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California State Board of Pharmacy: Translation Requirements for Documents in Another Language
Yes, through the evaluation: California Board of Pharmacy asks for a credential evaluation, and FPGEC, one of the agencies it accepts, takes certified translations from professional services such as eVerbary.
Credential evaluation: FPGEC certification (ECE report inside)
- $24.95 per page
- Usually 24 h for 1–3 pages
- Signed certificate of accuracy, PDF
- See the price before you pay
How we know · policy checked on October 21, 2026
The California State Board of Pharmacy no longer asks foreign pharmacy graduates for transcripts or a separate foreign graduate application; it requires FPGEC certification, which it checks with NABP through your e-Profile number, and California law allows no waivers.
Your documents are translated for the FPGEC, which accepts certified translations from professional services such as eVerbary, but not translations you make yourself.
We translate your pharmacy records and license for the FPGEC process; we do not apply for certification, and the 1,500 intern hours California requires must be earned in the United States.
California Board of Pharmacy at a glance
Does it accept eVerbary? Yes
California requires FPGEC certification and no longer reviews foreign transcripts itself (Board notice), and the FPGEC accepts an official translation from "a professional translation service in any country" (FPGEC Bulletin), so a certified translation from a professional service such as eVerbary meets the rule that applies. Policy checked on October 21, 2026.
- Translation
- Through FPGEC; Board takes no transcripts
- Who may translate
- FPGEC rule: professional service, not applicant
- Credential evaluation
- FPGEC certification (ECE report inside)
- Price
- $24.95 per pageUp to 250 words, certification included
- Delivery
- 24 hoursStandard for one to three pages
- Grades
- As recordedNever converted to a US GPA
Checked on October 21, 2026. Sources are listed at the end of this page. Policies change: confirm on California Board of Pharmacy's own page before you submit.
Worth knowing about California Board of Pharmacy
No transcripts to California
The Board stopped collecting foreign graduates' transcripts.
No waivers
California law requires FPGEC certification without exception.
US hours only
1,500 pharmacy practice hours, all earned in the United States.
California Board of Pharmacy requirements in detail
Translation
The Board publishes no translation rule for foreign graduates, because it no longer collects their transcripts or a foreign graduate application (Graduates of foreign pharmacy schools: notice). Translations are made for the FPGEC, under its rule (FPGEC).
Who may translate
Set by the FPGEC: an official translator or a professional translation service in any country, never the applicant; every page signed and dated (FPGEC Bulletin: Documentation Requirements).
FPGEC certification
Required by law (Business and Professions Code section 4200) for intern and pharmacist licenses; the Board verifies it with NABP through your e-Profile number (application packet, intern packet).
Evaluation
Done inside the FPGEC process: ECE evaluates your pharmacy education for NABP (ECE). California asks for no other evaluation.
Pharmacy practice hours
1,500 hours as an intern pharmacist, at least 900 in a pharmacy, in both community and institutional settings, earned in the United States and documented on form 17A-29 (Pharmacist examination application packet 17M-29).
Identification at the CPJE
A national identity card counts only if it is in English (Pharmacist examination application packet 17M-29).
Exams
NAPLEX and the California Practice Standards and Jurisprudence Examination (CPJE) (Pharmacist examination application packet 17M-29).
California's part, and FPGEC's part
California simplified its foreign graduate process: the Board says it will no longer require a foreign graduate application or the submission of transcripts, and that questions about certification belong to NABP, which runs the FPGEC (Graduates of foreign pharmacy schools: notice).
The pharmacist application only asks you to mark that you graduated from a foreign school and to give your NABP e-Profile number (Pharmacist examination application packet 17M-29).
So the documents that need translating are the ones you send through FPGEC: pharmacy transcripts and degree to ECE, and your foreign license or registration to NABP.
