California Bar Exam for foreign lawyers: eligibility, fees and timeline for the 2027 sittings

Short answer. If you are fully admitted to practice law in any country, you can take the California Bar Exam without a U.S. law degree (Foreign Education page). You register as an attorney applicant, mail an original Certificate of Good Standing, and take the two-day General Bar Exam, not the one-day Attorneys' Exam (Rule 4.3(C), Title 4; February 2026 statistics, footnote; Foreign Admitted Attorneys, State Bar knowledge base). If you hold a foreign law degree but are not admitted anywhere, you need a credential evaluation plus one year of U.S. legal education, usually a 20-unit LL.M., under Rule 4.30(A) (Guidelines PDF). The next sitting is February 23–24, 2027. Applications open October 1, 2026 and the timely deadline is November 2, 2026 (Dates and Deadlines).

Applies to: the February 2027, July 2027 and February 2028 sittings of the current two-day exam. Fees are the 2026 schedule (Appendix A), the schedule in force when February 2027 applications open on October 1, 2026; the State Bar has not published a 2027 schedule, so check the fee again before you pay for a later filing. Every date, fee and rule below was checked on September 24, 2026 against the official State Bar, Supreme Court or NCBE source linked beside it. July 2027 dates are projections until the State Bar posts them.

Who can take the California Bar Exam with a foreign law degree?

Rule 4.30 of the Rules of the State Bar (Title 4, Division 1) covers legal education "in a foreign state or country". It was adopted effective September 1, 2008 and has not been amended since (Title 4 PDF). The State Bar's Foreign Education page sorts applicants into three situations (Foreign Education page). We call them Route A, Route B and Route C.

Route A: you are fully admitted to practice in another country

The rule is one sentence: "If you have been fully admitted to the practice of law in any U.S. or foreign jurisdiction, you are qualified to take the California Bar Examination without additional legal education" (Foreign Education page). A lawyer admitted in China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan or India qualifies. No LL.M., no credential evaluation and no transcripts are required (Foreign Admitted Attorneys, State Bar knowledge base; When are transcripts required).

"Fully admitted" means admitted without restriction. The State Bar's knowledge base describes it as being "fully admitted to the practice of law (without any restrictions) in a country outside of the U.S." (Foreign Admitted Attorneys). If your license is provisional, limited or still in a training stage, email [email protected] before you pay any fee (Foreign Education page). If you hold a PRC practising certificate, our Chinese lawyer's guide covers the documents and translations for Chinese records.

Under Rule 4.3(B), anyone "who is or has been admitted as an attorney to the practice of law in any jurisdiction" is an attorney applicant (Title 4 PDF). This label matters. It puts you in the higher fee tier: $310 for registration, $1,054 for the moral character determination and $1,650 for the exam, even though you take the same two-day exam as a law graduate (Appendix A).

Route B: you hold a foreign first degree in law but are not admitted anywhere (Rule 4.30(A))

Rule 4.30(A) lets you qualify as a general applicant if you (1) hold a first degree in law that the Committee of Bar Examiners accepts and (2) have "completed a year of legal education at an American Bar Association Approved Law School or a California accredited law school in areas of law prescribed by the Committee" (Title 4 PDF). The Committee's Guidelines, approved June 21, 2024 with an effective date of March 1, 2024, define both parts (Guidelines PDF). In practice this is the LL.M. route. The details are in Step 2 below, and our LL.M. to California Bar guide covers this route in full.

The First-Year Law Students' Examination (the "Baby Bar", or FYLSX) is not required on this route. Rule 4.30(A) has no FYLSX condition, and Rule 4.55(A)(2) exempts an applicant who "is exempt by reason of study in a foreign law school as provided by these rules" (Title 4 PDF).

Route C: foreign law study without a first degree in law (Rule 4.30(B))

If you studied law abroad but did not finish a first degree in law, Rule 4.30(B) applies. You must show the equivalent of two years of undergraduate study, pass the FYLSX or establish an exemption after a year in a JD program, and then complete a JD at an ABA-approved or California-accredited school or four years at a State Bar-registered school. Up to one year of credit may be given for the foreign study (Foreign Education page; Title 4 PDF). The FYLSX has 100 multiple-choice questions on contracts, criminal law and torts; the next administration is October 27, 2026 and the fee is $925 (FYLSX page; Dates and Deadlines; Appendix A). This route takes years. Most readers of this guide are on Route A or Route B.

