Board of Examiners in Optometry Licensing Requirements

Not sure which application to use?

General Application:

• Not currently licensed in South Dakota, but you would like to be.

Advanced Procedures Application(s):

• Currently licensed in South Dakota and would like to apply for advanced procedures.
• Not currently licensed in South Dakota, but would like to submit as a supplement to the general application to add advanced procedures to the initial certification. 

Initial Review

Upon receipt of an application for an initial certificate of registration, endorsement, or advanced procedures, the executive secretary shall review to determine if the applicant has submitted all required documents, information, non-refundable fees, and other materials. The executive secretary shall notify the applicant of any materials missing from the application. The applicant has 180 days from the date of notice to provide the information intended to complete the application. If an applicant fails to submit required materials within 180 days of notice that materials are missing from the application, the application will be deemed withdrawn. The executive secretary shall notify the applicant if an application is designated as withdrawn. The applicant is not precluded from reapplying at the expiration of the 180 day period, but all required documents, information, non-refundable fees, and other materials must be resubmitted with such reapplication.

Processing Applications

The executive secretary shall initiate the processing of complete applications after receiving documentation from primary sources to verify that the applicant has met the requirements of applicable statutes and regulations.

Investigation of Application

The executive secretary may determine that the information disclosed in an application or primary source documentation requires inquiry to determine whether the applicant meets the qualifications or standards for the issuance of a license. The executive secretary may conduct that inquiry or may provide the matter to the board investigator for investigation.

The application may be typed in PDF form but must be printed and then signed by a notary prior to mailing. The application fee must accompany this notarized document.

GENERAL APPLICATION: 

*ONLY FOR APPLICANTS NOT CURRENTLY LICENSED IN SOUTH DAKOTA: $175.00 Application Fee

General Application

If this application is approved, the privileges granted through this approval include: 
 36-7-1. The practice of optometry is declared to be a profession and is defined as: 

(1) The examination of the human eye and its appendages; 
(2) The employment of any means for the measurement of the powers of visions, or any visual, muscular, neurological, interpretative, or anatomical anomaly of the visual process; 
(3) The prescribing or employment of lenses, prisms, frames, mountings, and visual training procedures; 
(4) The prescribing or administration, except by injection unless otherwise permitted by this chapter, of any pharmaceutical agent rational to the diagnosis and treatment of the human eye and its appendages; 
(5) The employment of any means or method for the correction, remedy, or relief of any insufficiency or abnormal condition of the visual process of the human eye and its appendages, provided the term "any means or method" does not include surgeries, unless otherwise permitted by this chapter; 
(6) The removal of a superficial foreign body from the eye; 
(7) The prescribing of contact lenses, except by a physician licensed under chapter 36-4; 
(8) The use of intense pulsed light for the treatment of dry eye disease;

ADVANCED PROCEDURES APPLICATION:

Advanced procedures have been approved by legislative authority. (Optometrists may not perform these procedures until they have applied using this application and met requirements described there-in.)

Once the board has received the verifiable evidence of competency in procedures, a designation will be placed after their license number to indicate certification. Optometrists may apply for one or all of the following: 

• Intradermal Injection of a Paralytic Agent (INJ-PA)
• Intralesional Injection of a Steroid to Treat a Chalazion (INJ-S)
• Use of Local Anesthetic in Conjunction with the Primary Removal of a Pedunculated Skin Tag (ST)
• Performance of a Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty (LAS-T)
• Performance of a Posterior Capsulotomy using an Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Laser (LAS-YAG)

If an optometrist receives certification in all of the above procedures, an (AP) will be placed after their license number

*Any procedure referenced above, when performed by an optometrist licensed in SDCL 36-7, does not constitute the practice of medicine, for purposes of SDCL 36-4. Nothing in the scope of practice may be construed to allow the performance of intraocular injections, intraocular surgery, or refractive surgery by an optometrist. 

*Documentation for completion of the approved advanced procedures course may be submitted to the Board upon completion. It will be kept on file for reference during the application process. Completion of the course is required; however, it may be submitted separately from the application and used to meet license renewal continuing education requirements. *You are required to complete the course prior to demonstration of competency on live eyes. Applicant and supervisor must be physically in the same location to prove demonstration of competency. 

If you wish to apply for all five advanced procedures ($200.00 Application Fee), use this application: 

Advanced Procedures (AP) Application

If you wish to apply for advanced procedures separately, you will be required to submit a separate application for each procedure ($100.00 Application Fee for Each Procedure):

• Intradermal Injection of a Paralytic Agent
• Intralesional Injection of a Steroid to Treat a Chalazion
• Local Anesthetic in Conjunction with the Primary Removal of a Pedunculated Skin Tag
• Performance of a Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty
• Performance of a Posterior Capsulotomy using an Yttrium Aluminum Garnet Laser

Fees

• Initial Application Fee: $175.00
• Yearly license Fee: $300.00
  • Due by September 30th of each year
  • New license fees are pro-rated according to the date of licensure
• Advanced Procedures Fee:
  • If submitting request for all five procedures using same application: $200.00
  • If submitting applications for procedures separately: $100.00 per application