The Texas Medical Board (TMB) requires applicants for an initial license or license renewal to submit documentation establishing lawful presence in the United States from TMB’s list of acceptable documents. Verification of this documentation is part of the Board’s licensure and renewal process to confirm a person’s eligibility to hold a license in Texas.
Under 8 U.S.C. § 1621, an individual who is not lawfully present in the United States is not eligible to receive a public benefit. Licenses issued by the TMB constitute public benefits under the law therefore submission of documentation establishing lawful presence is required as a condition of licensure.
Applicants must submit documentation from the list of acceptable documents before a license may be issued or renewed. Initial applications or applications for renewal will remain pending and will not be eligible for approval until the required documentation is submitted. The documentation must be unexpired on the date the initial license is issued or the date the license is renewed.
Beginning March 1, 2026, all individuals seeking to renew their license must submit the appropriate documentation.
Check the TMB's list of acceptable documents (see above). Read the full instruction below before accessing the Lawful Presence Document Upload Form Link.
If you provide documentation that has an expiration date, please note that the documentation must be unexpired on the date the license is renewed. In addition, re-verification may be required for renewal in the future.
Please note that:
- a US Birth Certificate must be accompanied by an unexpired Driver’s License or State ID, and
- a Foreign Passport must be accompanied by an unexpired Visa or an unexpired Permanent Resident Card.
*TIP: While any submission from the TMB list of acceptable documents will meet the US Citizenship or Lawful Presence requirement for application or renewal purposes, individuals who provide one of the following will be exempted from reverification at future renewal events:
- US Birth certificate with a Driver’s license,
- US Birth certificate with a Texas License to Carry Handgun,
- US Passport,
- Certificate of Naturalization, or
- Certificate of Citizenship
You may submit your documentation directly to the Registrations Department at Lawful Presence Document Upload Form Link .
One form per licensee. If you upload documents for multiple licensees under one form, there will be a delay in processing.
You will receive an email confirmation from lawful.presence@tmb.texas.gov after submission.
Please allow at least 15 business days for processing. Once your documentation has been reviewed, and updated in our system, you will be able to access your renewal. In addition, your documentation will not be retained by the TMB. Once reviewed for renewal, it will be destroyed.
If you are having technical issues with the form, you may need to adjust the pop-up blockers on your internet browser. Visit TMB Tech Help for assistance with this issue. For any questions about a document submission, please contact lawful.presence@tmb.texas.gov.
Helpful Links
No - Your documentation will not be retained by the TMB. Once reviewed for renewal, it will be destroyed.
Possibly. While any submission from the TMB list of acceptable documents will meet the US Citizenship or Lawful Presence requirement for application or renewal purposes, individuals who provide one of the following will be exempted from reverification at future renewal events:
- US Birth certificate with a Driver’s license,
- US Birth certificate with a Texas License to Carry Handgun,
- US Passport,
- Certificate of Naturalization, or
- Certificate of Citizenship
No. Proof of US Citizenship or Lawful Presence will be required before you can access online registration renewal, per 8 U.S.C. § 1621. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1621, an individual who is not lawfully present in the United States is not eligible to receive a public benefit. Licenses issued by the TMB constitute public benefits under the law therefore submission of documentation establishing lawful presence is required as a condition of licensure.
If you are not able to provide something from the TMB's list of acceptable documents, you will not be able to renew your license. A licensee may not practice with a registration permit that is considered delinquent. Unrenewed licenses are automatically cancelled 1 year after expiration.
Hardcopy or faxed responses may have a significant delay in review. We recommend using the upload link provided, as that will facilitate timely processing.
If you upload documents for multiple licensees under one form, there will be a delay in processing. Please note that we process documents based on the submitted identifying information on the form. Uploading documentation for multiple licensees under one form will attach incorrect identification information to the documents and will increase the processing time required to identify the additional licensees.
Unless the documents were provided to meet the Lawful Presence requirement, they would need to be reviewed again for that purpose. The TMB currently has over 200,000 licensees, across all license types, who will be required to meet Lawful Presence prior to their next renewal. To research and review every application that we have on file will take time and resources. In addition, documentation that expires must have a current expiration date (ex: Driver’s licenses or passports that were provided years ago may not still be current).
In order to expedite the process, we are asking licensees to provide current documentation to meet this requirement. We apologize for the inconvenience; however this will allow us to assist all licensees in an expeditious manner.