Which route are you?

Sources: Foreign Education page; Title 4 PDF; Appendix A. A decision flow with the same three routes is on our foreign-lawyer eligibility page.

Which exam do foreign attorneys take? The two-day General Bar Exam

California has two versions of the bar exam. The General Bar Exam (GBX) is two days. The Attorneys' Examination is one day and covers only the written portion. Rule 4.3(C) limits the Attorneys' Exam to applicants "admitted to the active practice of law in a United States jurisdiction at least four years immediately prior to the first day of administration of the examination" who have been in good standing during that period (Title 4 PDF). Four years of practice in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai or Mumbai does not count. The State Bar's statistics reports state the point: "Attorneys admitted in foreign jurisdictions must take the General Bar Exam" (July 2025 statistics PDF). Only a foreign lawyer who is also licensed in a U.S. state, such as New York, for four or more years can choose the one-day exam (Attorney Applicants page).

This is what the General Bar Exam looks like for the February 2027, July 2027 and February 2028 sittings:

One caution on Day 2. No State Bar page has yet named the multiple-choice test for February 2027. The MBE has been used since July 2025, NCBE keeps the MBE available through February 2028, and the Committee of Bar Examiners says the MBE "will be phased out as a standalone option after the February 2028 administration", so the MBE is the working assumption for all three sittings (2025 February bar exam notices; CBE news, April 17, 2026).

California accepts no transferred MBE or UBE scores and has no admission on motion, so a New York bar pass does not shorten the path (Attorney Applicants page). The format is summarized on our exam overview and the 13 subjects are listed on subjects.

Step 1: register in the Applicant Portal

Everything is filed through the State Bar's Applicant Portal (Registration page). Rule 4.16(B) says the Application for Registration "must be approved, before any other application is submitted", and that registration "is deemed abandoned if all required documentation and fees have not been received within sixty days of submittal", with no refund (Title 4 PDF).

• Route A: register as an attorney applicant. Fee $310 (Appendix A).
• Route B: register as a law student (a general applicant) within 90 days of starting your U.S. study. Fee $155 (Registration page; Appendix A).

The form asks for a Social Security Number. Rule 4.16(B) says an applicant must either provide one or "request an exemption because of ineligibility for a Social Security Number". You request the exemption during the online registration. The Registration page adds: "Applicants are not required to have a U.S. Social Security number to be admitted to practice law in California" (Title 4 PDF; Registration page).

Every foreign-language document needs "an English translation by a certified translator; the original foreign-language documents must also be submitted" (Registration page).

The Certificate of Good Standing (Route A)

The one document that proves Route A eligibility is an original Certificate of Good Standing (CGS). The State Bar's rules for it (Proof of Admission and Good Standing page; Foreign Admitted Attorneys):

• Issued by "the entity that has the highest regulating bar admissions authority for that jurisdiction".
• Shows your license number, admission date (month, day and year), current good-standing status and disciplinary history.
• Carries an original ink signature or an official stamp or seal.
• Dated within six months of the application you submit it with. One certificate inside that window can serve the registration, the moral character application and the exam application.
• If not in English, a certified English translation plus the original-language document.
• Mailed as an original to: State Bar of California, ATTN: Office of Admissions, 845 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017. Processing takes 7 to 10 business days after receipt.

Request the certificate from your bar association first. Certified translation and international courier time add weeks, and the six-month clock starts on the certificate's issue date. If the certificate on file is older than six months when you file the exam application, you upload a fresh one (Proof of Admission and Good Standing page).

Step 2: credential evaluation and the 20-unit LL.M. (Route B)

The credential evaluation

Guideline 1 requires a certificate from a State Bar-approved credential evaluation service stating either that your first degree in law "is substantially equivalent to a Juris Doctor degree (JD)" from an ABA-approved or CBE-accredited law school, or that it "meets the educational requirements for admission to practice law in the foreign state or country in which it was obtained" (Guidelines PDF). An affirmation from LSAC's Credential Assembly Service International Credential Evaluation for LL.M. applicants is also accepted (Guidelines PDF).

