Section 1275.60  Endorsement

a)         An applicant for registration as a landscape architect who is licensed or registered under the laws of another state or territory of the United States or foreign country shall file an application with the Division, on forms provided by the Division, that includes:

1)         Official transcripts verifying conferral of a landscape architecture degree from a program approved by the Division in accordance with Section 1275.20;

2)         Certification, on forms provided by the Division, of professional experience as set forth in Section 1275.30;

3)         Certification, on forms provided by the Division, from the state or territory of the United States, or foreign jurisdiction, in which the applicant was originally licensed or registered and the state, territory or foreign jurisdiction in which the applicant predominantly practices and is currently licensed or registered, stating:

A)        The time during which the applicant was licensed or registered;

B)        Whether the file of the applicant contains any record of any disciplinary actions taken or pending; and

C)        Examinations taken and examination scores received;

4)         The required fee set forth in Section 1275.75;

5)         In lieu of the certifications required by subsections (a)(1), (a)(2) and (a)(3), the Division shall accept certification from CLARB as long as the applicant meets the other requirements for registration under this Section.

b)         An applicant who gained a baccalaureate education outside the United States and is not LAAC accredited, shall have the education evaluated, at the applicant's expense.  Applicants shall obtain the forms from the Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE) at https://www.ece.org/ and have the evaluation sent from ECE to the Division for review by the Board.  The Board will review the evaluation to determine if the applicant's credentials are substantially equivalent to the educational requirements set forth in Section 1275.20.  The Division may require additional information to determine if the requirements in the state or territory were substantially equivalent to the requirements in effect in Illinois at the time of application to determine whether the requirements of the state or territory, together with education and professional experience qualifications of the applicant, are substantially equivalent to the requirements in Illinois at the time of application.

c)         The Division may, in individual cases, upon recommendation of the Board, waive passage of one or more parts of the examination upon proof that the applicant has been lawfully engaged in the profession of registered landscape architecture in another jurisdiction for a minimum of 5 years and has provided evidence demonstrating competence in the area or areas of the examination being considered for waiver (i.e., landscape architecture education, training and experience).  If an applicant has previously failed to pass a part or parts of the examination, the applicant shall not be granted a waiver for that part or parts pursuant to this provision.

d)         The Division shall either issue a registration as a landscape architect to the applicant or notify the applicant in writing of the reasons for the denial of the application.

(Source:  Amended at 46 Ill. Reg. 16806, effective September 26, 2022)