How to verify a professional license: the official lookups for lawyers, doctors, nurses, CPAs and more

Quick answer

To verify a professional license, go to the regulator's own lookup, not the person's website: your state bar for lawyers, the state medical board or FSMB DocInfo for doctors, Nursys for nurses, CPAverify for accountants, your state real estate commission or ARELLO for agents, and NIPR for insurance agents. In the UK use the GMC, NMC, HCPC, GDC, SRA or Bar Standards Board registers. Check the name, license number, status, expiry and any disciplinary actions, and treat "not found" as a reason to ask questions.

Key numbers

• 7,600+fake nursing diplomas sold by two Florida schools in the Operation Nightingale scheme; 27 defendants were charged and convicted in 2023US Department of Justice, December 2023
• 350,832doctors whose registration status you can check on the GMC's medical registerGeneral Medical Council
• 55US Boards of Accountancy whose official data feeds CPAverify, the free public CPA lookupCPAverify (NASBA)
• 15health and care professions with legally protected titles on the HCPC register in the UKHealth and Care Professions Council

Someone says they're a lawyer, a doctor, a therapist, a CPA, a nurse, a real estate agent. You're about to trust them with your case, your health, your taxes or your house. The question is simple: are they actually licensed to do this, right now, where you are?

It matters more than most people think. One Florida scheme sold more than 7,600 fake nursing diplomas that let buyers sit the national board exam and seek nursing jobs, and 27 defendants were charged and convicted in 2023. Every regulated profession has a free official register. This guide shows you how to verify a professional license with the exact lookup for each one in the US, UK and EU, and how to read what you find.

How do I verify a professional license?

You verify a professional license by going to the regulator's own lookup, never a link or badge on the person's website, and matching the name, license number, status and discipline history to the person in front of you. The routine is the same for every profession:

1. Ask for their full legal name, license or registration number, and the state or country that issued it. Professionals are used to this question. Hesitation is information.
2. Find the official regulator. In the US that's usually a state board or commission; in the UK a statutory regulator such as the GMC or SRA; in the EU the national chamber, order or register. The directory at the end has the links.
3. Search by number first, then by name. Numbers avoid namesake confusion.
4. Read the record: status (active, inactive, suspended, revoked), expiry date, the type or class of license, and any disciplinary or enforcement actions.
5. Match the person: same name spelling, same city or firm, and ideally a photo or bio on their firm's official site.
6. Check the second credential if they claim one: board certification, a specialist register, a firm license.

How do I check if a lawyer is licensed?

Search the attorney directory of the state bar, or the court system, in the state where the lawyer says they're admitted. Each US state keeps its own list, and there is no national lawyer register. Examples you can use right now:

• California: the State Bar of California attorney search shows each licensee's profile, including license status and disciplinary actions.
• Florida: The Florida Bar's Find a Lawyer directory lets you filter to eligible lawyers only and search by name, city, county or firm.
• New York and Texas: New York's attorney registration search is run by the state's Unified Court System, and Texas's Find a Lawyer by the State Bar of Texas. Search "[state] attorney search" and make sure you land on a .gov or state bar domain.

What to check: the status is active (not suspended, resigned or disbarred), the admission date fits the experience they claim, and the discipline section is empty or explained.

UK: the SRA Solicitors Register confirms whether somebody is a solicitor and where they work, whether a firm is regulated, and lists firms the SRA has closed down and people it has prohibited from practicing as a solicitor. For barristers, the Bar Standards Board's Barristers' Register shows everyone authorized to practice, with a separate search for past disciplinary findings.

How do I verify a doctor's, nurse's or therapist's license?

Use the state licensing board for that profession, or one of the national services that pull all the state boards together. Health licenses are state-issued in the US, so a doctor licensed in Nevada isn't automatically licensed in Arizona, though many nurses hold a multistate license through the Nurse Licensure Compact.

Doctors

Each state medical board runs a free lookup. The Medical Board of California, for example, publishes a profile for every physician it licenses, including administrative actions and enforcement documents, searchable by name, license number, city or county. To search every state at once, use DocInfo, the free service from the Federation of State Medical Boards: it shows where a physician is licensed, whether any state board has disciplined them, their medical school and their specialty certification, and links to the board's records if they've been sanctioned (FSMB).

Nurses

Nursys QuickConfirm, run by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, is a free service that returns licensure and any public discipline documentation for nurses in participating states, including every Nurse Licensure Compact state. If a state doesn't participate, use its board of nursing directly.