The State Bar's approved list (revised August 2025) names 11 agencies, all members of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES): CAREE, Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE), Educational Perspectives, ERES, Foundation for International Services, Institute of Foreign Credential Services, International Consultants of Delaware, IERF, Josef Silny & Associates, The Evaluation Company and World Education Services (WES) (Approved services PDF). You need a detailed course-by-course report plus the Foreign Law Study Evaluation Summary form, which the agency completes and submits with the report (Foreign Law Study Evaluation Summary form; Foreign Education page). The State Bar says these evaluations "are considered advisory in nature and are not determinative" (Approved services PDF).

The State Bar publishes no price for the agency's report; each agency sets its own fee. The slow part is usually not the agency. It is collecting certified transcripts and degree certificates from your home university and getting them translated. Start this before you apply to LL.M. programs.

The one year of U.S. legal education

Guideline 2 gives two ways to satisfy the "year of legal education" (Guidelines PDF):

Two practical notes. First, the pre-2021 requirement that the professional responsibility course include California-specific rules was removed in June 2021, so a standard ABA Model Rules course counts (Guidelines PDF). Second, even where the 12 bar-subject units are only "suggested", take them. The exam will test those subjects, and an LL.M. spent on international arbitration leaves you learning Evidence and Civil Procedure alone in the months before the exam. The 13 tested subjects are on our subjects page.

After you graduate, your law school mails sealed official transcripts to the Office of Admissions and certifies that you met the Guidelines. "Electronic transcripts are not accepted under any circumstance" (When are transcripts required). If you are unsure whether your planned courses qualify, the State Bar offers an optional Legal Education Evaluation for $106 through the Portal; it "generally takes three to four weeks" (Legal Education Evaluation page; Appendix A).

Step 3: the moral character determination

Every applicant needs a positive moral character determination before admission. It is a separate application from the exam and it is the slowest step (Moral Character hub).

What you will need to prepare, per the State Bar's instructions (Application Instructions PDF; Moral Character hub):

• Every residence address for the last eight years, including student housing.
• All law-related employment since age 18 and all other jobs lasting more than six months, with a reference for each.
• Five personal references, at least one of them a licensed attorney; no relatives.
• For each driver's license held outside California in the last 10 years, a certified driving record issued within six months showing at least five years of history (or the longest period the jurisdiction provides), with a certified English translation if needed.
• Disclosure of litigation, criminal matters (including minor infractions), financial problems and prior bar applications anywhere.
• A Certificate of Good Standing from every jurisdiction where you are licensed. A CGS filed within the last six months for registration or the exam does not need to be filed again.
• Certified English translations of every foreign-language document.

The Committee weighs "honesty, fairness, candor, trustworthiness, observance of fiduciary responsibility, respect for and obedience to the law, and respect for the rights of others and the judicial process" (Moral Character Guidelines). Disclose everything; a lack of candor can itself count against you.

Fingerprints from outside California

Fingerprints must be submitted within 60 days of submitting the moral character application, or the application may be deemed abandoned and ineligible for a refund (Fingerprint Instructions PDF). Inside California you use Live Scan. If you are not physically in California, "you must submit fingerprints on two FBI FD-258 fingerprint cards", and out-of-state Live Scan is not permitted. The cards must be taken by a law enforcement agency or DOJ- and FBI-certified technicians, and mailed as originals to the Los Angeles Office of Admissions. You can request blank cards through a General Request in the Portal or by calling 800-843-9053 (Fingerprint Instructions PDF).

Step 4: the MPRE

Rule 4.59 says every applicant "must take and pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE)" (Title 4 PDF). California requires a scaled score of 86 or higher, with no time limit on when the score was earned (State Bar MPRE page). The fee is $185 for all 2026 and 2027 administrations, paid to NCBE (State Bar MPRE page; NCBE MPRE registration).

Source: State Bar MPRE page; NCBE MPRE registration.

