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United States Licensing Atlas

Hawaii Massage Therapy Licensing Requirements

Hawaii requires an individual Massage Therapist license to perform massage for compensation. The standard pathway requires 570 hours of qualifying education and training, current adult-and-infant CPR, Board approval, and passage of the Hawaii Massage Licensing Examination administered through PSI. Hawaii also licenses massage establishments and regulates principal massage therapists, out-call services, and apprentices separately.

Statewide requirements and local regulation are identified separately. This record is general information, not legal advice.

Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Professional and Vocational Licensing Division, Board of Massage Therapy
HI · licensing record1 MI ≈ 1.7 PX
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Overview

State massage therapist license required to perform massage for compensation

Last verified 2026-10-06

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.

Before you act

Details worth confirming

Requirements can change, and some official materials differ on narrow details. Use the current official instructions when applying or renewing.

CE detail relies on interim Board guidance

Current Board guidance supplies CE detail while the posted massage rules have not yet been updated to codify the program standards.

Proposed MBLEx changes are not current law

Hawaii does not currently accept MBLEx in place of its licensing examination. Board discussion and proposed rules do not create a current alternative pathway.

Regulatory authority

Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Professional and Vocational Licensing Division, Board of Massage Therapy

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

Entry requirements

Education, examination, and application

Credential
Massage Therapist (MAT)
Credential requirement
A Hawaii Massage Therapist license is required to engage in massage for compensation unless a statutory exemption applies. Establishments and out-call services have separate licensing duties.
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 specifies both academic components, the 50-hour and the 100-hour requirements, as in-class coursework. Confirm a specific online or hybrid programme's acceptability with the Board before enrolling. 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
The Board must approve an applicant before that person may register to test. On approval the Board mails or emails an examination approval letter, and asks candidates to allow up to twenty-four hours after it is issued before registering. Registration and the examination fee are handled directly with PSI Services, the Board's examination provider since January 2023, online or by telephone. The Board's rule provides that the examination is conducted within the State four times a year as the board determines. Answering whether a candidate may test outside Hawaii, the Board's frequently-asked-questions guidance states that examination availability is typically year round at testing centres throughout the United States, that availability is at PSI's sole discretion, and that candidates should contact PSI for availability and locations. The Board's examination-dates page lists no scheduled dates, so confirm the dates that apply to you with the Board and PSI. The application for examination is due forty-five days before the examination date, and the Board states that weekends and holidays are included in calculating those forty-five days.
MBLEx relationship
Hawaii does not accept an MBLEx score in place of the Hawaii Massage Licensing Examination, and the Board's proposed rule revision (April 2026) does not add an MBLEx 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. Licensing staff state that application processing is generally forty-five to sixty business days from receipt of a completed application, and that an incomplete application, documents still awaited from a third party, or a pending examination or Board approval can extend that. The division also asks applicants to allow up to seven business days for a submitted application to appear as pending in its online status search.
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.

Renewal

Renewal and continuing education

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.
Continuing education
12 hrs
Renewal fee
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.

Practice information

Scope, titles, and local requirements

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.
Establishments and other regulated activities
Massage establishments, out-call massage services, principal massage therapists, and massage therapist apprentices have distinct licensing or permit requirements. Locations where massage is regularly performed generally require an establishment license, while a licensed therapist may provide services at a client's residence or place of business under the Board's stated framework.
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 and introduced reflexology legislation are not current requirements unless formally adopted or enacted.

Authoritative sources

Official record evidence

Change history

Public record revisions

No revision to this record has been published yet. Its current review dates are in the overview above, and its official sources are listed below.