How to Become a Real Estate Appraiser in Arkansas: Requirements and Licensing Steps

To become a real estate appraiser in Arkansas, start as a Registered Apprentice (RA) Appraiser: complete 87 hours of board-approved qualifying education, line up a certified supervisor, and apply online with a $200 fee and a fingerprint-based background check. The Appraiser Division of the State Board of Appraisers, Abstracters, and Home Inspectors (SBAAHI), inside the Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing, regulates every appraiser credential in the state. From the apprentice level you upgrade to State Licensed, Certified Residential, or Certified General by adding education hours, logged experience, a board interview, and the national exam.

The national path, and what Arkansas adds

Arkansas follows the national path to an appraiser career: qualifying education, supervised experience, a national exam, and a state application, built on minimum criteria set by the Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB). Federal law requires a state license or certification for appraisals used in federally related transactions, such as loans from federally insured lenders. The national guide on how to become a real estate appraiser explains that shared path in full. This page covers what Arkansas adds: a state-unique entry credential, a supervisor course folded into the entry education requirement, a board interview before the exam, and the state's own fees, renewal cycles, and reciprocity rules.

Arkansas appraiser credentials and what each covers

Arkansas issues five appraiser credentials, and the entry point is unusual: the state offers two trainee-level credentials, only one of which can be upgraded. The SBAAHI rules set what each credential may appraise.

The State Registered credential is the state-unique option. Per the board's becoming an appraiser page^[1], an SR appraiser may appraise any type of property except when the purpose is a federally related transaction, and every SR report must state that the appraisal may not be eligible for such use. An SR credential cannot be upgraded, so most new appraisers choose the Registered Apprentice route.

The State Licensed thresholds come from 17 CAR § 200-210, effective June 29, 2026. The State Licensed and Certified Residential limits on nonresidential property are $250,000 in transaction value for federally related work and $250,000 in property value otherwise, per the SBAAHI 2026 rules^[2]. Only Certified Residential and Certified General appraisers can join the FHA roster: HUD requires state certification and a National Registry listing^[3] for appraisers who work on FHA-insured mortgages, so State Licensed and trainee credentials do not qualify.

How to become a Registered Apprentice Appraiser in Arkansas

You need 87 hours of qualifying education, a supervisor lined up before you apply, and a $200 application filed through the board's online portal. The board's becoming an appraiser page^[1] walks through each requirement.

Qualifying education: 87 hours

Effective January 1, 2026, the entry requirement is 87 hours of board-approved qualifying education: Basic Appraisal Principles (30), Basic Appraisal Procedures (30), the 15-Hour National Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) Course (15), Valuation Bias and Fair Housing Laws and Regulations (8), and the Supervisor/Trainee Course (4). The SBAAHI 2026 rules^[2] count 83 creditable class hours and treat the 4-hour Supervisor/Trainee Course as required but not creditable toward qualifying education, so the board's 87-hour total is the full set of classes you complete. All of it must fall within the 5 years before you apply, and you must be at least 18 with a high school diploma or its equivalent.

Where to take the courses

Any course you count toward the requirement must appear on the state's approved education list. Per the board's education page^[4], providers do not submit completion certificates on your behalf; you upload them into your electronic licensing platform (ELP) account yourself. A course not on the list can be submitted for individual credit approval with a completed application, the completion certificate, a course description, and a timed outline from the provider.

Finding a supervisor

You must find a supervisor before you apply for the RA credential. A supervisor must have been certified as a Residential or General appraiser for 3 years without disciplinary issues, must have attended the Supervisor/Trainee course, and must file a Supervisor Registration Form^[5] with the board. No supervisor may supervise more than 3 trainees at one time. You may have more than one supervisor, but you keep a separate experience log for each.

Experience hours cannot start accruing until the RA credential is issued. When you later apply to upgrade, you upload the logs, with each page totaled and signed and dated by you and your supervisor. The board's Appraiser Roster lists active Certified Residential and Certified General appraisers you can approach.