Two things foreign candidates often miss. First, the MPRE does not have to be passed before the bar exam. Rule 4.59 only requires that the Committee "receive official notice of an MPRE passing score before an applicant is deemed to have passed", and a passing MPRE score must be on file before you are certified for admission (Title 4 PDF; Successful Applicants Bulletin). A February 2027 candidate can therefore take the March 2027 MPRE without delaying anything. Second, the score reaches California only if you register with the State Bar first, designate California when you register for the MPRE, and add your NCBE number in the Applicant Portal; allow two to three business days after requesting the score from NCBE (State Bar MPRE page). Professional Responsibility is also one of the 13 essay subjects, so MPRE study is not wasted time (Scope page).

Step 5: the exam application, fees and deadlines

Rule 4.61(A) sets the calendar: applications open March 1 for the July exam and October 1 for the February exam; the timely deadline is April 1 or November 1; late applications are accepted with fees until June 1 or January 1; and "If a deadline falls on a non-business day, the deadline will be the next business day" (Title 4 PDF).

February 2027 (posted)

July 2027 (projected, not yet posted)

Check the Dates and Deadlines page before you rely on any July 2027 date. Our dates and deadlines post tracks both sittings, and our How to apply page walks through each Portal screen.

What the whole path costs (2026 schedule)

Not included: the credential evaluation agency's fee (Route B), certified translations, courier costs, the optional $106 Legal Education Evaluation, the $50 or $250 late fee, a $60 charge for a late change from handwriting to laptop, a 2.5% card-processing fee (ACH is free), travel and accommodation in California (Appendix A). The Board of Trustees raised these fees on November 20–21, 2025 (Board news, November 2025). Prep sites that still quote $850 or $1,500 for the exam, or $725 or $850 for moral character, are out of date; the current amounts are the ones in Appendix A. Every charge, with when it is due, is in our fees post.

Step 6: exam day for international candidates

In person only. The exam is "administered entirely in person at designated testing sites in California". There is no remote option and no site outside California (July 2026 exam page). The July 2026 standard sites were the Ontario Convention Center, Pasadena Convention Center, USC Galen Center, Oakland Convention Center, @the Grounds in Roseville and the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center; February 2027 sites have not been posted (July 2026 exam page).

Identification. You need "a valid government-issued photo identification" in physical form; "digital identification cards are not permitted". A passport is the standard ID for a candidate with no U.S. license. You also bring the printed Admittance Ticket, released in the Portal about four weeks before the exam (June 30 for July 2026) (Admittance Ticket Bulletin).

Laptop. You type the essays and the Performance Test in ExamSoft's Examplify on your own Windows or Mac laptop (maximum 17.3-inch screen; no desktops, iPads or tablets with detachable keyboards). You must complete a mandatory mock exam by the published deadline (July 24 for the July 2026 exam); if you do not, you handwrite. Answer files must be uploaded by noon Pacific time the day after the exam, or ten scaled points are deducted. The MBE is answered on paper, not on the laptop (Laptops page; Admittance Ticket Bulletin).

Visa. We found no visa-support letter procedure on calbar.ca.gov. The closest official document is a $17 Letter of Verification (of registration, fees paid or admission), requested through a General Request in the Portal (Appendix A PDF). In practice, candidates often show the exam application receipt and the Admittance Ticket as evidence of the purpose of the trip, but this is common practice, not State Bar guidance. Check which visa you need with the U.S. consulate in your country well before the exam.

Results. July results come about 14 weeks after the exam and February results about 9.5 weeks after. July 2026 results are due November 6, 2026; February 2026 results came on May 1, 2026. Since a Board action on July 16, 2026, results are released at 4:00 p.m. Pacific on a Friday, with the public pass list the next business day (California Bar Examination page; Board news, July 16, 2026; February 2026 results release).

Step 7: after you pass

To be certified for admission you must have passed the exam, hold an active positive moral character determination, have a passing MPRE score on file, be in compliance with any court-ordered child or family support obligations, and have no open administrative issues (Successful Applicants Bulletin). The Committee then obtains an admission order from the Supreme Court, and you receive a DocuSign oath card. You may not take the oath until your name is on the order, and you may not practice until you take the oath and return the card (Successful Applicants Bulletin).

