(a) The certificate of a "certified public accountant" shall be granted by reciprocity to an applicant who is qualified under §901.259 of the Act (relating to Certification Based on Reciprocity) or §901.260 of the Act (relating to Certificate Based on Foreign Credentials) and lacks a history of dishonest or felonious acts and any criminal activity that might be relevant to the applicant's qualifications as provided for in §901.253 of the Act (relating to Background Investigation). The applicant must provide in the application for reciprocity the names of all the jurisdictions in which the applicant is or has been certified and/or licensed and all disciplinary actions taken or pending in those jurisdictions.
(b) Each applicant shall submit to the Department of Public Safety a complete and legible set of fingerprints from a vendor approved by the Department of Public Safety in conjunction with the application for the purpose of obtaining criminal history record information.
(c) An applicant from a domestic jurisdiction demonstrates that he meets the requirements for certification by reciprocity by:
  (1) satisfying one of the following conditions:
    (A) the applicant holds a certificate or license to practice public accountancy from a domestic jurisdiction that has been determined by the board pursuant to §512.2 of this chapter (relating to NASBA Verified Substantially Equivalent Jurisdictions) as having substantially equivalent requirements for certification; or
    (B) the applicant holds a certificate or license to practice public accountancy from a domestic jurisdiction that has not been determined by NASBA and the board to have substantially equivalent certification requirements but has had his education, examination and experience verified as substantially equivalent to those required by the UAA by NASBA; or
    (C) the applicant meets all requirements for issuance of a certificate set forth in the Act; or
    (D) the applicant met the requirements in effect for issuance of a certificate in this state on the date the applicant was issued a certificate or license by another domestic jurisdiction; or
    (E) after passing the UCPAE, the applicant has completed at least four years of experience practicing public accountancy within the ten year period immediately preceding the date of application in this state; and
  (2) meeting CPE requirements applicable to certificate holders contained in Chapter 523 of this title (relating to Continuing Professional Education).
(d) An applicant from a foreign jurisdiction demonstrates that he meets the requirements for certification by reciprocity by:
  (1) holding a credential that has not expired or been revoked, suspended, limited or probated, and that entitles the holder to issue reports on financial statements issued by a licensing authority or professional accountancy body of another country that:
    (A) regulates the practice of public accountancy and whose requirements to obtain the credential have been determined by the board to be substantially equivalent to the requirements of education, examination and experience contained in the Act; and
    (B) grants credentials by reciprocity to applicants certified to practice public accountancy by this state;
  (2) receiving that credential based on education and examination requirements that were comparable to or exceeded those required by the Act at the time the credential was granted;
  (3) completing an experience requirement in the foreign jurisdiction that issued the credential that is comparable to or exceeds the experience requirement of the Act or has at least four years of professional accounting experience in this state;
  (4) passing an international qualifying examination (IQEX) covering national standards that has been approved by the board; and
  (5) passing an examination that has been approved by the board covering the rules of professional conduct in effect in this state.

Source Note: The provisions of this §512.1 adopted to be effective August 4, 2004, 29 TexReg 7305; amended to be effective August 17, 2008, 33 TexReg 6374; amended to be effective June 17, 2009, 34 TexReg 3948; amended to be effective August 8, 2012, 37 TexReg 5777; amended to be effective June 7, 2017, 42 TexReg 2933; amended to be effective October 10, 2019, 44 TexReg 5781; amended to be effective February 5, 2020, 45 TexReg 760