Puerto Rico CPA Exam eligibility and application requirements

Check Puerto Rico exam eligibility first

This page uses only the current Puerto Rico rules for sitting for the Uniform CPA Examination and submitting the exam application. The NASBA page separately presents later certification and license education standards. Those later standards, experience, ethics, license issuance, and renewal remain outside this guide. Passing an exam-eligibility check here does not establish eligibility for a Puerto Rico CPA license.

Match your education to the exam threshold

For the exam-sitting threshold, NASBA currently lists at least 120 semester or equivalent credits of general college-level education from an accredited college or university. Within that total, the applicant needs 24 semester or equivalent credits in accounting subjects, with a grade of C or higher in every accounting course, and 24 semester or equivalent credits in general business, with an average grade of C or higher.

Use the block labeled To sit for the exam as the controlling education boundary for this page. The Puerto Rico NASBA page follows it with separate education language for obtaining a license. This guide does not merge those later totals into the sitting threshold and does not use public-accounting experience as a shortcut for exam eligibility. All exam education requirements must be complete when the candidate applies, and CPAES makes the decision from the official record.

Resolve residency, identity, and international education

Puerto Rico currently has a residency rule for initial and re-examination candidates. NASBA states that the applicant must be a resident of Puerto Rico or have a place of business in Puerto Rico. This is a real exam-application difference from DC and Guam and should be resolved before paying for the education evaluation.

The Puerto Rico page also says that an applicant who is not a U.S. citizen must submit statements of intention to become a U.S. citizen with the application. At the same time, NASBA currently lists no SSN requirement for the Puerto Rico CPA Exam application. These are separate questions, so the absence of an SSN requirement does not remove the residency or noncitizen-document rule.

International education credentials must be evaluated by NASBA International Evaluation Services. The report needs degree equivalency, credential analysis, a course-by-course listing, and credit analysis, and the original completed evaluation must reach CPAES directly from the evaluation service. The service must also include the international transcript with its report; a candidate photocopy is not an official substitute.

Collect every application material before submitting

Puerto Rico lists an official transcript from every school on the application. Transfer credits appearing on one transcript do not remove the need to submit a transcript from each institution. The registrar must issue the official record and send it directly to CPAES, and photocopies are not accepted. An accommodations request is added when applicable.

For international education, add the NIES evaluation and the underlying international transcript through the required direct-delivery process. NASBA notes that a file will not move forward while required transcripts are missing. Submit the forms as one planned package and distinguish the date you completed the portal form from the later file-completion date when CPAES has the application, fees, and every supporting item.

Use the two-stage CPA Portal application sequence

Start by creating and verifying the NASBA Okta account, then enroll as a New Candidate in the CPA Portal. The first substantive filing is the Eligibility Evaluation Application. CPAES reviews the education threshold, residency status, transcripts, and any international evaluation before deciding whether the candidate may apply for an exam section.

After an eligible result, use a separate Exam Section Application. NASBA allows one exam section on each application and one NTS for a particular section. The candidate can submit more than one section application, but each creates a separate time-limited scheduling obligation and payment decision.

Apply only for the section you are ready to take. NASBA advises section applicants to be ready within the next six months because the NTS is valid for a limited period and unused fees can be lost. The official eligibility decision answers whether the application may advance; a current practice test can help decide which section should advance now.

Read current exam fees and timing together

As reviewed on August 15, 2026, the Puerto Rico NASBA page lists a $96 education evaluation application fee. After eligibility, it lists a $268.59 exam section fee and a separate $146 exam application fee. These are exam-application values from the current jurisdiction page, not license fees and not a permanent price guarantee.

NASBA says to allow two to four weeks from file completion for Puerto Rico application processing. File completion occurs when the application, fees, and all required materials have arrived. The page also cautions that document receipt cannot be confirmed until after the application is submitted and a file exists, which makes coordinated delivery and follow-up more useful than submitting isolated items without a file.

Reopen the official Puerto Rico page before paying or mailing records. This guide does not calculate later certification, license, education, evaluation, travel, retake, or rescheduling costs. Its job is to keep the exam-sitting threshold, residency evidence, document delivery, current fees, and separate section application in one source-reviewed sequence.