The application, fee, and background check

File Form R-RA through the online portal, upload your education certificates, and pay the $200 application fee. Under the Arkansas appraiser statutes^[6] (A.C.A. § 17-14), every credential application includes consent to a state criminal background check and a national fingerprint-based Federal Bureau of Investigation check, at a $37.50 fee per the SBAAHI rules fee schedule^[2]. The check applies to RA and SR applications, upgrades, reinstatement of a credential inactive more than 12 months, and new reciprocal credentials, but not to temporary practice permits, and a new check is required each time you upgrade. Fitness factors include convictions or guilty pleas within the 5 years before application for crimes substantially related to appraiser duties, such as theft, forgery, and breach of trust. The rules set no fixed processing time; the board may hold an application for a reasonable length of time for investigation.

Upgrading to State Licensed, Certified Residential, or Certified General

Arkansas upgrades track the AQB minimums, with one quirk in how the hours are counted. Under 17 CAR § 200-210, effective June 29, 2026, the state-licensed classification requires 158 creditable class hours, and the SBAAHI 2026 rules^[2] set 200 hours for Certified Residential and 300 for Certified General. The board's upgrade materials add the 4-hour Supervisor/Trainee Course you completed as an apprentice to those totals, which is why you will also see the figures 162, 204, and 304.

The experience prerequisites are confirmed in the National Appraiser Examination Candidate Handbook^[7]. If you received the credential you are upgrading from before January 1, 2026, you must also complete the 8-hour tested Valuation Bias and Fair Housing class to be eligible to upgrade. The upgrade application requires your qualifying-education certificates and your signed experience logs, plus a new background check. Statutory caps limit the upgrade application fee to $100 from Registered Apprentice to licensed or certified, and to $50 from State Licensed to certified; total annual fees may not exceed $300, excluding exam, federal pass-through, and background check fees, per the Arkansas appraiser statutes^[6]. Applicants for the three upper credentials must also be personally interviewed by board members before sitting for the exam.

The Arkansas appraiser exam

The exam is the national Uniform Licensing and Certification Examination, administered in Arkansas by Pearson VUE. Each level's exam has 110 scored questions plus 15 pretest questions, with a passing scaled score of 75 on a 0-110 scale, according to the candidate handbook^[7]. You get 4 hours for the Licensed Residential and Certified Residential exams and 6 hours for the Certified General exam. You cannot be admitted without the board's approval letter, and you schedule through a Pearson VUE account^[8] at least 24 hours in advance.

After board approval, you have 24 months to take and pass the exam, and a passing score stays valid for 24 months. The board authorizes two attempts; after failing twice you must wait at least 6 months before retaking, and a fourth attempt requires a new application and fees. After passing, you must call the board at 501-296-1843 before submitting your score report and payment, and you must apply for licensure or certification within 12 months of your test date or repeat the complete application and examination process, per the Pearson VUE post-exam procedures^[9].

Using PAREA instead of supervised experience

Yes, Arkansas accepts an alternative to the supervisor and trainee model. The SBAAHI 2026 rules^[2] allow AQB-approved Practical Applications of Real Estate Appraisal (PAREA) programs, which are virtual, simulated-experience courses developed by independent education providers, not by The Appraisal Foundation, as its PAREA overview^[10] explains.

A state-licensed PAREA module gives full credit toward the State Licensed experience requirement, 67% toward Certified Residential, and 33% toward Certified General, with no credit toward the required nonresidential hours. A certified residential module gives full credit toward State Licensed and Certified Residential, and 50% toward Certified General. Before starting the state-licensed module you need 150 hours of qualifying education; the certified residential module requires 200 hours plus either a State Licensed credential or a completed state-licensed PAREA program. PAREA mentors must be state-certified appraisers in good standing for at least 3 years, and each level requires no fewer than three demonstration appraisal reports.

Arkansas appraiser fees, from application to the National Registry

A first credential costs $200 in application fees, up to $100 for the exam, and $37.50 for the background check, and licensed and certified credentials carry a $300 annual fee plus a $40 National Registry fee. The fee schedule appears in the SBAAHI rules^[2]:

The Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) sets the $40 annual National Registry fee that states must collect for licensed and certified appraisers, under a Federal Register notice^[11] effective January 1, 2012. The initial application fee covers your first three exam attempts and is applied toward your license fee when you pass, and it is nonrefundable except in special circumstances. Under the Workforce Expansion Act provisions in the rules, applicants who receive Medicaid, SNAP, WIC, TANF, or Lifeline benefits, who were approved for unemployment within the last 12 months, or whose income is at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines may receive a waiver of the initial licensure fee.

