The main path to a New Mexico license runs through a bachelor’s degree, a 1,000-hour Administrator-in-Training (AIT) program with a NAB-certified preceptor, and the two national NAB exams. There is no state exam, and the license renews every year by 31 March. Each section below names its source.
| Who licenses | The Board of Nursing Home Administrators, administratively attached to the Regulation and Licensing Department (RLD) (NMSA 61-13-4). You apply online through NM Plus |
|---|---|
| Routes to a license | The exam route; a shortcut for Health Services Executive (HSE) holders; expedited licensure if you are licensed in another state (16.13.3, 16.13.5 NMAC). See the routes below |
| AIT | At least 1,000 hours of on-site, supervised training under a NAB-certified preceptor, with monthly written evaluations (16.13.3.8.D NMAC) |
| National exams | NAB CORE and NHA Line of Service, both required (NMSA 61-13-8(B); NAB); $480 for the two together, paid to NAB |
| State exam | None. The state exam rule, 16.13.4 NMAC, was repealed in 2022. An HSE holder “does not need to take the exam” (16.13.3.10.D, from 8 October 2024) |
| Continuing education | 24 contact hours of 60 minutes each year, earned in the 12 months before March, the expiration month; up to 6 hours carry over, or 24 converted academic hours (16.13.13.8, 16.13.14.11 NMAC) |
| License renewal | Every year; licenses expire 31 March (16.13.8.8 NMAC); $200 |
| Official sources | rld.nm.gov (the board) · 16.13 NMAC (srca.nm.gov) · NMSA 61-13 (unofficial mirror) · nabweb.org (national exams) |
Verified against the sources above, September 2026. The current statute and rules govern, so check anything you rely on with the board before you apply.
Your license comes from the Board of Nursing Home Administrators, which the statute places “administratively attached to the regulation and licensing department” (NMSA 61-13-4). The rules call it the New Mexico Nursing Home Administrators Board. It has seven members: three administrators with at least 5 years of practice, one physician and three public members. It licenses people, not buildings; in the RLD FAQ’s words, “The NHA Board is responsible for regulating nursing home administrators ONLY.”
The law is the Nursing Home Administrators Act, NMSA 1978, 61-13-1 to 61-13-17. The rules are 16.13 NMAC. Laws 2025, chapter 66 continued the board until 1 July 2035 and set the Act’s repeal for 1 July 2036 (61-13-17). Applications are online only, through NM Plus: “PAPER APPLICATIONS ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTED,” and in July 2026 RLD posted an NM Plus application manual.
| Website | RLD nursing home administrators page |
|---|---|
| Phone | (505) 476-4622 |
| NursingHome.AdminBd@rld.nm.gov | |
| P.O. Box 25101, Santa Fe, NM 87504 | |
| Office | Toney Anaya Bldg, 2550 Cerrillos Rd, 2nd Floor, Santa Fe, NM 87505 |
| License lookup | RLD public license search |
Find the row that matches you.
| Route | Who it fits | What you do | Rule (NMAC) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exam route | A bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution, in a course of study the board approves | A 1,000-hour board-approved AIT or internship, then the NAB CORE and NHA Line of Service exams | 16.13.3.8; 16.13.3.10 |
| HSE holder | You hold the Health Services Executive (HSE) credential | Verification of your HSE is accepted as proof of the AIT, and an HSE holder “does not need to take the exam” | 16.13.3.9.H; 16.13.3.10.D |
| Licensed in another state | You hold a “valid, unrestricted license” in good standing in another jurisdiction | Expedited licensure: the application, a certificate of good standing and the fees, with the license issued within 30 days. Some jurisdictions also need a bachelor’s degree | 16.13.5; NMSA 61-13-11 |
The expedited route replaced the old reciprocity rule on 14 January 2023, and the details, including which jurisdictions need the degree, are in the moving section below.
