How to apply

1. Create an account with your name, email and a password. Then complete and submit the Registration Application (Registration).
2. Pay the registration fee: $155 as a general applicant (foreign law graduate) or $310 as an attorney applicant (admitted abroad) (Appendix A).
3. Submit all required documents and fees within 60 days. Otherwise the registration is deemed abandoned, with no refund (Rule 4.16(B)).
4. Social Security Number. The law requires an SSN or an exemption request from applicants who are not eligible for one. You make the exemption request during the online registration (Registration).

Documents by route:

• Admitted abroad (Route A). Mail an original Certificate of Good Standing (CGS) from the highest bar-admissions authority in your jurisdiction, issued within six months. It must show your license number, admission date, good-standing status and disciplinary history, with an ink signature or seal. If it is not in English, add a certified English translation and the original-language document. Address: State Bar of California, Office of Admissions, 845 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017. Processing takes 7 to 10 business days (Proof of Admission and Good Standing). No transcripts or credential evaluation are needed (Foreign Admitted Attorneys).
• Foreign law degree (Route B). Provide the course-by-course evaluation and the Foreign Law Study Evaluation Summary form from a State Bar-approved agency (approved services). Register as a law student within 90 days of starting your LL.M. After graduation your school mails sealed official transcripts; electronic transcripts are not accepted (When are transcripts required).

All foreign-language documents need a certified English translation plus the original (Registration).

A positive moral character determination is one of the conditions for admission after you pass (Successful Applicants Bulletin). The State Bar recommends filing 8 to 10 months before the date you want to be admitted. Processing takes a minimum of 180 days from the date the application is complete, and a minimum of one year if an informal conference is needed (Application Process). A February 2027 candidate who hopes to be admitted soon after the May 2027 results should file in autumn 2026.

• Fee: $900 general applicant / $1,054 attorney applicant; card payments add 2.5 percent (Appendix A).
• What to prepare (Application Instructions PDF):
  • every address for the last eight years;
  • all law-related employment since age 18;
  • five personal references, at least one a lawyer;
  • a certified driving record from each jurisdiction other than California where you held a driver's license in the last 10 years, issued within six months and showing at least five years of history (or the longest period the jurisdiction provides);
  • litigation, criminal and financial disclosures, and prior bar applications anywhere;
  • a CGS from every jurisdiction where you are licensed;
  • certified English translations of everything not in English.
• Fingerprints within 60 days, or the application may be abandoned without refund. In California you use Live Scan. Outside California, including abroad, you submit two FBI FD-258 fingerprint cards. A law enforcement agency or a DOJ/FBI-certified technician must take them, and you mail them to the Los Angeles office. Out-of-state Live Scan is not allowed. Blank cards are available through a General Request in the Portal or by calling 800-843-9053 (Fingerprint Instructions PDF).
• Validity: a positive determination is valid for 36 months (Rule 4.51, amended June 23, 2025), with a currency questionnaire at 18 months (Moral Character hub). Withdrawing within 30 days returns 60 percent of the fee; after that, nothing.

Every applicant must pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) with a California scaled score of at least 86. There is no time limit on when the score was earned (State Bar MPRE). You must be registered with the State Bar for the score to be added to your file. Designate California when you register for the MPRE, and enter your NCBE number in the Applicant Portal so the score reaches your file.

Upcoming dates: November 12–13, 2026 (register by September 17, 2026); March 23–24, 2027 (January 21, 2027); August 18–19, 2027 (June 17, 2027); November 4–5, 2027 (September 21, 2027). Fee $185 (NCBE MPRE registration).

The Bar Exam Application opens in the Portal on October 1 for a February exam and March 1 for a July exam (Rule 4.61). For February 2027 the dates are (Dates and Deadlines; Appendix A):

• applications open October 1, 2026;
• timely deadline November 2, 2026;
• $50 late fee from November 3 to 30, 2026;
• $250 late fee from December 1, 2026 to the final deadline, January 4, 2027.

In the application:

• Fee: $878 general / $1,650 attorney applicant.
• Laptop or handwriting. Elect the laptop option and pay $153 if you will type the essays and PT. Changing from handwriting to laptop later costs $60.
• Certificate of Good Standing. Attorney applicants upload a fresh CGS if the one on file is older than six months (Proof of Admission and Good Standing).
• Testing accommodations. File through the Portal with the Qualified Professional Certification Form by January 1 for February or June 1 for July. A deadline on a holiday moves to the next business day, so January 4, 2027 for the February 2027 exam. The State Bar recommends six months' lead time (Testing Accommodations).

