Rule 31.4 - Admission by transferred UBE score(1)UBE score transferability. An applicant who has earned a UBE score in another jurisdiction may transfer the UBE score and file an application for admission by transferred UBE score at any time on or after December 1, 2015, provided: a. The transferred UBE score is NCBE-certified and is a combined, scaled score of 266 or above.b. The application includes a nonrefundable administrative fee of $900. The applicant must pay the applicable fee charged by any electronic application vendor.c. The applicant causes the NCBE to transfer the UBE score no later than three months after the application is filed.d. The applicant has received an LL.B. or a J.D. degree from a reputable law school fully or provisionally approved by the American Bar Association at the time the applicant graduated. Proof of this requirement will be by affidavit of the law school's dean on the board's dean's affidavit form. The affidavit must be made before an officer authorized to administer oaths and having a seal.e. The applicant has earned a scaled score of at least 80 on the MPRE administered by the NCBE.f. The applicant has not been denied admission or permission to sit for a bar examination by any jurisdiction on character and fitness grounds.(2)Time limits for transferring a UBE score. A UBE score can be transferred to Iowa subject to the following time limits:a. Any applicant may transfer a qualifying UBE score without a showing of prior legal practice if the score was from a UBE administered within two years immediately preceding the transfer application filing date.b. An attorney applicant may transfer a qualifying UBE score up to five years after the examination was taken upon proof that the applicant regularly engaged in the practice of law for at least two years of the last three years immediately preceding the transfer application filing date. For the purposes of this rule, "regularly engaged in the practice of law" means the applicant has practiced law for at least 1000 hours per year. The board may require the applicant to provide a certificate of regular practice required for motion applicants under Iowa Court Rule 31.13(1) (b) that addresses the period of practice this rule requires.(3)Character and fitness investigation.a. The board will investigate the moral character and fitness of any applicant for admission by transferred UBE score and may procure the services of any bar association, agency, organization, or individual qualified to make a moral character or fitness report on the applicant. The board may require that an applicant obtain, at applicant's expense, an investigative report from the NCBE if, in the board's judgment, the application reveals substantial questions regarding the applicant's character or fitness to practice law. Any applicant obtaining an NCBE investigative report must pay the NCBE required fee in addition to the administrative fee. The board's decision to require an NCBE report is not subject to review.b. The board may impose specific character and fitness or other conditions for admission on the applicant and will withhold recommendation of admission until those conditions are satisfied.(4)Time for satisfying admission requirements. Applicants for admission by transferred UBE score must satisfy all requirements for admission to the bar of this state within one year after the date of written notification to the applicant that the transfer application has been granted or of the conditions the board has imposed. The one-year period may be extended by the board upon the applicant's showing of good cause. The supreme court will make the final determination as to those persons who will be admitted to the practice in this state.(5)Only certified UBE scores will be accepted. The board will not accept transferred scores unless they are certified as UBE scores by the NCBE and will not address petitions to treat a noncertified score as a UBE score.(6)Oath or affirmation before Iowa Supreme Court; exceptions.a. An applicant who is granted admission by transferred UBE score must appear for admission by oath or affirmation before an Iowa Supreme Court justice, unless the supreme court orders otherwise based upon the applicant's satisfactory showing of exceptional circumstances.b. An applicant may file a petition seeking permission file a written lawyer's oath or affirmation. The petition must set forth in detail: the exceptional circumstances that render the applicant unable to appear for admission before an Iowa Supreme Court justice.c. If the supreme court grants the petition, the office of professional regulation will forward all documents required for executing the oath or affirmation to the applicant. The supreme court will deem the applicant to be admitted to the Iowa bar on the date the completed documents are filed with the office of professional regulation.d. Within one year after the supreme court grants the petition, the applicant must take the lawyer's oath or affirmation from an Iowa Supreme Court justice or file the written oath or affirmation. If the applicant's oath or affirmation is not completed within one year, the supreme court will deem the application to be denied.(7)Stale applications. An application for admission by transferred UBE score that the board has not granted will be deemed administratively withdrawn one year from the date the application was filed with the office of professional regulation, except when the board has imposed specific character and fitness or other conditions for admission on the applicant under rule 31.4(3). a. Before the one-year withdrawal date, an applicant may request an extension. If the board finds that administrative withdrawal of the application would work a hardship on the applicant and that sufficient cause exists, the board may extend the application beyond the one-year withdrawal date for a period of time not exceeding an additional six months.b. The board's denial of an application to extend the withdrawal date is subject to supreme court review upon the applicant's request.Court Order June 5, 1996, effective 7/1/1996; (Priorto 7/1/1996, Court Rule 102 );11/9/2001, effective 2/15/2002; 6/5/2008, effective 7/1/2008; 9/17/2008; 10/15/2015; 9/14/2017, effective 11/2/2017; 12/13/2017, effective 1/1/2018; Order November 16, 2018, effective 12/15/2018; October 24, 2019, effective 1/1/2020; Order December 18, 2020, effective 1/1/2021; court order March 11, 2022, effective 4/1/2022.