Qualifying: Applicants² may qualify to take the New York bar examination four ways: 1) Graduation from an American Bar Association approved law school (see Section 520.3 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals); (2) Combination of law school and law office study (see Section 520.4 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals); (3) Graduation from an unapproved law school and practice in a jurisdiction³ where admitted for five years (see Section 520.5 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals); (4) Foreign law study (see Section 520.6 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals).

　　纽约州报考资格评估：

　　Obtaining an Evaluation⁴ of Credentials⁵: To determine if an applicant¹ educated outside the United States is eligible⁶ to take the New York State bar examination the Board must evaluate his or her legal education. You may download a Request for Evaluation of Foreign Academic Credentials from the "Application Materials" section of this website. You should complete it in its entirety and mail it, together with all required supporting documents, to: NYS Board OF LAW EXAMINERS, 1 EXECUTIVE CENTRE DRIVE, SUITE⁷ 202, ALBANY, NY 12203. If the supporting documentation is to be sent directly by your law school, you should indicate that on the form.

　　An official transcript⁸ is one that contains an original seal or certification While originals will be accepted and are considered the best proof of your legal education, please keep in mind that they will not be returned. Transcripts⁹ which do not contain the original law school stamp or certification will not be evaluated. Photocopies¹⁰ and fax copies will not be evaluated. While an evaluation from an independent evaluation service, such as World Education Services, may be submitted to supplement your documents, it will not be considered as proof of your legal education, and the Board will conduct its own evaluation in any event.

　　All requests for evaluation should be sent to the Board at least six months prior to the examination for which the applicant plans to apply. Due to the large volume of correspondence which the Board receives, you should allow several months from the date of the Board s receipt of your request for a response.

　　Under no circumstances will an evaluation be given by phone, nor will an evaluation be expedited simply because the applicant needs to register for a bar review course therefore, we kindly¹¹ ask that you do not tie up the Board s phone lines with such requests. Once the application filing period begins, no evaluations¹² for that examination will be conducted. If a determination of eligibility¹³ is not completed before the application period begins, the applicant should file their application together with their official transcripts and assume the risk of being found ineligible¹⁴ to take the examination during the weeks prior to the date of the exam. Under no circumstances should an application be filed and a separate request for an evaluation be sent to the Board at the same time, as this merely delays and confuses the process.

　　外国法律学生报考条件：

　　Eligibility of Foreign Educated Applicants: Section 520.6 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals contains the provisions covering the eligibility of foreign-educated applicants for admission to the New York State bar examination. In order to be considered eligible to take the bar examination under Section 520.6, the applicant shall show fulfillment of the educational requirements for admission to the practice of law in a country other than the United States by successful completion of a period of study which is (1) the durational equivalent and (2) the substantial equivalent of the legal education required by Section 520.3. We strongly suggest that all interested applicants review Rule 520.6 prior to requesting an evaluation. A copy of the Court Rules are available on this website.

　　Generally, a minimum of three years full-time¹⁵ or four years part-time law study in a law school is required to satisfy (1) the durational requirement. External study, correspondence study, and distance learning are not recognized by the Board, notwithstanding the fact that such study may be recognized by the admitting authority of the country where you were educated. In order to satisfy (2) the substantive¹⁶ requirement, the Board must determine, at a minimum that: (a) the foreign country where the degree was obtained is one whose jurisprudence is based upon the principles of the English Common Law and, (b) that the program and course of study successfully completed by the applicant was the substantial equivalent of the legal education provided by an approved law school in the United States. The Board must establish that the applicant meets both the durational and substantive requirements in order to qualify to take the bar examination. Additionally, the foreign law school which the applicant attended must be recognized by the competent accrediting¹⁷ agency of the government of such other country, or of a political subdivision thereof, as qualified¹⁸ and approved. For further information, go to see:http://www.nybarexam.org/foreign.htm.