a year.

CA licenses are pretty expensive. If you're sure you aren't going to use it for several years, it may be worth it to let it lapse. That said, just know that reinstating it (with the fingerprints, etc.) can be a pain.

[klone, MSN, RN]

California is such a PITA to get licensed, I would recommend not letting it lapse.