Effective July 31, 2013, internationally educated occupational therapists must meet one of the following minimum criteria to be considered eligible for the OTR® certification examination:

1. Completion of an Entry-Level Bachelor’s  Degree in Occupational Therapy from a government authorized and/or WFOT approved college or university occupational therapy educational program AND a Post Professional Masters Degree in Occupational Therapy** OR
2. Completion of an Entry-Level Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy from a government authorized and/or WFOT approved college or university occupational therapy educational program**

**    In addition to the master’s degree requirement in occupational therapy, applicants must complete NBCOT’s Occupational Therapist Eligibility Determination (OTED) review to determine comparability to US accreditation occupational therapy educational standards/competencies.

Important Note: July 31, 2013, is the deadline for all internationally-educated occupational therapists who submitted OTED applications with a bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy to be complete (having no outstanding documents and having passed the TOEFL ibt™).   After July 31, 2013, incomplete applications will be returned.

All internationally-educated occupational therapists reviewed under current OTED eligibility standards and approved for exam eligibility with a bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy must take the OTR® examination by July 31, 2014.  After this date, only those approved with a master’s degree in occupational therapy deemed comparable to a U.S. entry-level accredited master’s degree in occupational therapy will be eligible to apply for the OTR® examination.

Please direct all inquiries to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

March 27, 2012