Palau bar exam: NextGen UBE now.
| July exam | June 1 |
| February exam | , |
| Fees | First-time $300; attorney $300; repeater $300; laptop , |
| MPRE minimum | 75 |
Dates can change. Check the board’s site before you pay.
Before filing in Palau, check the current NCBE profile ↗.
The Palau Bar Admissions Committee's FAQ, revised June 9, 2026, says admission by examination requires a passing score on the NextGen UBE, the MPRE and a Palauan-based Essay Examination. The minimums are 612 on the NextGen UBE, 75 on the MPRE and 65 on the Palauan essay. Every applicant must pass the Palauan essay, even one whose other scores are transferred.
Palau describes the NextGen UBE as a one-and-a-half-day exam given in Guam, with two three-hour sessions on the first day and one on the second. About 40% of the time goes to standalone multiple-choice questions, just over a quarter to integrated question sets and about a third to performance tasks. From July 2026 to July 2028 family law and trusts and estates appear in a performance task and may appear in integrated question sets.
Beginning in 2026 Palau gives only the NextGen UBE, and only in Guam. It no longer administers the MBE, MEE or MPT, but it accepts transferred scores from them.
An applicant sends a character and fitness questionnaire, a certificate of good standing from every jurisdiction where admitted (or, for someone in no bar, a letter from the law school dean on good moral character), a certificate of graduation from an accredited law school, and Form C. The applicant must not have a felony conviction unless fully pardoned. The FAQ defines an accredited school as ABA-accredited, or accredited by that state's education body, for a U.S. school, and accredited by the local agency for a school abroad.
The application fee is $300, payable to the Supreme Court of Palau, and the forms go by email to the Committee at least 45 days before the exam. The fee covers the NextGen UBE, the Palauan essay, background checks and postage. It is not carried over: an applicant who applied for an earlier exam pays again. The forms can be downloaded, or mailed for $10.
The exam is offered in July and, starting in 2027, also in February in Guam, and the Palauan essay may be offered on other dates in Palau. Applying while still in law school is allowed, but the applicant must show proof of graduation to sit, and the FAQ suggests waiting until after graduation. Mail from the U.S. takes at least two weeks to reach Palau, so filing on paper needs early planning.
The FAQ recognizes two exceptions. A law school graduate within five years of graduating who meets Rule 7(a) and works for the Palau national government, a Palauan state or governmental entity, or the Micronesian Legal Services Corporation may be admitted for five years without the exam. The lawyer may act only within the scope of that employment and under a supervising member of the Palau Bar who has practiced at least two years.
The second exception covers an attorney who practiced at any time in the five years before taking salaried employment with the Palau national government or a similar Palauan entity. That lawyer may also practice for five years without the exam. The application fee for admission without examination is $250. Practice after the five years, or for any non-governmental client at any time, is the unauthorized practice of law.
After the initial five years a lawyer cannot be admitted on motion. The choices are to take the exam or stop practicing in Palau. Palau has no reciprocal agreements with U.S. states, and admission qualifies a lawyer to practice only before Palau's courts.
The Palauan essay tests Palau law: customary law, ethics, land law, the Palauan Constitution, the Palau National Code, the Compact of Free Association, the court rules and Palauan case law. The FAQ says applicants are also examined on the U.S. and common-law material on the NextGen UBE, and that the exam is not generally considered any easier than others. It does not test the law of any one U.S. state, and graders use prevailing common-law principles.
The Court prepared no study aids and knows of no bar review program for the essay. Study materials can be reviewed free in the Supreme Court law library in Palau, open 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, and the FAQ lists a few U.S. and Pacific law libraries that may hold them. Past Palauan essay exams are sent to applicants.
Scores from other jurisdictions count if earned in the past five years. An applicant with a passing NextGen UBE score, or with passing scores on each of the MBE (120), MEE (65) and MPT (65) or a combined 250 on the three, plus an MPRE of 75, is excused from the NextGen exam. An applicant who fails receives a letter saying which part was failed and how to reapply. There is no appeal, and the Palauan essay questions and answers are not available for review. A certificate of good standing costs $50.
612 on the NextGen UBE, 75 on the MPRE and 65 on the Palauan-based Essay Examination. Every applicant must pass the Palauan essay.
$300, payable to the Supreme Court of Palau and filed at least 45 days before the exam. Admission without the exam costs $250, and a fee paid for one exam is not applied to a later one.
Yes, for five years, if they are a recent graduate or an attorney employed by the Palau national government or a Palauan governmental entity. After five years there is no admission on motion, so they must take the exam or stop practicing in Palau.
In Guam. Palau gives the NextGen UBE only there, in July and, from 2027, also in February, while the Palauan essay may be offered on other dates in Palau.
No. Admission to the Palau Bar qualifies a lawyer to practice only before Palau's courts, and Palau has no reciprocal agreements with U.S. states, so each U.S. jurisdiction decides for itself.
No. The Committee's FAQ says there is no appeal process. A failing applicant gets a letter saying which part was failed and how to reapply, and the Palauan essay questions and answers are not open to review.
Yes, from the past five years. A passing NextGen UBE score, or passing MBE (120), MEE (65) and MPT (65) scores plus an MPRE of 75, excuses the NextGen exam, but every applicant still sits the Palauan essay.
Not according to the Committee's FAQ, which says it is not generally considered any easier than exams in other jurisdictions. Applicants are tested on Palau law and on the U.S. and common-law material of the NextGen UBE.
$50, by check or money order payable to the Clerk of Courts, Supreme Court of Palau, sent with a letter of request to the Court in Koror.
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Source: NCBE Comprehensive Guide: Palau ↗ · reviewed August 21, 2026.