Appraiser license renewal and continuing education in Arkansas

RA and SR credentials renew annually by December 31; State Licensed, Certified Residential, and Certified General credentials renew annually by June 30. Per the board's renewing a license page^[12], the renewal fee is $125 for RA and SR credentials, a $200 statutory fee less a $75 discount, and $265 for licensed and certified credentials, the $300 statutory fee less the same $75 discount plus the $40 National Registry fee.

RA and SR appraisers must submit completion certificates for 14 hours of continuing education taken within the last year; attendance verifications do not count. Licensed and certified appraisers must submit completion certificates for 28 hours every two years, due in even-numbered years. Every level must hold a current 7-Hour National USPAP Update taken within the last two years, and the 15-Hour course cannot substitute for it. Beginning January 1, 2026, every level must also complete a Valuation Bias and Fair Housing class: 7 hours the first time unless it was met through qualifying education, then at least 4 hours every two years, while anyone planning to upgrade needs the 8-hour tested version. The board caps continuing education at 14 hours earned in any 24-hour period under a policy effective September 2025. Up to half of your hours can come from teaching, program development, or authorship, and attending a single board meeting earns up to 7 hours per cycle.

Late renewal adds $50 for each month or partial month late, and you may not practice while expired. Within the first 184 days of expired status, renewal takes the fee plus the late fees; from 185 days to 12 months, you also owe the continuing education and a current USPAP Update; after 12 months, reinstatement requires 14 hours of continuing education for each year or partial year expired plus a new background check.

Reciprocity, transfers, and temporary practice permits

Arkansas grants reciprocal credentials to nonresidents in good standing elsewhere, and it issues temporary practice permits for single assignments. Reciprocity under Arkansas Code § 17-14-306 requires verification through the National Registry that you are in good standing in every jurisdiction where you are credentialed, a background that meets the board's qualifications, and an irrevocable consent to service of process in Arkansas, per the board's reciprocity page^[13]. Applications must include certificates for a current USPAP continuing education course and the Valuation Bias and Fair Housing course. Once approved, you are held to the same rules and renewal requirements as a resident.

The board is converting nonresident credentials to the resident cycle: an annual June 30 renewal with 28 hours of continuing education due every even-numbered year for licensed and certified levels, and a December 31 renewal with 14 hours annually for RA and SR credentials. Per the board's forms page^[14], nonresidents transition by filing the initial application form for their credential level, answering "Yes" to the renewal question, and paying a pro-rated renewal fee. The change followed the ASC compliance review^[15] issued March 19, 2025, which found the state had not verified continuing education for credentials issued by reciprocity.

Appraisers who move to Arkansas can transfer a credential if the home state is in Title XI compliance as determined by the ASC, the credential is valid, the background qualifies, and the home state's requirements are substantially equivalent, per the board's transfer page^[16]. Transfer applications also need the USPAP and Valuation Bias certificates.

A temporary practice permit covers a single assignment for up to 6 months at a $150 fee, and the Arkansas business must be temporary. If the assignment runs long, you may request an extension on a board form before the permit expires, provided it is the same assignment listed on the original application. Court testimony after completing the assignment needs no extension or additional permit, and temporary permit applicants do not complete a background check.

The Arkansas appraiser market

Arkansas had 891 state-credentialed appraisers on the Appraiser Registry when the ASC reviewed the program in October 2024, and the program holds an ASC Finding of Good from the report issued March 19, 2025. The ASC registry counts^[17] show 486 active Certified General, 358 Certified Residential, and 59 State Licensed appraisers. The review flagged minor items, including aged complaints and the continuing-education verification gap for reciprocity credentials, and kept Arkansas on a two-year review cycle.

Where to start in Arkansas

Start with the board's approved education list and the Supervisor/Trainee course, then work forward:

1. Pull the SBAAHI approved continuing and qualifying education list and enroll in the 87 entry hours.
2. Take the Supervisor/Trainee class; the board office offers it in person, with dates posted under Meetings and Events on the board's home page.
3. Use the board's Appraiser Roster to find a Certified Residential or Certified General supervisor, and have the supervisor file the registration form.
4. File Form R-RA in the online portal, upload your certificates, and complete the background check.
5. Call the board at 501-296-1843 with questions. The office is at 900 West Capitol Avenue, Suite 400, Little Rock, Arkansas 72201.

Once the RA credential issues, your experience clock starts and you can log hours toward the upgrade level that matches the property types you want to appraise.