The essays and PT are typed in ExamSoft Examplify on your own laptop; no internet connection is needed during the exam. The MBE is answered on a Scantron sheet, and a laptop is not permitted in that session (Admittance Ticket Bulletin).

• Hardware: a Windows or Mac laptop with a screen of at most 17.3 inches. No desktops, no iPads or tablets with detachable keyboards, no backup laptops. The State Bar recommends a laptop that exceeds the minimum memory and storage requirements (Laptops for Bar Exam).
• Mandatory mock exam. ExamSoft emails download instructions. You must complete a mock exam (up to five attempts), upload the mock file and receive email confirmation by the published deadline. Missing the mock means mandatory handwriting (Laptops for Bar Exam).
• On the day: bring the power cord (outlets are provided), a fully charged battery and blue or black ballpoint pens. If the laptop is not ready at the start time, "for whatever reason, you must begin the exam by handwriting" (Admittance Ticket Bulletin).
• Upload after the exam. Answer files are due by noon Pacific the day after the exam (July 30 for July 2026). A late upload costs ten scaled points; a file not uploaded within two weeks scores zero (Laptops for Bar Exam; Admittance Ticket Bulletin).

About four weeks before the exam the Admittance Ticket appears in the Portal (June 30 for July 2026). Print it; it must be free of any additional writing. At the door you need the ticket plus a valid government-issued photo ID in physical form. A passport is accepted; a digital ID is not (Admittance Ticket Bulletin).

You may test only at the center printed on your ticket. February 2027 sites are not yet posted. The July 2026 standard sites were (July 2026 exam page):

• Los Angeles area: Pasadena Convention Center, USC Galen Center;
• Inland Empire: Ontario Convention Center;
• Bay Area: Oakland Convention Center;
• Sacramento area: @the Grounds, Roseville;
• San Diego area: Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center;
• separate venues (hotels and the State Bar's Los Angeles office) for applicants with approved accommodations.

Bags other than a one-gallon clear bag are prohibited, as are hats or hoods other than religious apparel. A violation triggers a Chapter 6 Notice and can zero the session (Admittance Ticket Bulletin).

The exam is in person in California only; there is no remote or overseas sitting (July 2026 exam page). We found no official State Bar procedure for visa-support letters. The State Bar does offer a $17 Letter of Verification of registration, fees paid or admission. You request it through a General Request in the Portal (Appendix A PDF).

The State Bar gives no visa guidance. Confirm the right visa or travel authorization for your trip with the U.S. embassy or consulate in your country. If you are in the United States on a student visa, check with your school's international office before you plan the exam. You do not need to return to California after passing, because the oath can be taken abroad (Enrollment FAQ).

Results appear in the Portal at 4:00 p.m. Pacific on a Friday, with the public pass list the next business day. That is about 9.5 weeks after a February exam and 14 weeks after July; July 2026 results come November 6, 2026 (California Bar Examination; Board action, July 16, 2026). Repeaters can usually register for the next exam on results day (July 2025 Unsuccessful Bulletin).

If you pass (Successful Applicants Bulletin; Attorney's Oath):

1. Check the Status screen in the Portal. To be certified you must have passed, hold an active positive moral character determination, have a passing MPRE score on file, and have no open administrative issues.
2. The Committee of Bar Examiners obtains a Supreme Court admission order. You then receive a DocuSign registration form and oath card.
3. Take the attorney's oath before an authorized official. In California that includes judges, court clerks and notaries. Outside the United States it can be a U.S. consul or a foreign judge of a court of record with a seal (Code Civ. Proc. § 2014); the court clerk must certify the judge's signature (§ 2015). The State Bar no longer hosts ceremonies.
4. Your bar number is assigned after the oath and registration card are received. The first annual license fee is prorated: $598 for 2026, $299 for an oath on or after June 1, and none for an oath on or after December 1 (Step 4; Appendix A PDF).
5. Everything, including the oath, must be completed within five years of the exam you passed (Rule 4.17(A), Title 4 rules PDF).