You complete “a board approved administrator in training program or board approved internship program” of “a minimum of 1000 hours or more of on-site, supervised training”, with “monthly written evaluations by the preceptor” (16.13.3.8.D(1) NMAC). A board-approved program is one “approved by the board, NAB or New Mexico health care association (NMHCA)” (16.13.3.7.C).
Other states: AIT Hours by State.
The AIT Planner spreads your hours across facility departments, with a self-assessment that shapes the split. The split is our planning aid, not a New Mexico rule, so agree on the plan with your preceptor. No account needed.
Open the free AIT PlannerNew Mexico requires both exams from NAB, the National Association of Long Term Care Administrator Boards; NAB’s New Mexico page answers “Yes” for “NAB NHA & CORE National”. The order matters: the board approves your eligibility first, and then you apply to NAB, so wait for the board’s approval before you pay NAB (16.13.3.10.A to C NMAC). Exam fees are “payable directly to NAB by electronic means” (16.13.2.8). Pearson VUE has delivered the exams since 3 January 2025, in place of PSI.
| CORE | 125 questions (100 scored, 25 pretest); 130 minutes to answer, within 150 minutes in all, per NAB’s candidate handbook (September 2026) |
|---|---|
| NHA Line of Service | 75 questions (60 scored, 15 pretest); 70 minutes to answer, within 90 minutes in all, per the same handbook |
| Passing score | A scaled score of 113 (NAB) |
| Test window | 90 days from your Authorization to Test (NAB) |
| Attempts | Up to 4 attempts at each of CORE and NHA per cycle (1 July to 30 June), from 1 January 2026 (NAB) |
| Fee | $480 for CORE and NHA together, from 1 February 2026. Taken alone, CORE is $320 and NHA is $190 (NAB) |
| Accommodations | Send your documentation to the board at least 7 weeks before the test; NAB approves (16.13.3.14) |
The RLD fees page still lists a $270 “NAB Examination Fee and CBT Site Fee”. NAB’s handbook gives the figures above, and you pay NAB directly. More in NAB Exam Format and The Core Domains Explained.
No state exam. New Mexico has no state exam. Its exam rule, 16.13.4 NMAC (“Examination of Approved Applicants”), was repealed effective 26 February 2022, and NAB’s New Mexico page answers “No” for a state exam. Since 8 October 2024, an HSE holder “does not need to take the exam” (16.13.3.10.D).
The NAB exams are national. Once you run a New Mexico nursing home, you work under 8.370.16 NMAC, “Requirements for Long Term Care Facilities”, from the Health Care Authority, and under 42 CFR Part 483, Subpart B, if the home is certified for Medicare or Medicaid; Subpart B binds only certified homes. Five differences that matter on the job, each with the New Mexico section:
| Topic | Federal rule (42 CFR 483) | New Mexico rule | Section (NMAC) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nurse staffing floor | Sufficient nursing staff, with licensed nurses on a 24-hour basis (483.35(a)); a registered nurse “for at least 8 consecutive hours a day, 7 days a week” (483.35(b)(1)) and a full-time RN director of nursing (483.35(b)(2)), each except when waived under 483.35(e) or (f). No hours-per-resident-day figure: CMS’s 2024 minimum staffing standards, which were never enforced, were repealed by an interim final rule published 3 December 2025 and effective 2 February 2026 (90 FR 55687) | Skilled nursing facilities, and facilities offering both skilled and intermediate care, must keep a nursing department minimum of “two and a half hours per patient day calculated on a seven day average”, and intermediate care facilities 2.3 hours. The director of nursing, the assistant director and nursing department directors count toward the floor only for time spent on the shift in direct resident care | 8.370.16.51.F(2) |
| Keeping medical records | “Five years from the date of discharge when there is no requirement in State law” (483.70(h)(4)(ii)) | The original medical record is kept “at least 10 years following a resident’s discharge or death”. New Mexico sets a period, so its 10 years governs | 8.370.16.31.F(2) |
