New Hampshire Immigrant Guide: Jobs, Universities, Licenses and Help

New Hampshire has a smaller share of immigrants than its neighbor Massachusetts, but the number has grown in recent decades. Most immigrants live in the southern part of the state, which is within commuting distance of Boston. Large groups come from India, Canada, China, and the Dominican Republic. Refugee resettlement has also brought communities from Bhutan and Nepal, Iraq, and several African countries, mostly to Manchester and Concord.

Main areas:

• Manchester, the largest city, with the most diverse population in the state
• Nashua and the towns along the Massachusetts border, home to many tech and manufacturing workers
• Concord, the capital
• Portsmouth and the Seacoast
• Hanover and Lebanon in the Upper Valley, home to Dartmouth College and a large academic medical center

If you are still choosing a route to the US, start with how US immigration works and the USA overview.

• Health care: hospitals and clinics across the state, including the academic medical center in Lebanon, hire foreign-trained nurses, therapists, and doctors. Rural areas in the north have long-running staff shortages.
• Advanced manufacturing and defense: southern New Hampshire has precision manufacturing, electronics, and defense contractors. Some defense jobs require US citizenship because of security clearances.
• Technology and software: many tech employers sit along the Route 3 and Interstate 93 corridors near Nashua and Manchester, and some workers commute to the Boston area.
• Universities and research: Dartmouth College and the University of New Hampshire can hire researchers and faculty outside the H-1B lottery.
• Seasonal tourism: ski resorts in the White Mountains, lake resorts, and Seacoast businesses hire seasonal staff on the H-2B and on J-1 summer work travel.

Common visa routes: the H-1B for degree-level jobs (universities and nonprofit research employers are exempt from the lottery), the TN for Canadians and Mexicans, the H-2A and H-2B for seasonal work, and EB-3 or EB-2 green cards through PERM labor certification. The $100,000 payment on some new H-1B petitions is not being collected as of September 2026 while courts review it (current status). More options: working in the USA.

• Dartmouth College (Hanover), an Ivy League university
• University of New Hampshire (Durham), the state's flagship public research university
• Southern New Hampshire University (Manchester), which has a campus and very large online programs (online-only study does not qualify you for an F-1 visa)
• Plymouth State University and Keene State College, smaller public universities

You need admission to a school certified by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) and an F-1 visa (check a school on Study in the States). After graduation, many F-1 students work on OPT or STEM OPT. A 2026 rule that would have replaced "duration of status" with fixed admission dates was blocked by a federal court on September 14, 2026 (latest update). See studying in the USA.

In New Hampshire, driver's licenses and state ID cards are issued by the New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV), part of the Department of Safety (official site). Check the DMV website for which offices handle new licenses and whether you need an appointment.

Since May 7, 2025, you need a REAL ID-compliant card (marked with a star), a passport, a green card, or another accepted ID to board domestic flights (TSA REAL ID page). Bring:

• Passport with your US visa, or your green card
• I-94 record and status papers (EAD, I-20, DS-2019, or I-797 approval notice)
• Social Security number, or proof you are not eligible (SSN and ITIN guide)
• Two proofs of your New Hampshire address

On a temporary visa, your card usually expires when your authorized stay ends, and a status check in the federal SAVE system can add days or weeks. Visitors can usually drive for a limited time on a valid home license (an International Driving Permit helps as a translation). After you move, plan to get your New Hampshire license: expect vision and knowledge tests and often a road test. Ask the DMV whether any agreement with your country waives tests.

Licenses are issued by each state, so a foreign license does not let you practice in New Hampshire by itself. Most boards want a credential evaluation, proof of English, and US exams.

Nurses

The New Hampshire Board of Nursing, part of the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification (OPLC), licenses registered nurses. Foreign-educated nurses usually need a credential review (often by CGFNS International), the NCLEX-RN exam, and sometimes an English test. For a work visa or green card you also need a VisaScreen certificate or approved equivalent. New Hampshire is in the Nurse Licensure Compact, so a multistate license issued there can let you work in other compact states. Many hospitals sponsor nurses for an EB-3 green card (employer guide).

Doctors

The New Hampshire Board of Medicine, also part of the OPLC, licenses physicians. The usual route is ECFMG certification, the USMLE exams, and US residency training.

Alternative pathway: not as of September 2026. New Hampshire is not among the states that have enacted an alternative licensing pathway for internationally trained physicians, according to the June 2026 chart from the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB). A 2026 bill (SB 457) would create a provisional license for doctors with a job at a hospital that runs an accredited residency program, leading to a full license after two years. It was still pending when the chart was published, so check with the OPLC for its status.