You do not need to return to California. The State Bar no longer hosts admission ceremonies. The oath can be taken before an authorized official in California or elsewhere in the United States, or outside the country before "U.S. ambassadors or consuls, vice-consuls or consular agents, [or] foreign judges with court seals", with the signature certified under Code of Civil Procedure section 2014 (Attorney's Oath page; Enrollment FAQ). The date you sign is your admission date. The standard wall certificate is free; a custom one costs $92 (Successful Applicants Bulletin).

One deadline governs all of this. Under Rule 4.17(A), every requirement must be met and the oath taken "no later than five years from the last day of administration of the California Bar Examination the applicant passes"; otherwise you retake the exam (Title 4 PDF).

Timeline: what to do, month by month

This timeline assumes you are reading it in late September 2026 and are on Route A. A Route B candidate follows the same exam and moral character steps once the LL.M. transcripts are on file.

If you cannot file by January 4, 2027, shift every row forward one sitting: the July 2027 application should open March 1, 2027 and close June 1, 2027, the exam is expected July 27–28, 2027, and an MPRE on August 18 or 19, 2027 or on November 4 or 5, 2027 fits that schedule (Rule 4.61, Title 4; NCBE MPRE registration).

Pass rates for foreign-trained candidates

The State Bar publishes pass rates by applicant type after every exam. Foreign-trained candidates are a large group and pass at low rates. Our pass-rates post has every official rate from July 2022 to February 2026.

Foreign-trained candidates were 19.8% of all General Bar Exam takers in July 2025 and 33.0% in February 2026 (July 2025 statistics; February 2026 statistics). The State Bar does not publish nationality, but in February 2026, 240 of the 425 first-time foreign attorneys (56%) identified as Asian (February 2026 statistics, Table 6).

Three lessons follow from the numbers. First, eligibility is the smaller hurdle; the exam is the larger one, and a first attempt fails about three times out of four. Plan for two attempts and file the first one early enough that a second legacy sitting remains. Second, the gap between foreign lawyers and California ABA graduates is not about knowing the law. It is about reading 200 MBE questions in six hours, writing five essays in IRAC form in English under time pressure, and knowing the six essay-only subjects, two of which (Community Property and Wills) are pure California law that no foreign curriculum covers. Third, repeaters do worse than first-timers in most sittings, so the first attempt should be the well-prepared one. AntCABar's course is built for this group, with plain-English chapters for all 13 subjects, MBE drills and essay templates; see pricing.

The 2028 change: why 2027 matters for foreign lawyers

On July 15, 2026 the California Supreme Court ordered the NextGen UBE to replace the current exam "beginning with the July 2028 administration" (Order S296951). The State Bar's notice of the same day says there will be no California component in July 2028 or February 2029 (State Bar notice, July 15, 2026). Anyone who has not passed by February 2028 will take the NextGen UBE from July 2028 (Order S296951). The State Bar adds that U.S. attorneys who have not passed the Attorneys' Exam before July 2028 "will likely be required to take the NextGen UBE and meet the passing score established by California" (State Bar notice, July 15, 2026). February 2028 is therefore the last sitting of the current exam.

Nothing published so far changes the eligibility rules in Rule 4.30 for foreign lawyers, and the NextGen exam will still be in person in California. What changes is the content: the essay-only California subjects leave the exam after February 2028, the question style changes, and the score scale changes. If you start preparing now, aim to pass in February 2027, July 2027 or February 2028 so that one preparation covers the whole attempt. Our post on the 2027, 2028 and 2029 changes has the full timeline and a decision guide by sitting.

If you do not want to take the exam: Foreign Legal Consultant

A foreign lawyer who has held an active license and been in good standing "in a foreign country for at least four of the last six years" may register as a Foreign Legal Consultant under California Rules of Court, rule 9.44, after a positive moral character determination and proof of security for client claims. A Foreign Legal Consultant may advise only on the law of the home jurisdiction and "cannot practice California law" (Foreign Legal Consultants page; Rule 9.44). The Registered In-House Counsel program under rule 9.46 is open only to lawyers licensed in another U.S. jurisdiction, so it does not help a lawyer licensed only abroad (Rule 9.46). For full practice rights in California, the General Bar Exam is the only route.