Hawaii massage licensing record

This record covers statewide professional and establishment licensing. General county business, zoning, tax, and land-use requirements may still apply. No massage-specific delegation to local licensing or statewide preemption rule was identified in the reviewed state sources.

• Official application
• Official renewal information
• Official statutes or rules

Local business, facility, zoning, and professional rules may apply in addition to statewide requirements. Confirm current requirements with the responsible authority before acting.

Credential

Massage Therapist (MAT)

Minimum education

570 hours

Approved education

Applicants must document at least 570 hours: 50 hours of anatomy, physiology, and structural kinesiology; 100 hours of massage theory and demonstration; and 420 hours of practical massage training. The current application calls the first 150 hours in-class, while the Board's May 2025 minutes state that current law and rules do not prohibit online academic coursework when the school, provider, course, and certification requirements are met. Practical training may be completed in a qualifying school or through Hawaii's Board-approved apprenticeship pathway. Education obtained outside Hawaii is reviewed independently against Hawaii's current requirements and the approval status of the school at the time of attendance.

Examination

After the Board approves the applicant's education and training, the applicant must pass the Hawaii Massage Licensing Examination administered through PSI. Current Board instructions and posted examination dates should be used for registration and deadlines. The current posted rule still describes a written clinical competency examination four times per year and a forty-five-day application deadline, while current operations use Board preapproval and PSI scheduling.

MBLEx relationship

Hawaii does not currently accept an MBLEx score in place of the Hawaii Massage Licensing Examination. The Board discussed possible future use of MBLEx and a Hawaii-specific jurisprudence component in 2025, but that discussion did not adopt a requirement or create an alternative pathway.

Application

Apply through MyPVL or by paper, submit the application fee and records documenting qualifying education and training, provide contemporaneous course descriptions and proof that the school or program was approved when attended, submit a current adult-and-infant CPR card, and disclose specified licensing, disciplinary, and criminal history. After Board approval, register with PSI for the Hawaii examination and pay the applicable examination and initial-license fees.

Application fees

The current nonrefundable application fee is $50 and the current PSI examination fee is $90. Board materials identify an initial active-license amount of $164 or a half-cycle amount of $82 depending on the point in the biennial cycle. Confirm all amounts and the amount due for the intended issuance date before paying.

Background check or fingerprinting

No routine fingerprinting requirement was identified in the current application or FAQ. Applicants must answer disciplinary and criminal-history questions; an affirmative conviction response requires supporting court records and a current criminal-history record check from the relevant state or states for Board review.

Reciprocity or endorsement

Hawaii does not provide automatic reciprocity based on another jurisdiction's license, national certification, MBLEx score, or other state examination. Out-of-state applicants must independently document education and training that satisfies Hawaii's requirements, obtain Board approval, and pass the Hawaii examination.

Additional requirements

Applicants must be at least 18 and be a United States citizen, United States national, or alien authorized to work in the United States before a license may issue. A current adult-and-infant CPR certificate from the American Red Cross or American Heart Association is required; online-only CPR is not accepted, although the Board may review another CPR course through a waiver process.

Cycle

Massage therapist and massage establishment licenses renew every two years and expire on June 30 of each even-numbered year regardless of the original issuance date.

Deadline model

For the 2026 renewal cycle, the Board accepted on-time renewals from May 4 through June 30, 2026. A license not renewed by June 30 is forfeited, and the person may not practice until properly restored or relicensed.

Fees

For the 2026–2028 period, the on-time active Massage Therapist renewal fee is $164 and inactive renewal is $12. The Board lists restoration within one year at $264 for active status or $112 for inactive status. Confirm current fees for later cycles.

Continuing education

Massage therapists must complete at least 12 continuing-education hours during each biennial reporting period, including two hours of first aid, CPR, or other emergency-related training with a hands-on component. Current Board guidance supplies interim detail while the posted massage rules have not been updated to codify the CE program standards.

Required subjects

Two of the 12 hours must be first aid, CPR, or other emergency-related training with a hands-on component. The remaining ten hours may cover subjects that increase the therapist's professional knowledge of massage, including ethics and safety topics identified in Board guidance; practice-building or business-development instruction does not qualify under that guidance.

