# Licenses

Every state and every profession handles this differently. A five minute phone call to the board can save you a year.

## The honest answer — There is no general rule

Every state handles this differently and every profession within a state handles it differently.

Don't take a general rule from the internet on this, including from this page.

## Usually true — What tends to hold

Many boards have a formal process for people with convictions instead of a flat ban. Many look at whether the offense relates to the work. Many care more about time passed and what you've done since than about the conviction itself.

What's also true: some fields are effectively closed, and applications take months.

## The move — Call the board first

Start early. Call and ask what their process is before you spend a year training for something.

Ask specifically whether they've licensed people with felony convictions and what that took.

A five minute phone call can save you a year.

## Related — The one thing that can move a board

Licensing is one of the few areas where [a pardon](/life-after-federal-prison/federal-expungement-and-pardons) does concrete work, because it can clear a bar the board is applying rather than one the record itself creates. That is a long shot and a long timeline, and it is not a reason to delay the phone call.

### [Money, over years](/life-after-federal-prison/rebuilding-credit-and-getting-a-mortgage)

Credit takes three to five years. A mortgage is possible. And restitution outlasts supervision by a long way.

**Need help with this? Just ask.**

These pages cover the general rules. Your situation has details they don't. Email me a question. **Answers are free** , and "you don't need to pay anyone for this" is my most common answer.

[josh@federalprisondude.com](mailto:josh@federalprisondude.com?subject=Once%20you%27re%20out%20question)

I answer in the order received, usually within a couple of days. I have a day job. If your situation genuinely needs more than an email, I take a limited number of consults, so say so and we'll work it out.