Therapists, psychologists and counselors

Psychologists, clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists and professional counselors are each licensed by a separate state board. Search "[state] psychology board license lookup" or "[state] behavioral health board verify" and check the license type matches the title they use. "Life coach", and "therapist" with no license type attached, are not regulated titles in most states.

UK: the GMC medical register lets you check the registration status of all 350,832 doctors in the UK by name or GMC number, and the same search covers physician associates and anaesthesia associates. The NMC register shows who can practice as a nurse or midwife in the UK, with a "caution" entry for anyone with restrictions on their practice and a "negative" entry for anyone suspended or removed since 2008. The HCPC register covers 15 professions with protected titles, including paramedics, physiotherapists, psychologists, occupational therapists and dietitians; you need the profession plus a surname or registration number. For dentists and dental care professionals, search the GDC registers, which are updated daily.

How do I verify a CPA, real estate agent or insurance agent?

Each of these has a national lookup in the US built from state regulators' data, plus the state body itself.

• CPAs: CPAverify is free and open to the public, built from official data sent by the 55 Boards of Accountancy. It shows a CPA's or firm's credentials and "markers of enforcement, non-compliance or disciplinary action". Confirm on the state board's own site for the detail.
• Real estate agents and brokers: your state real estate commission's license search is the primary source. ARELLO's license verification searches real estate licensees across North America in one place.
• Insurance agents: the NIPR lookup finds a producer's National Producer Number and their state licenses. Your state insurance department has the full record.
• Contractors: state licensing boards, covered in our guide on how to check a contractor before hiring.
• Financial advisers: FINRA BrokerCheck and the SEC's IAPD, covered in how to check if a financial advisor is legit.
• Notaries: verify a commission on the Secretary of State's website.

UK: ICAEW's directory covers ICAEW Chartered Accountants, licensed individuals and licensed or accredited firms, searchable by name, membership number or town, and ACCA's find an accountant covers its members and firms. Estate agents in the UK aren't licensed, but must belong to a redress scheme.

Where Search A-Z fits: a Search A-Z business search isn't a license check, but it tells you which record to look for. Enter the person's full name and country, choose "Business contact", and add their firm, city, email or phone. The report says how sure we are it's the right person, then shows their current job and company, work history, education, public social and professional profiles, news and web mentions from a live web search, and any public scam or fraud warnings, plus phone and email checks and, for business searches, the work email and company registration details. That gives you the firm, the state and the exact name to put into the regulator's lookup, and it flags when the "Dr." on the website has no professional trail at all. The person is never told you searched.

How do I check a professional's registration in Europe?

Start with the European Commission's database of regulated professions, which tells you whether a profession is regulated in each EU country, EEA country and Switzerland and which authority regulates it, then go to that authority's register. Examples you can open now:

• Germany: doctors are registered with the regional medical chambers, and the Bundesärztekammer's Arztsuche page links to each chamber's online doctor search, or gives the phone number where a chamber only answers by phone.
• France: only doctors registered with the Ordre des médecins may practice, and a struck-off doctor disappears from the directory. Search the Ordre's online register.
• Netherlands: the BIG-register shows whether a healthcare professional is licensed to practice under Dutch quality standards, so you can confirm, for example, that someone offering plastic surgery is a registered plastic surgeon.
• Spain: the medical colleges' public search of registered doctors covers doctors registered and authorized to practice in Spain, searchable by name and first surname or by registration number.

How do I read a license record?

Read the status, the dates, the scope and the discipline section, in that order. The words differ between regulators, but they map onto the same questions:

Two distinctions trip people up. Licensed (or registered) means a regulator backed by law has authorized the person to practice; certified often means a private body has tested them, which can be meaningful (a specialist medical board) or meaningless (a weekend course). And a degree is not a license: a "Dr." title or a diploma on the wall says nothing about current authorization.

What if the name doesn't match or I can't find them?

Most "not found" results are a search problem, not a fraud: a common name, a maiden or married name, a middle name used professionally, or a license in a different state. Fix the search before you draw a conclusion.

• Search by license number if you have it. Ask for it if you don't.
• Try the surname alone, then add the first initial. Regulators often store full legal names ("Katherine", not "Kate").
• Try the state where they trained or previously worked. Telehealth providers and remote lawyers may hold several state licenses, but they need one in your state to serve you there.
• Check a second register for the same profession: DocInfo as well as the state board, the firm register as well as the individual.