Documentation

Licensees attest to CE completion at renewal. The Board may audit, and a selected licensee must submit documentation within 60 days of written notice. A current record-retention duration was not identified in the reviewed materials, so practitioners should retain complete certificates and provider/course details and confirm the Board's current expectation.

Carryover

No authorization for carrying CE hours into a later biennium was identified in the reviewed statute, current FAQ, or interim guidance. This record does not infer a prohibition beyond those sources.

Late renewal

A license not renewed by June 30 of an even-numbered year is forfeited. It may be restored within one year by meeting restoration requirements, paying the listed restoration amount, and documenting CE for the preceding biennium. After one year, the former licensee generally must apply as a new applicant and meet then-current requirements; the Board may consider a written-examination waiver upon written request and evidence of current knowledge and skill.

Inactive license

Hawaii allows inactive renewal. An inactive license does not authorize practice and does not require CE for the inactive renewal itself, but reactivation requires proof that the prior biennium's CE requirement was met. Current reactivation forms and fees should be confirmed before applying.

Scope of practice

HRS chapter 452 defines massage, massage therapy, and Hawaiian massage commonly known as lomilomi as methods of treating superficial soft parts of the body through listed manual actions using the hands, feet, elbows, or arms. The statutory definition and exclusions, not a school's modality list, control the regulated scope.

Protected titles

Hawaii prohibits unlicensed compensated massage practice and requires massage advertising to include a current license number. Practitioners and establishments must display applicable licenses and permits as the law requires. This record does not extend those provisions beyond the licensed commercial practice addressed by the statute and official establishment guidance.

Restrictions

A licensee may not misrepresent training in a technique and is subject to HRS chapter 452 and the uniform licensing act's disciplinary standards. Consult the complete current statute and Board materials for all grounds and procedures.

Municipal or local requirements

General county business licensing, zoning, land-use, tax, and premises rules may apply. No massage-specific local licensing delegation or statewide preemption provision was identified in the reviewed state massage sources, and no county-by-county ordinance inventory was completed.

Practitioner notes

Verify both the individual's MAT license and any required establishment or out-call licensing through MyPVL. Use the Board's current application, examination-date, renewal, and CE guidance pages because the posted HAR chapter contains older operational details. Proposed rules, Board discussion of MBLEx, and introduced reflexology legislation are not current requirements unless formally adopted or enacted.

• Hawaii DCCA PVL — Board of Massage Therapy · accessed 2026-07-13
• Hawaii Board of Massage Therapy — Application Forms and Publications · accessed 2026-07-13
• Hawaii Board of Massage Therapy — Massage Therapist Application Requirements and Instructions · accessed 2026-07-13
• Hawaii Board of Massage Therapy — Education and Training Hours Coursework Form · accessed 2026-07-13
• Hawaii Board of Massage Therapy — Massage Therapist Apprentice Registration Requirements · accessed 2026-07-13
• Hawaii Board of Massage Therapy — Massage Therapy Establishment Application Requirements · accessed 2026-07-13
• Hawaii Board of Massage Therapy — Frequently Asked Questions, revised April 2025 · accessed 2026-07-13
• Hawaii Board of Massage Therapy — Application Deadlines and Examination Dates · accessed 2026-07-13
• Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 452 — Massage · accessed 2026-07-13
• Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 84 — Massage Therapy · accessed 2026-07-13
• Hawaii Board of Massage Therapy — Continuing Education Guidance and FAQ · accessed 2026-07-13
• Hawaii DCCA PVL — Reactivation Application · accessed 2026-07-13
• Hawaii RICO — Licensed Massage Establishments in Hawaii · accessed 2026-07-13
• Hawaii MyPVL — Public License Search · accessed 2026-07-13
• Hawaii Board of Massage Therapy — Meeting Minutes Index (May 6, 2025 minutes reviewed) · accessed 2026-07-13
• Hawaii DCCA PVL — Proposed HAR Chapter 84 Massage Therapy · accessed 2026-07-13
• Hawaii Legislature — HB 1862 (2026), Relating to Massage Therapy · accessed 2026-07-13

Future verified changes will be listed from this Git-backed record.