Virginia

Verified

Imported 2026-09-27 — not yet reviewed; confirm with the admitting authority.

How to apply

Admitting agencyVirginia Board of Bar Examiners

Application portalApply online

Character & fitnessNCBE conducts investigations only for those seeking to be certified as Foreign Legal Consultants (FLC) in Virginia. MPRE/character timing: character & fitness application should be filed with the bar exam application by the jurisdiction's filing deadline; most jurisdictions require the NCBE Character and Fitness Application to be submitted online via ncbex.org regardless of whether NCBE conducts the investigation.

Exam & score rules

Exam typeJurisdiction-drafted (non-UBE) exam; NextGen UBE first administration July 2028; Virginia is a jurisdiction-drafted exam state: current exam = MBE (from NCBE) + a Virginia-specific essay portion. NCBE will discontinue the MBE after February 2028. Beginning July 2028, Virginia replaces the MBE with the NextGen Bar Exam while RETAINING a Virginia-specific law component (announced content: Domestic Relations, Evidence, Torts, VA Civil Procedure, VA Criminal Law & Procedure, Wills/Trusts/Estates; ~3 hrs, given afternoon of day 2 of the 9-hour, 1.5-day NextGen exam).

UBE min scoreConfirm with the admitting authority.

MPRE requiredRequired, minimum score 85

Education requirementABA-approved JD required: No; Foreign-educated graduates eligible: Yes (Obtained an LLM from an ABA-approved law school and been admitted to the court of last resort in any state or territory of the US or the District of Columbia.)

Other required components

Local law componentYes - Virginia-specific essay component today; a redesigned Virginia law component (multiple-choice, ~3 hrs) begins July 2028 alongside NextGen adoption, per VBBE announcement.

Other pathsAdmission on motion (3 of past 5 years, reciprocity-based, ABA JD NOT required) available; diploma-privilege admittees eligible for admission on motion.

Transfer options

Accepts transferred UBEYes (accepts legacy UBE: No; NextGen UBE: Yes); max score age: not specified

UBE transfer acceptedno

Score age limitn/a (not a UBE jurisdiction)

Admission on motion

Allows AOMyes

Reciprocal onlyyes

Years of practice3 of past 5 (AOM) — but VA is NOT a UBE jurisdiction; separately, VA requires 5 years admitted in ANY jurisdiction (reciprocal or not) as a minimum threshold, plus 12 hrs of VA-specific CLE (Rule 1A:1 Reciprocity Course) within 6 months before applying.

AOM fee$2,500

Other requirementsMust be admitted to a reciprocal jurisdiction's highest court (no minimum time in that jurisdiction alone, but 5 years total practice required); complete Rule 1A:1 Reciprocity CLE course; C&F; NCBE MBE score transfer accepted (VA is one of few non-UBE states that accepts transferred MBE scores) but VA does NOT accept UBE score transfer as such since VA's own exam is not the UBE.

Official AOM source

Essays & sample answers

Publishes past essaysyes (strong example)

Years availableAt least 2013-2026 per George Mason Law Library guide ('Essay Questions and Sample Answers from 2013-present'); question-only archive said to run '2000-present'

Sample answersyes, but as 'Example [Ten-point] Answers' rather than official model answers — VBBE explicitly does NOT publish 'model answers'

Exam typeNon-UBE (Virginia-specific essay questions; UBE MPT-style tasks not used; no MEE)

Terms of useVBBE explicitly disclaims responsibility for any 'model answers' published by law schools/others; VBBE's own 'Example Answers' come from partnering law schools (William & Mary, University of Virginia) rather than the Board itself

Essay archive / sample answers Essay archive / sample answers

Virginia Board of Bar Examiners is a strong example: dedicated 'Past Essay Questions' and 'Example Answers' pages, plus William & Mary Law School independently publishes 'Suggested Answers & Comments' for each cycle (e.g., July 2025, July 2024) at law.wm.edu.

Fees & deadlines

Feesfirst_time_applicant: $1,150; attorney_applicant: $1,150; repeater: $750 / $1,150; late_fee_note: Late fees reflected in the higher figure(s) shown for the filing-deadline fields above where jurisdiction publishes a two-tier fee; laptop_fee: $175

Application deadlinesjuly_2026_regular: May 10; july_2026_late: —; february_2027_regular: Dec. 15; february_2027_late: —

Next exam datesUBE jurisdictions administer the exam on the NCBE-set dates, generally the last Tue/Wed of Feb and July; New York has confirmed July 28-29, 2026 for the July 2026 administration. Confirm exact per-jurisdiction dates on the agency site; NCBE filing-deadline data above is confirmed for July 2026 / February 2027.

Possible multi-bar pathways

Researched examples that name Virginia. Discovery content only — not eligibility approval.

DC + MD + VA ('DMV') combo — mixed UBE/non-UBE

DC and MD are both UBE jurisdictions (min score 266 legacy / 616 NextGen for both, first NextGen admin July 2026) — one UBE sitting in either can be transferred to the other via NCBE score-transfer. VIRGINIA IS NOT a UBE jurisdiction (VA drafts and grades its own bar exam), so a UBE score cannot be transferred into VA; VA is reached only via its own exam or its 'Admission Without Examination' (reciprocity) rule requiring 5 years' practice + a mandatory 12-hour VA CLE course (Rule 1A:1) completed within 6 months of applying.

MBE score transfer (non-UBE states) — VA, FL, MI(reciprocal-only), WV, WI, others

A distinct, less-known portability path: several non-UBE (or partially-UBE) jurisdictions authorize NCBE to transfer a candidate's raw MBE (Multistate Bar Exam) scaled score — separate from the UBE's combined score — to another jurisdiction that accepts transferred MBE scores, letting a candidate skip re-taking the MBE portion of a second state's own exam.

Official sources

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

Because Virginia does not use the legacy UBE (accepts_legacy_ube: No), it does not accept transferred UBE scores from other jurisdictions in the ordinary sense; MBE scores ARE accepted for transfer. Confirm current interplay directly with barexam.virginia.gov given upcoming July 2028 change.

VerdictUp is a study aid and does not provide legal advice or guarantee admission. Confirm with the admitting authority.