Story · age 31 · Oregon

Carlos

Licensed journeyman electrician in Texas, moving with his wife and 2 kids to Portland for her job, figuring out what transfers

The situation

Carlos has been a licensed journeyman electrician in Texas since 2022. He apprenticed through a non-union program out of Houston, passed the Texas journeyman exam on the first try, and has been working commercial new construction ever since.

His wife Adriana works in healthcare administration. She accepted a director-level role at a hospital system in Portland. They have 2 kids in elementary school. The move is happening. Carlos is not changing trades. He is changing states.

What he is trying to find out

Three questions. Does Texas have a reciprocity agreement with Oregon for electrician licenses. If yes, what does the application process look like and how long does it take. If no, what does it take to qualify in Oregon from scratch.

He has 90 days. He does not want a 6-month gap between jobs.

What the public record says

Oregon licenses electricians through the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI), which administers the Electrical and Elevator Board. Texas licenses electricians through the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR).

Reciprocity between states is not universal. Some pairs of states have formal reciprocity agreements where a journeyman license in one is accepted in the other after an application and a fee. Other pairs require the out-of-state journeyman to qualify by experience review or by sitting the in-state exam.

BOLI publishes the current Oregon licensing requirements and any reciprocity arrangements on its electrical-licensing page. TDLR publishes the Texas-side reciprocity status on its electrician page. These pages are updated when agreements change. The single most reliable next step is to call the BOLI Electrical Licensing office directly to confirm what applies to a specific Texas license number.

What is typically required when reciprocity does not fully apply

Documentation of the original apprenticeship completion. Carlos has his certificate.

Documentation of OJT hours. The Texas TDLR record will show his hours. Most states honor verified OJT from a registered program in another state.

The current Texas license in good standing. He pulls his license verification from TDLR.

An application fee and, in some cases, the in-state exam. Exam fees and application fees in Oregon are published by BOLI.

Continuing-education compliance for the receiving state. Oregon CE is published in the state's electrical-board pages. Carlos may need to complete the current Oregon CE cycle as part of getting licensed there.

What he does on the site

Carlos opens the Licensing Navigator. Oregon is not yet in the v1 pilot, so he uses the licensing page format from a pilot state to understand what kind of information he is looking for, and the page links him directly to BOLI's electrical-licensing page.

He reads the Texas licensing page he already qualified under. He pulls his current TDLR license verification. He bookmarks the BOLI page and the Oregon Apprenticeship and Training Division page.

He calls BOLI Electrical Licensing the next morning with his license number ready. He has the conversation in 1 phone call instead of figuring it out in 6 emails.

What is on the table

BLS OES reported a national median annual wage of $62,350 for electricians in May 2024. Top 10% above $104,180. Oregon-specific wages trend higher in the Portland metro driven by data-center and semiconductor construction.

Reciprocity arrangements change. The agreement that exists today may have changed terms last year. The state agencies are the authoritative source. The site's role is to make their phone numbers and current pages reachable in 1 click and to lay out the documents Carlos needs to have ready before he calls.

Start your own path

Open the Licensing Navigator →See electrician trade details →

Sources cited in this story