Why apply for the New York Verification Process?

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) requires applicants for licensure as physical therapists and physical therapist assistants to obtain independent verification of the authenticity of their credentials from a NYSED-approved Credential Verification Organization (CVO).

FCCPT has been approved by NYSED to verify credentials in these two levels of healthcare workers.

If you are a foreign-educated physical therapist or physical therapist assistant seeking a license to practice in New York state, you need to begin the process by completing an online application through FCCPT for the New York Verification Process.

There is a separate, additional application for licensure in New York state, the Application for Licensure and First Registration. In order to be licensed in New York state, you must complete this application and send it to NYSED, not FCCPT. It is available at www.op.nysed.gov/prof/pt.

Description of the verification process
New York State licensure regulations require that the educational and licensure documents be collected and verified in a particular way. FCCPT’s process follows procedures set forth by New York State Education Department (NYSED).

• Applicant pays and completes the online FCCPT application for the New York Credentials Verification Process.
• Applicant submits to FCCPT all necessary request forms for academic and license verification. The request forms must include:
  • full address of the appropriate academic and license institution,
  • name of the person who will be receiving the form,
  • and phone number of the office where the form will be received.
• The applicant cannot be involved in the collection process of the documents in any way.
• FCCPT will send these request forms to the school(s) attended and to the licensing or registration authority within 15 working days of receipt.
• The schools and licensing/registration authorities must return the forms FCCPT sends to them along with official transcripts, course descriptions, and license/registration documents to meet the NY verification requirements.
• Once all required documents are collected:
  • FCCPT completes the verification process.
  • FCCPT sends copies of the documents to New York State Education Department (NYSED).
  • NYSED completes the evaluation process.
• It is important to note that FCCPT does not evaluate any of the documents collected for the New York Verification Process.
• FCCPT will notify the applicant when the documents have been sent to NYSED.
• Applicants should then follow up with the NY Board for Physical Therapy.

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