Virginia Medical License Renewal, 2026

i Deadlines, fees, and what happens if you are late

1 Step-by-Step: Renewing Your Virginia Medical License

Follow these steps to renew your medical license with the Virginia Board of Medicine (Department of Health Professions):

1. Complete your CME for the cycle (30 hours) (see details below)
2. Log in to the Virginia Board of Medicine (Department of Health Professions) renewal portal
3. Complete the renewal application and answer the attestation questions
4. Pay the renewal fee ($337 (active MD/DO biennial renewal; inactive license renewal is $168) per 18VAC85-20-22)
5. Submit and save your confirmation

2 Virginia CME Requirements

30 hours per 2-year cycle.

• At least 30 hours in Category 1

Tracking your CME across multiple states is one of the most time-consuming parts of credential management. CredentialDOMD automatically monitors your CME progress and alerts you when you're falling behind, so you never miss a requirement.

3 Common Pitfalls to Avoid

These are the mistakes Virginia physicians most commonly make during renewal:

• The physician cycle is birth month of EVEN-numbered years, but other Board of Medicine professions (e.g. physician assistants) renew in odd-numbered years; physicians holding multiple DHP credentials can misread which year applies to which license.
• Virginia went paperless: no paper license or renewal card is mailed. Hospitals or payers asking for a wallet card must be pointed to the DHP License Lookup, where renewed status posts once the fee is validated.
• First-time online renewers must register on the DHP portal using the PIN printed on the mailed renewal notice (sent about 45-60 days before expiration); a lost PIN requires emailing [email protected] with name, 10-digit license number, DOB, and last 4 of SSN, which adds lead time.
• CME is attested at renewal, not documented: the Board runs random post-renewal audits and gives a deadline to produce documentation, so certificates must be retained even though nothing is uploaded at renewal.
• Two successive years lapsed is a hard cliff: the $115 late-renewal path closes, the fee jumps to $497 with a reinstatement application and back-CME attestation (up to 4 years' worth), and more than four years out of active practice can trigger a SPEX/COMVEX exam requirement (18VAC85-20-240).

4 Frequently Asked Questions

✓ Where this comes from

From the board's own pages, August 2026. These are the primary sources we read:

• 18VAC85-20-22 fee schedule: $337 active renewal due birth month in even-numbered years, $168 inactive, $115 late fee (within one cycle), $55 inactive late fee, $497 reinstatement after 2+ years, $2,000 reinstatement after suspension/denial, $5 duplicate
• 18VAC85-20-230 renewal of active license: biennial renewal during birth month, CME per 18VAC85-20-235, late fee per 18VAC85-20-22(H)
• 18VAC85-20-240 reinstatement: required after 2+ successive years lapsed; application + fee; back-CME attestation capped at 4 years; SPEX/COMVEX possible if >4 years out of active practice; board discretion to deny
• Board fees page confirming MD/DO fees live in 18VAC85-20-22 (links to the regulation)
• CME requirement: 18VAC85-20-235 (eff. 2025-02-27); Va. Code § 54.1-2912.1; § 54.1-2928.3

Boards change fees and rules; always confirm on the board page before you pay. Report anything out of date to [email protected].