If the person can't produce a number, gives a number that belongs to someone else, or says their license is "pending", "international" or "being transferred", stop and verify before any money or confidential information changes hands.

What are the red flags of fake credentials?

Fake credentials usually fail on specifics: no number, no issuing body, or a body nobody can find.

• They won't give a license number, or the number isn't on the regulator's site.
• Their degree comes from a school you can't find in any accreditation database, or their "certification" is from a board with no address, no exam and a pay-to-join website.
• The regulator shows the license as lapsed, suspended or revoked, but they're still advertising.
• The qualification is from another country and they say it "transfers automatically". In most cases it doesn't.
• They pressure you to decide today, or discourage you from checking: "the register is always out of date".

A line that should stop you:

"I'm fully qualified, I just haven't finished the paperwork with the state yet. We can start now and I'll have the number next month."

Professional license lookup directory

Every link goes to the regulator or to a service built from regulators' data.

For the EU, use the regulated professions database above to find the national authority. And if you only have a name and need the rest, our guide on how to look someone up by name covers the free methods.

The bottom line

Every regulated profession has a free official register, and checking it takes two minutes once you have the license number. Go to the regulator, not the person's website, read the status and the discipline section, and treat "not found" as a question to answer rather than a verdict. A license doesn't make someone good, but its absence should end the conversation.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check if a lawyer is licensed?

Search the attorney directory of the state bar or court system where they say they're admitted (for example the State Bar of California's attorney search or The Florida Bar's Find a Lawyer). Check that the status is active, the admission date fits their claimed experience, and the discipline section is clear. In the UK, use the SRA Solicitors Register or the Bar Standards Board's Barristers' Register.

How do I verify a doctor's license for free?

Use your state medical board's license lookup, or FSMB's DocInfo to search every state at once; it shows where the doctor is licensed, any board discipline, their medical school and specialty certification. In the UK, search the GMC medical register by name or GMC number. In the EU, use the national medical chamber or order's register.

Is a therapist with a "certification" the same as a licensed therapist?

No. A license is issued by a government-backed regulator, such as a state psychology, social work or counseling board, and is a legal requirement to practice. A certification usually comes from a private body and may mean a lot or very little. Ask for the license type and number and check it on the state board's site; in the UK, psychologists and other allied health professionals are on the HCPC register.

How do I check a nurse's license in another state?

Use Nursys QuickConfirm, the free service run by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. It returns licensure and public discipline information for nurses in participating states, including every Nurse Licensure Compact state. If the state isn't in Nursys, search that state's board of nursing directly.

How do I verify someone's professional qualifications in the UK?

Go to the statutory regulator's register: the GMC for doctors, the NMC for nurses and midwives, the HCPC for 15 allied health professions, the GDC for dental professionals, the SRA for solicitors, the Bar Standards Board for barristers, and ICAEW or ACCA for accountants. Each lets you search by name or registration number for free and shows whether the person can currently practice.

What if a professional's license is from another country?

A foreign license generally doesn't allow practice where you are until the local regulator has recognized it and issued its own registration. Ask for the local license number and check the local register. In the EU, the European Commission's regulated professions database tells you which authority handles recognition for each profession in each country.

Can Search A-Z verify a professional license?

No. Search A-Z confirms the person's role, employer and public professional profile, so you know exactly which license record to look for and whether the name has a real professional trail. The license itself must be checked on the regulator's own register. Search A-Z is not a consumer reporting agency and can't be used for hiring or credentialing decisions.

Sources

1. US Department of Justice: Fraudulent nursing diploma scheme leads to federal convictions (December 2023)
2. State Bar of California: Attorney licensee search
3. Medical Board of California: License verification
4. FSMB via Newswise: DocInfo tool provides consumers physician licensure and disciplinary data
5. NCSBN: Nursys license verification and QuickConfirm
6. CPAverify (NASBA): free CPA license lookup
7. General Medical Council: The medical register
8. Nursing and Midwifery Council: Search the register
9. HCPC: Be sure, check the Register
10. Solicitors Regulation Authority: Solicitors Register
11. European Commission: Database of regulated professions
12. BIG-register (Netherlands): Why is it useful to check the BIG-register?

Figures are the latest published by each source when this guide was updated. Reported fraud losses are a floor: most fraud is never reported.