Illinois to Wyoming: journeyman electrician license reciprocity
Illinois does not issue a statewide journeyman electrician license, so there is nothing to transfer. Here is Wyoming's standard path for out-of-state applicants.
Your origin state does not issue a statewide license at this level, so there is no license to transfer. The destination's standard out-of-state path is shown; expect to meet it in full.
Reference only, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the licensing board before you apply. Full disclaimer.
Licensure by examination with out-of-state experience (states without a reciprocal agreement)
Your out-of-state credentials give no advantage. You meet the destination's requirements from scratch.
The licensing page states that Wyoming must have a reciprocal agreement with the state the applicant is reciprocating from, so a journeyman from any other state applies for the Wyoming journeyman exam. Out-of-state work experience is accepted toward the 8,000-hour requirement when documented by notarized employer letters or the Journeyman and Master Work Verification Form, notarized union letters, or official letters from other licensing boards; the department says a copy of a current license from another state board whose work-history requirement is equal to or more stringent than Wyoming's 8,000 hours may be accepted as proof of work history. The applicant must still show 576 hours of approved apprenticeship classroom instruction (or 10 years / 20,000 hours as a licensed journeyman or master approved by the Chief Electrical Inspector), pass the exam with 70%, and then pay the $100 license fee through the eLicense portal. W.S. 35-9-126(d) also lets the department issue a reciprocal license to anyone whose out-of-state license was obtained through an exam equal to or exceeding Wyoming's, but the department does not describe using that discretion outside its listed agreement states.
The licensing page does not name the exam vendor or the exam fee; it says testing fees are paid to the testing facility, and W.S. 35-9-129 caps the examination fee at $300. Each processing step can take up to five business days.
At a glance
- Trade exam
- Required
- Law / code exam
- Not required
- Out-of-state hours
- Count toward eligibility
- Typical processing
- About 15 days
What you must already have
- You must document at least 8,000 hours of qualifying work experience.Four years in the electrical wiring industry under a qualifying electrician for a licensed electrical contractor; no more than 75% in any one of residential, commercial or industrial; up to 4,000 hours of credit for electrical schooling beyond the required 576 hours
- 576 hours (144 per year over four years) of electrically related classroom instruction from a Department of Labor approved apprenticeship program, or 10 years / 20,000 hours as a licensed journeyman or master electrician approved by the Chief Electrical Inspector
What you'll do to get licensed in Wyoming
- 1Trade exam. Pass the destination's trade exam. Wyoming Journeyman Electrician examination, open book on the current NEC, 70% to pass.
- 2Exam fee. Pay the exam fee. Examination fee paid to the testing facility (amount not published on the licensing page; statutory cap $300).
- 3License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($100). Initial Journeyman Electrician license fee paid after uploading the exam pass letter (plus 2.5% card processing fee).
- 4Other. Government-issued ID verification in the eLicense portal, work verification documents and apprenticeship education transcripts.
Published fees on this path total $100, excluding exam-vendor fees, bonds, and insurance.
What you'll need to buy or arrange
Exam preparation
Most boards contract PSI, Prov, or ICC for exams. Check which code edition the exam is written to before buying a prep course.
- Trade exam
- Exam fee
How Wyoming licenses journeyman electricians
Wyoming journeyman electrician · “Journeyman Electrician”
Statewide license
Wyoming issues a statewide Journeyman Electrician license through the Department of Fire Prevention and Electrical Safety (the State Fire Marshal's Office); the governor-appointed Electrical Board adopts the licensing rules. To sit for the exam an applicant documents four years (8,000 hours) of work in the electrical wiring industry under a qualifying electrician for a licensed contractor, spread across residential, commercial and industrial work with no more than 75% in one category, plus 576 hours of approved apprenticeship classroom instruction (or 20,000 hours as a licensed electrician in lieu of schooling). The open-book exam is on the current NEC (2023, with the 2026 NEC effective July 1, 2026) and requires 70%. The initial license fee is $100; the license runs three years, expiring January 1, and renews for $50 with 16 hours of board-approved continuing education. Wyoming has journeyman reciprocity agreements with seventeen states and waives its exam for their licensees.
Why Illinois has nothing to transfer
Illinois journeyman electrician
Licensed by cities and counties
Illinois does not issue a statewide journeyman electrician license; the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation does not license electricians at any level, and state law only authorizes municipalities to register electrical contractors. Licensing of individual electricians is done, where it exists, by cities and counties under their own ordinances, and requirements vary by jurisdiction. In the largest jurisdictions the individual credential is a supervising or master-level license (Chicago's Supervising Electrician, Springfield's Electrical License based on the ICC Master Electrician exam) rather than a journeyman card, and non-supervising electricians work as employees under that licensed person or contractor. An out-of-state journeyman license has no state-level recognition in Illinois; a journeyman must check the rules of each municipality where they will work and apply locally if that municipality licenses individuals.
How local licensing works in Illinois
How local licensing works. Illinois has no state electrician license and no state electrical board. The Illinois Municipal Code (65 ILCS 5/11-33-1) allows each municipality to require registration of electrical contractors, with an annual fee of $25, and provides that a contractor registered in one municipality cannot be required to register or pay a fee in another. Anything beyond registration (examinations, experience requirements, supervising or master licenses) comes from each city's or county's own ordinance. Employees of an electrical contractor are expressly excluded from the statutory definition of 'electrical contractor', so state law does not require any personal license for a journeyman-level worker.
