Deferring the Exam

You can defer your New Mexico bar exam one time without losing your application fee. You can take the exam any at any future date, but if that date is more than one year after your graduation date, you will be charged the $500 difference between the exam periods. Following your first deferral, you may elect to withdraw from the exam, but your fee will not be applied to a future exam.

Request a deferral by emailing info@nmexam.org.

Retaking the Exam

There are no limits on the number of times you can retake the exam after failing the New Mexico bar exam.

If you have failed for your first time, you may apply to sit for the next two exams (the dates immediately following the failed exam) for a reduced fee of $100 per exam. Following those retakes, the application fee becomes $1,000 per exam.

Retake and Post-Deferral Applications

Uniform Bar Examination Courtesy Seating: Examinees who wish to sit in New Mexico only in order to transfer their scores to other states are no longer permitted to take the bar exam in New Mexico.

Step 1: Read the Following Documents

Step 2: Gather and Complete the Forms for Your Application Packet

  1. Bar Exam Retake/Deferral Cover Sheet & Instructions
  2. Character and Fitness Application and Acknowledgement Page
  3. NMBBE Authorization and Release Form
  4. Current credit report 
  5. Statement[s] of Discipline and Certificate(s) of Good Standing from any state in which you are or have been licensed
  6. Confirmation of NCBE Number Certification
  7. Laptop Release of Liability Form
  8. Test Accommodation Request, if applicable. View the policy, instructions, and forms

Step 3: Prepare Your Application Fee

Step 4: Request Other Documents

The following documents must be requested by you and sent directly to our office by the issuing entity, unless they were already sent as part of a prior application:

Step 5: Make Copies of All Documents from Steps 2 and 3

  • This is for your records. Originals must be sent in your application packet.

Step 6: Mail Your Application

  • All documents from Steps 2 and 3 must be sent as a single packet (incomplete packets will be automatically rejected) to:

New Mexico Board of Bar Examiners
Attn: Bar Examination Retake/Deferral
2440 Louisiana Blvd. NE, Suite 280
Albuquerque, NM 87110

  • We recommend getting a tracking number for your packet as we cannot answer questions about whether materials have arrived.

  • Deadline is not a postmark date, but when the application must be in our hands.

Step 7: Class in New Mexico Law

  • This day-long, required class is scheduled for the Thursday immediately following the administration of the bar exam; you will be registered automatically upon receipt of your complete application. If you have already taken the class within three years of passing the exam, you do not need to take it again.

Deadlines & Fees

Please note that examinees are no longer permitted to sit for the New Mexico bar exam on a UBE Courtesy basis; all examinees must be bona fide applicants to join the New Mexico bar.

July 27 & 28, 2021: Exam Dates

July 29, 2021: Required Course in New Mexico Law

January 1, 2021: Application acceptance period opens

May 10, 2021 at 5 p.m.: Re-examination and Post-deferral Filing Deadline

Re-exam & Deferred Filing Fees: 

  • Applicants applying within one year of their first failed New Mexico Bar Exam: $100
  • Applicants who registered but deferred taking the exam once, at the next exam administration: your prior exam fee will be applied to the new exam; if your fee status has changed, you will need to pay the difference
  • Applicants more than one year from their first New Mexico Bar Exam or who have deferred more than once: $1000

No re-examination or deferral applications will be accepted after the filing deadline and no part of the filing fee is refundable. 

All application deadlines are in-office and not postmark deadlines.

Dates and fees are subject to change by order of the New Mexico Supreme Court.

Please note that examinees are no longer permitted to sit for the New Mexico bar exam on a UBE Courtesy basis; all examinees must be bona fide applicants to join the New Mexico bar.

February 22-23, 2022: Exam Dates

February 24, 2022: Required Course in New Mexico Law

August 16, 2021: Application acceptance period opens

December 10, 2021 at 5 p.m.: Re-exam & Post-deferral Filing Deadline

Re-exam & Deferred Filing Fees: 

  • Applicants applying within one year of their first failed New Mexico Bar Exam: $100
  • Applicants who registered but deferred taking the exam once, at the next exam administration: your prior exam fee will be applied to the new exam; if your fee status has changed, you will need to pay the difference
  • Applicants more than one year from their first New Mexico Bar Exam or who have deferred more than once: $1000

No re-examination or deferral applications will be accepted after the filing deadline and no part of the filing fee is refundable.

All application deadlines are in-office and not postmark deadlines.

Dates and fees are subject to change by order of the New Mexico Supreme Court.

 

July 26 & 27, 2022: Exam Dates

July 28, 2022: Required Course in New Mexico Law

January 1, 2022: Application acceptance period opens

May 10, 2022 at 5 p.m.: Re-examination and Post-deferral Filing Deadline

Re-exam & Deferred Filing Fees: 

  • Applicants applying within one year of their first failed New Mexico Bar Exam: $100
  • Applicants who registered but deferred taking the exam once, at the next exam administration: your prior exam fee will be applied to the new exam; if your fee status has changed, you will need to pay the difference
  • Applicants more than one year from their first New Mexico Bar Exam or who have deferred more than once: $1000

No re-examination or deferral applications will be accepted after the filing deadline and no part of the filing fee is refundable. 

All application deadlines are in-office and not postmark deadlines.

Dates and fees are subject to change by order of the New Mexico Supreme Court.