What is California DRE form RE 223?

RE 223 is DRE's Examination Applicant Foreign Education Information sheet. It defines foreign education, lists credentialing services DRE accepts, explains translation options, states the findings an evaluation must contain, and lists documents used with an examination application. It is not a fillable evaluation request or the credential report itself.

Who needs a foreign credential evaluation for the California real estate exam?

An applicant who wants DRE to use course credits or a degree earned at an institution outside the United States must follow the foreign-education evaluation route. The language of the transcript and the applicant's citizenship do not change where the education was earned. Education from a US institution follows the ordinary transcript route.

Can any credential evaluation company prepare my DRE report?

Use a credentialing service listed on DRE's current RE 223. Do not rely on an old blog, saved form, or general membership directory. Before ordering, confirm that the service will address institutional accreditation, specific US course equivalency, and a semester or quarter-unit breakdown for the subjects you are claiming.

Is a certified translation enough for California DRE?

No, not when DRE requires a foreign credential evaluation. Translation makes a record readable in English. Evaluation addresses institutional accreditation, US course equivalency, and unit conversion. Even an English-language transcript from an institution outside the United States may still require evaluation.

What must the foreign education evaluation say for salesperson courses?

RE 223 calls for verification that the institution is accredited, that each claimed foreign course is equivalent to a specific course at an accredited US institution, and that the units per course are broken down into semester or quarter units. The report should make each course-level conclusion clear enough for DRE to evaluate.

Can I combine foreign coursework with California or US courses?

Yes. You can use an acceptable foreign evaluation for one qualifying subject and US college transcripts or certificates from DRE-approved private-school courses for the remaining subjects. Label the packet so Real Estate Principles, Real Estate Practice, and the elective each point to one specific supporting record.

Will a foreign Real Estate Practice course satisfy California DRE?

Only if the evidence satisfies DRE's current Practice rule. Courses submitted from January 1, 2024 must include implicit bias plus federal and state fair housing applied to practice, with interactive role-play as both consumer and real estate professional. A foreign course may leave a California-specific content gap even when it has academic value.

Do I submit the RE 223 evaluation with RE 400A or RE 435?

Yes. A salesperson applicant submits the foreign credential evaluation and supporting education evidence with the chosen examination route, RE 400A for examination only or RE 435 for the combined examination and license application. Online applicants upload education documents when prompted; mail applicants follow the current form instructions.

What happens if DRE says my foreign education packet is incomplete?

DRE will contact you in writing when additional documents or qualifications are needed. Answer the specific issue, such as accreditation, course equivalency, units, Practice content, a missing record, or a name mismatch. Ask the evaluator to issue its own correction or supplement, and do not submit a duplicate application.

Foreign Education and California DRE Form RE 223

RE 223 tells you how to turn foreign education into evidence DRE can review

What RE 223 is

A DRE information sheet that defines foreign education, identifies accepted credentialing services, states what the evaluation must verify, and lists the documents submitted with an examination application.

What RE 223 is not

It is not a fillable evaluation request, a DRE promise that a course qualifies, or a substitute for the evaluator's written report and the underlying academic records.

If any course credit or degree you want DRE to consider was earned at an institution outside the United States, have it translated when necessary and evaluated before you submit it. For a salesperson course substitution, the report should verify institutional accreditation, equivalency to a specific US course, and the units for each course in semester or quarter terms.

DRE, Examination Applicant Foreign Education Information (RE 223) · checked 2026-08-27

Foreign means the institution was outside the United States

DRE defines foreign education as college course credits and degrees earned at institutions outside the United States. The language of instruction, the applicant's citizenship, the location of the applicant today, and whether the school offered an English transcript do not change where the education was earned.

Record	Foreign-education route?	Reason
Course at a university in India	Yes	The institution is outside the United States
English-language degree from Canada	Yes	English does not remove the evaluation requirement
Online course from a foreign university	Yes	Delivery location does not move the institution to the United States
Course at an accredited US college taken by an international student	No, not merely because of the student's status	The institution is in the United States, so ordinary transcript rules apply

The seven-step RE 223 workflow

01
Audit the three salesperson subjects
Identify which foreign courses you want evaluated as Real Estate Principles, qualifying Real Estate Practice, or one accepted elective. Do not order a vague general report before defining the exact licensing use.
02
Download the current RE 223
Use DRE's live copy when choosing a service. Evaluator names and contact details can change, so an old saved list is not a reliable approval check.
03
Choose a service on that current list
Ask whether it can produce the course-by-course accreditation, US-equivalency, and unit findings DRE requests. Compare document rules, delivery method, price, and expected turnaround directly with the service.
04
Collect source records
Follow the evaluator's instructions for transcripts, mark sheets, degree certificates, syllabi, course descriptions, identity records, and name-change evidence. Do not assume a scan is accepted when the service requires records from the institution.
05
Translate when necessary
Provide a complete translation that preserves course names, grades or completion results, units or hours, dates, institution details, stamps, and explanatory notes. Translation makes the record readable but does not establish US equivalency.
06
Review the completed report
Before filing, confirm that the report addresses the institution, the specific courses claimed, US equivalency, and semester or quarter units. Ask the evaluator to correct its own clerical omissions rather than annotating the report yourself.
07
Submit one coherent application packet
Upload or mail the evaluation, the supporting education records requested for your route, any US transcripts, name evidence, the correct examination application, and the fee. Keep an exact copy of the complete submission.