The FPGEC wants an official word-for-word translation, with the translator's original signature and date on every page, an accuracy attestation and proof of the translator's credentials, and it does not accept electronic submissions (FPGEC Bulletin: Documentation Requirements, FPGEC Bulletin: Attestation and photo identification).
Order the translation through a free quote and say it is for the FPGEC, so we confirm the format before you pay.
Hours abroad do not count toward the 1,500
Foreign graduates must document 1,500 hours of pharmacy practice experience, and the application packet says the hours must be earned in the United States, on Pharmacy Intern Hours Affidavits signed by the supervising pharmacist (Pharmacist examination application packet 17M-29).
An active license held in another state for at least a year, with 900 hours in a pharmacy, can stand in for part of it.
The intern license is the usual way to earn those hours: a foreign graduate who submitted proof of FPGEC certification may receive a two-year intern license (Intern pharmacist application packet).
Letters from pharmacies in your home country do not replace the US hours, so there is no reason to translate them for California.
Need a certified translation for California Board of Pharmacy?
$24.95 per page of up to 250 words, certification included, usually within 24 hours for one to three pages. See the price before you pay.
Documents applicants usually translate
- Pharmacy school transcripts, for the ECE report inside FPGEC
- Pharmacy degree certificate
- Pharmacist license or registration from your country, for NABP
- Marriage certificate or court order, if your name changed
What an eVerbary translation includes
- A complete English translation of every page, stamps, seals and handwritten notes included, laid out like the original so each line can be matched.
- Grades, hours and credits exactly as recorded, with the grading scale the document prints. We never convert marks to a US GPA or equivalency.
- A signed certificate of translation accuracy on letterhead, with our contact details, delivered as a PDF you can upload or print.
- $24.95 per page of up to 250 words, certification included; 24 hours for one to three pages as standard. Regular clients who need it can get delivery in as little as 30 minutes, on request.
- Notarization added at checkout ($34.90 per order) when the office asks for a notarized translation.
Submitting the translation to California Board of Pharmacy
Translations go with your FPGEC paperwork: education records to ECE and license documents to NABP, by mail (ECE, FPGEC). Nothing translated goes to the California Board, which confirms your certification with NABP (Pharmacist examination application packet 17M-29).
eVerbary can mail the translations to you in sealed, signed envelopes: choose the hard copy at checkout with your address ($19.95 Priority or $37.95 Express in the US, $49.95 or $78.95 to other countries) and write in the order notes that they are for the FPGEC.
What we do not do
eVerbary is a translation service, not a credential evaluation service or a licensing agency: we do not issue evaluations, US equivalencies or GPA conversions, we cannot send documents on behalf of the school or authority that issued them, and we do not file the license application.
For California that means we translate the documents you send through the FPGEC process; the certification itself, the intern license and the US practice hours are between you, NABP and the Board.
How to order
- Scan or photograph every page of the document, front and back, including any stamps on the reverse.
- Upload it, choose the language and "certified", and see the price before paying.
- Receive the PDF, usually within 24 hours for one to three pages, and submit it with the copy of the original wherever the office asks for it.
Frequently asked questions
Do I send translated transcripts to the California Board of Pharmacy?
No. The Board no longer requires transcripts or a foreign graduate application; it requires FPGEC certification (Graduates of foreign pharmacy schools: notice).
Who can translate my documents for FPGEC?
A professional translation service in any country, or another official translator the Bulletin lists; not you (FPGEC Bulletin: Documentation Requirements). A certified translation from a professional service such as eVerbary qualifies.
Can California waive FPGEC certification?
No. The Board says California law does not provide for waivers or exemptions (Graduates of foreign pharmacy schools: notice).
Do my pharmacy hours from abroad count?
No. The 1,500 hours must be earned in the United States (Pharmacist examination application packet 17M-29).
Sources
California State Board of Pharmacy's own pages, read on October 21, 2026.
Translating documents for California Board of Pharmacy?
Upload a scan of your diploma, transcript or license and see the price and delivery time before you pay.