| Physician visits | Residents are seen “every 30 days for the first 90 days after admission, and at least once every 60 days thereafter” (483.30(c)(1)) | Skilled residents are seen “at least every 30 days” and intermediate care residents at least every 60 days, unless the physician specifies and justifies another schedule in writing | 8.370.16.49.B(1) |
| Evening meal to breakfast | Up to 16 hours is allowed when a nourishing snack is served at bedtime and a resident group agrees (483.60(f)) | “Not more than a 14 hour span”. The rule has no 16-hour snack exception | 8.370.16.52.E(1) |
| The administrator | “Licensed by the State, where licensing is required” (483.70(d)(2)(i)) | The home is “supervised full-time” by an administrator licensed under the Nursing Home Administrators Act; one full-time administrator may serve several facilities on the “same or contiguous property”. When no administrator is in the building, “a person present in and competent to supervise” is designated. If the administrator leaves, the Health Care Authority is told within “two authority working days”, and a change of administrator is reported in writing within 10 days | 8.370.16.26; 8.370.16.14.B |
Two federal duties apply in every certified home, whatever the state. The facility reports alleged abuse, neglect, exploitation or mistreatment, including injuries of unknown source, “immediately, but not later than 2 hours” if it involves abuse or serious bodily injury, and within 24 hours otherwise, to the administrator and to officials including the State Survey Agency (483.12(c)(1)). Each covered individual also reports a reasonable suspicion of a crime against a resident to the State Agency and one or more law enforcement entities, within 2 hours if there is serious bodily injury, otherwise within 24 hours (483.12(b)(5); section 1150B of the Social Security Act).
New Mexico: 8.370.16 NMAC, Health Care Authority, effective 1 July 2024, which replaced the Department of Health’s facility rule, 7.9.2 NMAC (repealed). Federal: 42 CFR Part 483, Subpart B, in the eCFR. In a certified home you meet both.
From 16.13.2.8 NMAC (last amended 14 January 2023), unless the row names another source:
| Application and licensure, exam candidate | $200 each |
|---|---|
| Application and licensure, expedited | $200 each |
| Annual renewal | $200 |
| Late penalty (renewal after 31 March) | $100 |
| Inactive status | $75 |
| Reactivation from inactive | $200 |
| Reactivation from expired | $300 ($200 plus the $100 late penalty) |
| Duplicate renewal license / duplicate wall license | $25 / $60 |
| Written verification | $10 |
| Background check | $15 (DPS background check, RLD fees page) |
| NAB exams, CORE and NHA together | $480, paid to NAB (NAB handbook, from 1 February 2026) |
The RLD fees page also lists fees the rule does not set, including a $125 optional temporary permit and a $50 re-examination processing fee. It says “All fees are nonrefundable.” RLD noticed a rule hearing on proposed amendments to 16.13.2 NMAC, the fee rule, for 7 November 2025, with comments from 7 October. The State Records Center still lists 14 January 2023 as the rule’s last amendment, so check the fees page before you pay.
You need “twenty-four (24) contact (60-minute) hours of Board-approved continuing education”, earned in the 12 months before the month your license expires, which is March (16.13.13.8 NMAC).
Licenses “expire annually on the last day of March” (16.13.8.8 NMAC). To renew, send the renewal application, your CE and the $200 fee. An application that comes in after 31 March must include the $100 late penalty (16.13.8).
Expedited licensure. On 14 January 2023, 16.13.5 NMAC was repromulgated as an expedited licensure rule, replacing the old reciprocity rule. The statute requires a “valid, unrestricted license” in good standing and says the board processes the application “no later than thirty days” after it is filed; if your state did not require an exam, the board “may require” one before renewal (NMSA 61-13-11). The rule asks for a completed application, proof of current unrestricted licensure, a certificate of good standing and the fee, and staff issue the license “within 30 days” of a complete application (16.13.5.10). It does not mention a NAB exam, years of experience or a jurisprudence exam. The expedited license runs for the same term as a regular one, renews by 31 March and becomes a regular license on renewal (16.13.5.12).
