§ 6501. Admission to a profession (licensing). 1. Admission to
practice of a profession in this state is accomplished by a license
being issued to a qualified applicant by the education department. To
qualify for a license an applicant shall meet the requirements
prescribed in the article for the particular profession and shall meet
the requirements prescribed in section 3-503 of the general obligations
law.

2. a. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any
applicant seeking to qualify for a license pursuant to this title who is
the spouse of an active duty member of the armed forces of the United
States, national guard or reserves as defined in 10 U.S.C. sections 1209
and 1211, and such spouse is transferred by the military to this state
shall be afforded an expedited review of his or her application for
licensure. Such application shall be on a form prescribed by the
department and shall include an attestation by the applicant of the
military status of his or her spouse and any other such supporting
documentation that the department may require. Upon review of such
application, the department shall issue a license to the applicant if
the applicant holds a license in good standing in another state and in
the opinion of the department, the requirements for licensure of such
other state are substantially equivalent to the requirements for
licensure in this state.

b. In addition to the expedited review granted in paragraph a of this
subdivision, an applicant who provides satisfactory documentation that
he or she holds a license in good standing from another state, may
request the issuance of a temporary practice permit, which, if granted
will permit the applicant to work under the supervision of a New York
state licensee in accordance with regulations of the commissioner. The
department may grant such temporary practice permit when it appears
based on the application and supporting documentation received that the
applicant will meet the requirements for licensure in this state because
he or she holds a license in good standing from another state with
significantly comparable licensure requirements to those of this state,
except the department has not been able to secure direct source
verification of the applicant's underlying credentials (e.g., receipt of
original transcript, experience verification). Such permit shall be
valid for six months or until ten days after notification that the
applicant does not meet the qualifications for licensure. An additional
six months may be granted upon a determination by the department that
the applicant is expected to qualify for the full license upon receipt
of the remaining direct source verification documents requested by the
department in such time period and that the delay in providing the
necessary documentation for full licensure was due to extenuating
circumstances which the military spouse could not avoid.

c. A temporary practice permit issued under paragraph b of this
subdivision shall be subject to the full disciplinary and regulatory
authority of the board of regents and the department, pursuant to this
title, as if such authorization were a professional license issued under
this article.

d. The department shall reduce the initial licensure application fee
by one-half for any application submitted by a military spouse under
this subdivision.