Fee

31.6(1) Payment of application fee. Every applicant for admission to the bar upon examination must, as a part of the application, pay to the Iowa board of law examiners an application fee of $800. This fee is not refundable. The full fee must be paid within the deadline for filing the bar application under rule 31.5(2). The applicant must pay the applicable fee charged by any electronic application vendor. 31.6(2) An applicant who is unable to take the bar examination after filing an application and fee may submit a written request to the director to defer the fee to the next scheduled bar examination date, provided: a. The deferral request must be received by the director before the start of the first day of the currently scheduled bar examination. No deferral is permitted after the bar examination begins. b. An applicant who has been denied permission to take the Iowa bar examination or who has been denied recommendation for admission to practice law in Iowa under rule 31.9(2) is not eligible to defer the examination fee. c. The applicant must submit a new, complete bar application as prescribed by rule 31.5(2) on or before the deadline for the next scheduled bar examination. The new application must be accompanied by a $100 deferred application filing fee in the case of a withdrawal and deferral request made on or before the Thursday preceding the bar examination and a $150 deferred application filing fee in the case of a withdrawal and deferral request made after the Thursday preceding the bar examination. There will be no waiver of the deadlines. Ch 31, p.6 ADMISSION TO THE BAR February 2026 d. The fee deferral under this rule is only valid for the next scheduled bar examination. An applicant who elects to defer the application fee under this rule but who fails to take the next scheduled Iowa bar examination for any reason is not eligible to defer the application fee to any subsequent exam. e. Deferral applicants are subject to the good moral character and fitness provisions contained in rule 31.9. [Court Order July 2, 1975; December 16, 1983—received for publication May 30, 1984; April 16, 1992, effective July 1, 1992; March 26, 1993, effective July 1, 1993; June 5, 1996, effective July 1, 1996; (Prior to July 1, 1996, Court Rule 113); October 11, 2001; November 9, 2001, effective February 15, 2002; August 21, 2013; October 15, 2015; September 14, 2017, effective November 2, 2017; October 24, 2019, effective January 1, 2020; December 18, 2020, effective January 1, 2021; July 7, 2023; February 24, 2026, effective July 1, 2026]