Conrad 30 waivers (lapsed, pending reauthorization): doctors who trained in the US on a J-1 visa usually must spend two years in their home country unless they get a waiver. Conrad 30 let each state recommend up to 30 waivers a year for doctors who agreed to work full time for three years in an underserved area. Its authorization lapsed on September 30, 2025, and USCIS says doctors admitted in or acquiring J-1 status on or after October 1, 2025 cannot get a Conrad 30 waiver unless Congress reauthorizes it. In New Hampshire, the program has been run by the Department of Health and Human Services (its rural health and primary care office); check with it and the USCIS Conrad 30 page before you count on this route.

Teachers

The New Hampshire Department of Education issues educator credentials and reviews teachers trained abroad. Expect a credential evaluation, tests, and a background check. Some schools hire teachers from abroad on the J-1 teacher program or the H-1B.

Engineers

Many engineers work under a licensed Professional Engineer (PE). To sign plans for public work, you need a PE license from the New Hampshire Board of Professional Engineers (OPLC), which uses the NCEES exams (FE and PE) and may ask for an evaluation of your foreign degree.

Pharmacists, dentists, physical therapists, accountants, and lawyers each have their own board and foreign-education rules.

The state Medicaid program is New Hampshire Medicaid, and children are covered through Medicaid as well (the state folded its separate children's program into Medicaid). New Hampshire has expanded Medicaid through its Granite Advantage program, so low-income adults can qualify, not only children, pregnant people, older adults, and people with disabilities (immigrant rules below still apply). Apply through NH EASY, the state's online benefits portal. Private plans are sold on HealthCare.gov.

Federal rules (as of September 2026):

• Green card holders usually wait 5 years before federal Medicaid or CHIP (the Children's Health Insurance Program) covers them. Former refugees and some others are exempt.
• From October 1, 2026, a 2025 federal law (H.R. 1) limits federal Medicaid and CHIP to green card holders, Cuban and Haitian entrants, and COFA migrants (citizens of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau). Refugees, asylees, and other lawfully present people without a green card lose federal eligibility. States can still cover lawfully residing children and pregnant people if they chose that option.
• Marketplace plans: most lawfully present immigrants, including visa holders, can buy one. Since January 1, 2026, those with income below the poverty line get no premium tax credits, and from January 1, 2027, credits are limited to green card holders, Cuban and Haitian entrants, and COFA migrants.
• Students: universities usually require international students to buy the school plan, and J-1 visitors must carry insurance that meets State Department rules.

Benefits can matter in immigration cases, and a new public charge rule took effect on September 18, 2026. Read our public charge guide and what changed before you apply.

New Hampshire does not have a statewide Office of New Americans.

Refugee resettlement has been centered in Manchester and Concord, where national resettlement agencies and local nonprofits run English classes, job help, and case management. The US refugee ceiling for fiscal year 2026 is 17,500 (7,500 set in 2025 plus 10,000 added in May 2026, all for Afrikaners) (details), so few new refugees arrive, but agencies still help refugees and asylees already here with jobs, English classes, and case management (humanitarian options).

Free legal help: only licensed attorneys and accredited representatives at recognized nonprofits can give immigration legal advice. The Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) publishes a roster of recognized organizations and accredited representatives, with a list by state, and a list of pro bono providers. Avoid notarios (how to spot notario fraud, how to check a lawyer). If you have a criminal record, a past refusal, an overstay, or a pending asylum case, talk to a licensed immigration lawyer before you file anything.

New Hampshire has one USCIS field office, in the Manchester area. It serves the whole state.

Field offices hold interviews for adjustment of status and naturalization; fingerprints are taken at Application Support Centers. There are no walk-ins, and offices are assigned by ZIP code (USCIS field office locator). Nationals of travel-ban countries should expect delays, because USCIS is holding many of their pending cases (travel ban status). A May 2026 USCIS memo (PM-602-0199) limits adjustment of status for people in temporary status to "extraordinary circumstances", so talk to a lawyer before you file.

Housing in southern New Hampshire and the Seacoast is expensive, because many people who work in the Boston area live there. The north of the state costs less, but has fewer jobs and less public transportation.

• State income tax: none on wages. The separate tax on interest and dividends was repealed starting in 2025.
• Sales tax: no general sales tax, though meals, rooms, and car rentals are taxed.
• Property tax: among the highest rates in the country, because towns rely on it heavily.
• Working in Massachusetts: if you live in New Hampshire but work in Massachusetts, Massachusetts generally taxes the wages you earn there.

Everyone with US income files a federal return. Many F-1 and J-1 students count as nonresident aliens for tax purposes in their first years, which changes the forms they use (SSN and ITIN guide).