Ask for findings DRE can use, not a generic degree summary

Institution

Verification that the foreign institution is accredited.

US equivalency

A conclusion tying each claimed foreign course to a specific course at an accredited US institution.

Units

A course-by-course breakdown in US semester units or quarter units.

Record

Enough translated academic detail for DRE to connect the evaluation to the transcript and applicant.

Describe the California licensing purpose to the evaluator

Tell the service that the report supports a California DRE salesperson examination application and identify each course slot you are claiming. A report that only says a foreign degree is equivalent to a US bachelor's degree may still omit the course-level findings DRE needs for Principles, Practice, or an elective.

Translation and credential evaluation do different jobs

Translation

Converts the academic record into English while preserving its meaning. RE 223 says translation may be available through an accredited US college or university, the relevant country's consul, a translation department, or a listed credentialing service.

Evaluation

Analyzes accreditation, course equivalency, and US unit value. This is the substantive bridge between a readable foreign transcript and DRE's California course requirements.

An English transcript can still need evaluation

If the institution is outside the United States, an English-language record solves only the language issue. It does not by itself verify the institution's status, match the foreign subject to a specific US course, or convert the credit system into semester or quarter units.

Map every claimed course to one California slot

California slot	Evaluation should establish	Extra evidence worth collecting
Real Estate Principles	Equivalency to the specific US Principles course and qualifying units	Syllabus and catalog description covering property, agency, contracts, finance, valuation, and transfer
Real Estate Practice	Equivalency, qualifying units, and enough course identity for DRE review	Evidence of current California implicit-bias and interactive fair-housing components
One elective	Equivalency to a named accepted subject such as Business Law, Economics, or Accounting	Historical description, learning outcomes, contact hours, and academic-credit explanation

RE 223 uses Business Law, Economics, and Accounting as examples of foreign course substitutions. They are examples, not an expansion or restriction of the current salesperson elective list. The claimed foreign course still needs a specific US equivalent and enough units for the slot.

DRE, current salesperson course requirements · checked 2026-08-27

Foreign Real Estate Practice faces a California-specific content test

A course can be academically substantial and still fail to prove the current California Real Estate Practice requirement. DRE states that Practice submitted for exam qualification from January 1, 2024 must include implicit bias and federal and state fair housing as applied to practice, including interactive participation in which the applicant role-plays as both consumer and real estate professional.

Plan for a possible California Practice gap

A foreign Practice course may not contain California-specific law or the required interactive component. Do not ask the credential evaluator to certify content outside its record. If the evidence cannot establish the current rule, completing a current qualifying California Practice course may be the cleanest solution.

Submit the evaluation with the correct examination route

Online filing

DRE's salesperson application pages direct online applicants to gather education documents and upload them on the Files to Upload page. Use the examination-only or combined application that matches your chosen route.

Mail filing

RE 223 lists RE 400A or RE 435 for a salesperson, the examination fee, the credentialing agency's verification, and any qualifying US or approved-private-school transcripts. Follow the current application instructions and use DRE's current mailing address.

Mixed education is allowed

You may use a foreign evaluation for one course and qualifying US college or DRE-approved private-school records for the others. Label the packet so each California requirement points to one specific piece of evidence. Do not make the reviewer infer the map.

Choose RE 400A or RE 435

If DRE sends a deficiency, answer the exact missing point

Treat the notice as an evidence request

Read whether DRE is asking about accreditation, course equivalency, units, the Practice content, a missing record, or a name mismatch. Request a corrected or supplemental report from the evaluator when the gap belongs to its analysis. Send DRE the requested evidence with the application identifiers and before the stated deadline. Do not file a duplicate application.

DRE states that it contacts an applicant in writing when additional documents or qualifications are needed. RE 223 also says the application and fee are held for two years when the applicant does not yet qualify. The salesperson application pages clarify that the applicant must qualify and pass within that two-year period or submit a new application, fee, and documents.

Eight foreign-education mistakes that create avoidable uncertainty

Using an evaluator from an old third-party list

Check the current RE 223 when you order the service.

Buying only a document translation

Translation does not decide accreditation, US equivalency, or unit conversion.

Ordering a degree-level summary

Salesperson qualification needs course-level findings for each claimed slot.

Leaving the report's purpose vague

Tell the service the report supports California DRE examination qualification.

Assuming English records skip evaluation

The institution's location, not the record's language, controls the foreign classification.

Treating all foreign real estate courses as California Practice

Current California Practice has specific implicit-bias and interactive fair-housing content.

Submitting unlabelled mixed records

Map each requirement to the foreign evaluation, US transcript, or approved-school certificate that satisfies it.

Editing the evaluator's report

Ask the issuing service to correct errors and preserve the authentic document.

Build the evaluation packet before paying the exam fee

Make the course map explicit

Create three rows: Principles, Practice, and elective. For each row, name the foreign or US record, unit value, evaluator finding, and supporting description. Resolve empty or ambiguous rows before submitting the nonrefundable application.

Open the California DRE forms map Audit US college credit

California license requirement FAQs

Keep going

Place RE 223 in the California DRE forms journey

Move from qualification to forms, fingerprints, the examination, and license issuance.

Audit US and college-level course credit

Use the subject, units, institution, and evidence test for education earned in the United States.