NJ PELS Approval Letter

[NJHHEngineer P.E.]

Got my approval letter from the NJ PELS yesterday.  Tried paying the license activation fee online by following the directions on the invoice.  They're not correct.  Managed to navigate to an invoice page where it asks for the invoice # and my last name.  Filled both fields, submit, and then I get an error saying INVOICE ALREADY PAID.

Reached out to the woman who sent my letter and was told they're changing their online payment system and that its a glitch but I could pay by check.  No big deal, but was hoping to speed up the process using online payment.  The activation form they send and the invoice sent have two different entities to make the checks out to...one says State Board of Profession Engineers & Surveyors, the other State of New Jersey.

So, NJ.  

Anyone previous test takers recall who to actual make the check out to?

 

[Fire_PE]

I assume you have the license activation form? Mine was two pages. The bottom portion had a "return this portion" with your payment section. I filled out my credit card information and signed it, locked the .pdf with a password that I set to my application number, and emailed to the person I had been conversing with via email. She acknowledged it, and 10 minutes later my license was active on DCA website. The group was very helpful and responsive for me. 

If you have to send in a check, my license form says "Please submit a check, money order or credit card payment for eighty dollars ($80.00) if approved in the first year of the biennial renewal period or forty dollars ($40.00) if approved during the second year of the biennial renewal period, payable to the State Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Your wall certificate will show your first name, middle name, and last name. You must spell out your first and last names completely."

Congrats! Fist bump for Class of 2020! (Or toe tap. I don't even know what we can do anymore. I'm going to Purell my keyboard to be safe.)

 

[multiDSPLN]

I guess they have fixed the online payment option. As @NJHHEngineer said the description in the letter is not accurate. The payment section is actually in the Invoice section. In this section under the invoice search you would see the open invoices and you would choose the one that you want to pay and then you would be able to make the payment with card.

 

[JDD]

Did you have to take the ethics exam as a part of your PE License? I did a long time ago but I don't see anything on the NJPELS website anymore. They used to make you pay to take it too.
Buddy at work just passed the PE but he went the 15yr route and didn't have to take the FE. His license still says pending and hasn't got the activation letter yet either. He has emailed the board a few times but has heard nothing back. Wasn't sure if that is what's holding it up.

It was bad enough to try and call the board to get answers, now with them working remote its basically impossible to get in touch with anyone.

 

[multiDSPLN]

Did you have to take the ethics exam as a part of your PE License? I did a long time ago but I don't see anything on the NJPELS website anymore. They used to make you pay to take it too.
Buddy at work just passed the PE but he went the 15yr route and didn't have to take the FE. His license still says pending and hasn't got the activation letter yet either. He has emailed the board a few times but has heard nothing back. Wasn't sure if that is what's holding it up.

It was bad enough to try and call the board to get answers, now with them working remote its basically impossible to get in touch with anyone.

I didn't take the ethics exam but I had my FE. I also emailed couple times and didn't hear back until they actually emailed the approval letter.

 

[Fire_PE]

I did not take an ethics exam as part of my process.

 

[NJHHEngineer P.E.]

I took the ethics exam shortly after the FE exam. It was like 20 questions True/False if I remember correctly. Pretty straightforward as well.

 

[KSeng]

Did you have to take the ethics exam as a part of your PE License? I did a long time ago but I don't see anything on the NJPELS website anymore. They used to make you pay to take it too.
Buddy at work just passed the PE but he went the 15yr route and didn't have to take the FE. His license still says pending and hasn't got the activation letter yet either. He has emailed the board a few times but has heard nothing back. Wasn't sure if that is what's holding it up.

It was bad enough to try and call the board to get answers, now with them working remote its basically impossible to get in touch with anyone.

I'm having this same issue. The person I am assigned to at the NJ Board never answers my emails. The only response I've gotten from her was to say to register for the PE before being approved by the board. I sent my application to them in March 2020, then emailed everything a couple months later when the Board's site indicated to do that. Now I'm sitting here with a pass on the PE exam, and I can't get a response from the Board. Very frustrating because it is affecting my job not having my PE. Just an update would be appreciated.

Anybody else in this boat? My references haven't even been contacted yet.

 

[NJHHEngineer P.E.]