Chicago. The Department of Buildings licenses Supervising Electricians (individuals) and Electrical Contractors (businesses). There is no Chicago journeyman license. The supervising electrician exam requires age 21 and at least 2 years of experience under a supervising electrician or equivalent, verified by supervisor letters; general and low-voltage exams are offered through Continental Testing Services (2026 fees: $150 exam, $150 initial license, $150 annual renewal). For 'Class 1' work (buildings over 55 feet or large assembly occupancies before a certificate of occupancy), every worker must be a licensed supervising electrician or have completed or be enrolled in a U.S. Department of Labor-recognized apprenticeship of at least 8,000 hours; this apprenticeship standard is the closest thing Chicago has to a journeyman qualification. All other work is done by employees under the contractor's supervising electrician. Chicago's pages do not describe any reciprocity or endorsement for out-of-state licenses.
Springfield. The Building and Zoning Department issues an Electrical License to individuals who document 5 years of electrical experience (2 supervisory) and pass the ICC National Standard Master Electrician exam (W16); the Springfield Electrical Commission approves applications and the fee is $25. A limited grandfather clause applies to licenses from other Illinois or out-of-state municipalities with reciprocal testing that were issued before 10/10/2007; otherwise the ICC exam is required. Contractors performing work in the city must also register.
Peoria. Electrical licenses are issued to individuals, not businesses ($150 annual). Holders of Normal or Pekin licenses may register without testing; everyone else must submit an ICC contractor exam certificate (2017 code cycle or newer).
Rockford. Electrical contractors are not licensed, only registered ($25 per calendar year, or free with proof of current registration or license in another Illinois municipality).
Naperville and Aurora. Both accept current ICC certifications (Standard Master Electrician for commercial, Standard Residential Electrician for residential) or a license from a listed testing municipality in lieu of local testing; Naperville stopped issuing its own electrical licenses after 2022 and now registers electrical contractors. Insurance naming the city is required.
Elgin. Requires a contractor's license from any Illinois city that gives a written NEC-based examination, or Elgin's own exam administered through CLEC Enterprises.
Unincorporated Cook County. Electrical contractors must register ($150 initial, $75 annual renewal per trade), provide $1,000,000 general liability insurance, and submit a supervising electrician's license from an Illinois city, town or village that has an electrical commission administering an examination.
Out-of-state holders. None of these jurisdictions publish a reciprocity or endorsement path for licenses from other states. In practice the portable credentials inside Illinois are the ICC National Standard Master/Residential Electrician exams and licenses from testing municipalities such as Chicago; an electrician arriving from another state should expect to take the ICC exam or the local exam and apply separately in each municipality that licenses individuals.
Common questions
- Do I have to take the Wyoming journeyman electrician exam if I'm licensed in Illinois?
- Yes. Wyoming requires the trade exam on this path.
- What does it cost to get a Wyoming journeyman electrician license from Illinois?
- Published fees on this path total $100, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.
- Do my Illinois work hours count in Wyoming?
- Yes. Documented out-of-state experience counts toward Wyoming's eligibility requirements.
- How long does the application take?
- The board's published or typical processing time is about 15 days.
- Does it work the other way, from Wyoming to Illinois?
- Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from Wyoming to Illinois, the mechanism is not applicable.
Sources
- Wyoming Statutes Title 35, Chapter 9, Article 1 - Department of Fire Prevention and Electrical Safety · W.S. 35-9-126(a), 35-9-126(d), 35-9-129 · Wyoming Legislature · Statute · verified September 15, 202635-9-126(a): applicants for master and journeyman licenses apply to the chief electrical inspector, pass the examination and pay the license fee; a master license expires July 1 and a journeyman license January 1 in the third year after issue; up to 4,000 hours of electrical school credit toward work experience. 35-9-126(d): the department may issue a reciprocal license to an applicant who obtained an out-of-state or foreign license through an examination equal to or exceeding Wyoming's. 35-9-129: fee caps - master $200, journeyman $100, temporary permit $50, examination $300.
- Wyoming State Fire Marshal's Office - Fire Council and Electrical Board · Wyoming Department of Fire Prevention and Electrical Safety · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026The five-member Electrical Board appointed by the governor adopts the rules for licensing master and journeyman electricians, technicians, apprentices, temporary permits and reciprocal licenses.
- Wyoming State Fire Marshal's Office - Electrical Safety Home Page · Wyoming Department of Fire Prevention and Electrical Safety · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026Effective April 1, 2025 a 2.5% processing fee (minimum $1) is added to card payments; Wyoming currently enforces the 2023 NEC with the 2026 NEC effective July 1, 2026; links the licensing portal and the statutes and rules.
- Wyoming Department of Fire Prevention and Electrical Safety - Licensing · W.S. 35-9-101 et seq. · Wyoming State Fire Marshal's Office, Electrical Safety Division · Agency Page · verified September 15, 2026The only statewide construction-trade licensing program in Wyoming; the page lists apprentice, low-voltage/limited technician, journeyman and master electrician licenses and electrical/low-voltage contractor licenses. It contains no HVAC, mechanical or refrigeration license. The one HVAC-related state credential is the LM-H Limited Technician license, which covers the electrical wiring of HVAC systems only.
Verified dates are when a person last opened each source and confirmed the facts above. Cite the board, not us.