Where you are licensed matters. Licenses from American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are on the rule’s disapproved list (16.13.5.8.A). Licenses from 32 states, DC and Guam are also on the list “unless the applicant holds a baccalaureate degree”, so from those places you need a bachelor’s degree (16.13.5.8.B). The states are AL, AR, CO, DE, GA, ID, IL, IN, MD, MI, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NJ, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI and WY.
Military. 16.13.5.11 covers service members, their spouses and dependent children, and veterans, with the license issued within 30 days. Service members and veterans pay no initial or renewal fees for the first 3 years (16.13.5.11.E), and the RLD application manual says “Military Applications DO NOT require payment”. RLD’s military page, which also names military spouses and dependents, waives fees “for 3 years in all occupations”; the rule’s waiver names only service members and veterans. The old separate military rule, 16.13.6, was repealed on 14 January 2023.
Temporary permits. The current rules have no separate temporary permit: 16.13.5 calls the expedited license itself “a provisional license” (16.13.5.7.B), and 16.13.2.8 lists no permit fee. The RLD FAQ still says “Only reciprocity applicants are issued temporary permits”, for a “maximum period of 120 days ONLY”, and the RLD fees page lists a $125 permit. NAB’s New Mexico page lists a temporary or provisional license, which may mean the expedited license. Ask the board before you plan around a permit.
Your AIT program needs approval from the board, NAB or NMHCA (16.13.3.7.C NMAC), and your preceptor must meet 16.13.3.8.D(2).
The board. The RLD training and continuing education page links the NAB/ACHCA AIT manual, the RLD licensing page lists the AIT forms, and the public license search lets you check that a preceptor holds a New Mexico license.
NMHCA. Under the rules, the New Mexico Health Care Association (NMHCA) may approve AIT programs (16.13.3.7.C) and continuing education (16.13.14.10, .12).
NAB and ACHCA. NAB may approve AIT programs (16.13.3.7.C). ACHCA offers the NAB/ACHCA AIT manual and preceptor resources, including the preceptor course described above.
For approaching facilities and preceptors step by step, see How to Find an AIT Preceptor and an Approved Program.
The legal sources for nursing home administrator licensure in New Mexico, and the facility rule cited above. New Mexico has no state exam, but these are the rules you train and work under.
Citations verified against official sources and the labeled mirror, September 2026. Provided for reference, not legal advice; the current official text governs.
At least 1,000 hours of on-site, supervised training in a board-approved AIT or internship program, with monthly written evaluations by your preceptor (16.13.3.8.D NMAC). The preceptor must be a NAB certified preceptor and a licensed administrator in good standing with at least three years of experience. Verification of an HSE credential is accepted as proof of the AIT (16.13.3.9.H).
No. The state exam rule, 16.13.4 NMAC, was repealed in 2022. You take the NAB CORE and NHA Line of Service exams, and since 8 October 2024 an HSE holder does not need to take the exam (16.13.3.10.D).
24 contact hours of 60 minutes each year, earned in the 12 months before March, when your license expires (16.13.13.8 NMAC). Up to 6 extra hours carry over, and the rules set no required topics.
Yes, from most jurisdictions, through expedited licensure (16.13.5 NMAC, since 14 January 2023): a valid, unrestricted license in good standing, a certificate of good standing and the fees, with the license issued within 30 days of a complete application. Licensees from 32 states, DC and Guam also need a bachelor’s degree (16.13.5.8.B).
Your program must be approved by the board, NAB or the New Mexico Health Care Association (16.13.3.7.C NMAC). RLD posts the AIT forms and links the NAB/ACHCA AIT manual, and its public license search lets you check that a preceptor is licensed.
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