I'm having this same issue. The person I am assigned to at the NJ Board never answers my emails. The only response I've gotten from her was to say to register for the PE before being approved by the board. I sent my application to them in March 2020, then emailed everything a couple months later when the Board's site indicated to do that. Now I'm sitting here with a pass on the PE exam, and I can't get a response from the Board. Very frustrating because it is affecting my job not having my PE. Just an update would be appreciated.

Anybody else in this boat? My references haven't even been contacted yet.

I didn't think they contacted references. I got my approval letter, invoice, paid and license number a few weeks ago. Silly question, but did you try to contact the couple people listed on the DCA site?

 

[Mostafaraz]

Has anybody got this/her PE license number after passing the exam in October 2020? I passed my exam and everything on my online profile looks fine and only I need the license number with the activation invoice. I have been calling board and emailing my processor and it seems nobody cares, what should I do?

 

[youngmotivatedengineer]

Definitely try emailing the head people. Is it possible that the original emails went to SPAM folder? I know things are different due to Covid-19, but you should have been contacted by now with license number. When I got my license before Covid-19, they were fast to issue the license, it was the wall certificate that took about 4-6 months to receive.

 

[Mostafaraz]

Thank you for your reply. I ended up with sending an email to the below person based on their customer service suggestion and telling her my story. Still no response. I emailed my processor and her supervisor many times and no response at all. I have checked my SPAM and I did not see any email from the board, I also checked the invoice section of my online profile to see if any invoice was issued but that one also did not show anything, is there anything else that I can try to find out if any license number was issued at all?

Ileana Botelho ([email protected])
Acting Executive Director
P.O. Box 45015
Newark, New Jersey 07101
Directions

 

[NJHHEngineer P.E.]

Has anybody got this/her PE license number after passing the exam in October 2020? I passed my exam and everything on my online profile looks fine and only I need the license number with the activation invoice. I have been calling board and emailing my processor and it seems nobody cares, what should I do?

Definitely try emailing the head people. Is it possible that the original emails went to SPAM folder? I know things are different due to Covid-19, but you should have been contacted by now with license number. When I got my license before Covid-19, they were fast to issue the license, it was the wall certificate that took about 4-6 months to receive.

I received both license number and invoice a few weeks ago. I received my "official" license last week in the mail. Just waiting on the certificate now.

@Mostafaraz - I'm sending you a PM.

 

[Mostafaraz]

I received both license number and invoice a few weeks ago. I received my "official" license last week in the mail. Just waiting on the certificate now.

@Mostafaraz - I'm sending you a PM.

Thank you. I think she is processing E, D, O, and P people. My family name starts with "R" and it is with another processor.

 

[multiDSPLN]

Thank you. I think she is processing E, D, O, and P people. My family name starts with "R" and it is with another processor.

@Mostafaraz I think your processor is Ms. Lowen. I also sent emails but never received any response back but in mid January she emailed my approval and responded to my questions about payment. The whole process from receiving the approval and making online payment and getting the license number took about 2 hour.

 

[Mostafaraz]

@Mostafaraz I think your processor is Ms. Lowen. I also sent emails but never received any response back but in mid January she emailed my approval and responded to my questions about payment. The whole process from receiving the approval and making online payment and getting the license number took about 2 hour.

Yes, she is. I have sent many emails to her and we are almost in mid Feb and she is not responding yet. I do not understand their system and how they process the cases...

 

[JDD]

Did you have to take the ethics exam as a part of your PE License? I did a long time ago but I don't see anything on the NJPELS website anymore. They used to make you pay to take it too.
Buddy at work just passed the PE but he went the 15yr route and didn't have to take the FE. His license still says pending and hasn't got the activation letter yet either. He has emailed the board a few times but has heard nothing back. Wasn't sure if that is what's holding it up.

It was bad enough to try and call the board to get answers, now with them working remote its basically impossible to get in touch with anyone.

Update,
My buddy was informed by NJ that he was approved to take the PE test but his request for the FE waiver was denied. Did not receive any communication/letter/email, etc. with the denial or explanation. We looked and saw that other applicants were allowed to waive the FE so who knows.

Long story short, he decided to apply to Maryland and just received his PE license there. The admins in Maryland answer emails and are very helpful. He is still trying to get an answer from NJ. Now he just copies every person at the state just to try and get an answer. Man, what a job, no real accountability.

No mention or requirement for ethics exam....