How to Renew Your Oregon LMT License Online
If you’re an Oregon massage therapist with a renewal deadline coming up, you’re probably wondering how the online renewal works and what you need before you log in. The online renewal itself is simple. Most problems come from what you need ready before you start.
I’m a licensed massage therapist in Oregon and one of the instructors here at How to CEU. I’ve renewed my own Oregon LMT license online three times. As a spa director at a wellness resort, I also helped a team of more than 10 LMTs get through their renewals. I’ve seen the same two or three things trip people up again and again, and this guide covers each of them.
When Your Oregon LMT License Expires
Oregon massage licenses renew every two years. Your license expires on the last day of your birth month but your renewal is due by the first day of your birth month.
The year depends on when you were born:
If you were born in an odd year, you renew in odd years
If you were born in an even year, you renew in even years
So if you were born in March 1989, your license expires March 31 of every odd year. Put that date on your calendar now, plus a reminder a couple of months before it. You’ll thank yourself later.
How Much It Costs to Renew Your Oregon Massage License
The current renewal fees are:
$270 for an active biennial renewal
$135 for an inactive renewal
You pay the fee online during the renewal, so have a debit or credit card ready. Fees can change, so check the Oregon Board of Massage Therapists (OBMT) website for the current amounts before you renew.
What You Need Before You Start Your Online Renewal
This is the part that holds people up. When I helped my spa team renew, the online form was never the problem. The problem was someone getting halfway through and realizing they didn’t have what they needed.
Have these ready before you log in.
Your Continuing Education Hours
Here’s something many newer LMTs don’t know: CEUs are not required for your first renewal. They start with your second renewal and are due at every renewal after that.
From the second renewal on, you’ll enter each CE course you completed during the renewal period. For each course, have the course title, provider, date and number of hours on hand, along with your certificates. Confirm the total number of hours required for your cycle on the OBMT website. Requirements are set by the board and can be updated.
Supervised Ethics Hours
Oregon requires ethics hours that are supervised, and this is one of the two requirements that hold people up the most.
Many LMTs assume “supervised” means sitting in a classroom for a day. They put it off because they can’t find a free weekday or don’t want to pay for an expensive in-person training. Then the deadline sneaks up on them.
Here’s what supervised actually means. A qualified instructor reviews and responds to your reflections on the course material. That makes sure you understand the information and can apply it in your practice and with your clients. It doesn’t have to happen in person or on a fixed schedule.
An Active BLS Certification
The second requirement that holds people up is an active BLS (Basic Life Support) certification. In my experience the issue is rarely confusion about the course. People just forget to renew it, then realize during the license renewal that it has expired or is about to.
My fix is simple. Renew your BLS during the off year between license renewals. If your license renews in odd years, do your BLS in even years. That way it’s always active when your license renewal comes around, and you’re never scrambling to find a class before your birth month.
Step-by-Step: How to Renew Your Oregon LMT License Online
Once you have everything above, the online renewal goes fairly quickly.
Step 1: Log In to the OBMT Renewal Portal
Go to the Oregon Board of Massage Therapists renewal login page here: OBMT Online Renewal Login
Log in with your account information. If you haven’t logged in since your last renewal, give yourself extra time in case you need to recover your login.
Step 2: Choose Active or Inactive Status
Select whether you’re renewing as active ($270) or inactive ($135). If you’re practicing massage in Oregon, you need an active license.
Step 3: Enter Your Continuing Education
If this is your second renewal or later, enter each CE course you completed. This is where an organized record saves you a lot of time and stress.
Step 4: Confirm Your Ethics and BLS Requirements
Make sure your supervised ethics hours are included and your BLS certification is current. These are the two items I most often saw stop people at this stage.
Step 5: Pay and Submit
Pay the renewal fee, review everything, and submit. Save or screenshot your confirmation for your records.
Be Ready for an OBMT Audit
The OBMT audits about 10% of renewals regularly. That means you could be asked to show proof of every CE course you listed. If your certificates are spread across old emails, downloads folders and random paper files, an audit becomes a stressful scavenger hunt.
That’s why I recommend a free CEU tracker. It keeps everything in one place:
Courses you’ve completed
Requirements you still need
Links to each certificate so you can find them right away if you’re audited
You can make your own copy of the free tracker here: Free CEU Tracker
Add each course as soon as you finish it. Two years later, entering your CEs in the renewal portal takes minutes instead of an evening of digging.
Lessons From Helping My Spa Team Renew
Helping more than 10 LMTs renew taught me that the people who struggled weren’t careless. They were busy. Massage therapists are often juggling multiple jobs, families and their own bodies’ recovery after a full day of sessions. Renewal requirements get pushed to the bottom of the list.
The patterns I saw:
The online form itself was rarely the problem
Supervised ethics was often left until last because people believed it required an in-person class
BLS had expired without anyone noticing
CE certificates were hard to find when it came time to enter them
Every one of these can be prevented with a little planning and the right tools.
Why We Built a Self-Paced Supervised Ethics Course
I’m a mom with a full-time job, and I run my massage business on the side. I rarely have the time or money to block out four hours in the middle of the week for a pricey in-person ethics training. I know many of you are in the same position.
So at How to CEU, we built a 4-hour supervised ethics course that is fully online and self-paced. You work through it whenever it fits your life: after the kids are in bed, between clients, or on a slow Sunday morning. It still meets the supervised requirement because an instructor reviews and responds to your reflections throughout the course. You receive your certificate once that review is complete.
We also refused to make it a course you click through half asleep. It includes videos, readings and real-life practical examples. It’s interactive and engaging, and you’ll come away with ideas that can make your practice more successful.
My Take on the Real Value of CEUs
It’s easy to treat continuing education as a box to check. I understand why. When you’re tired and short on time, the cheapest and fastest option looks appealing.
But the dropoff rate for massage therapists is high. Many talented LMTs leave the field because of burnout, injury or the feeling that they’ve stopped growing. To build a sustainable industry where great massage therapists stay and thrive, continuing education should give something back to you. It should teach you things that enrich your practice, help you serve clients better and make you a better LMT.
That’s our goal at How to CEU: CEUs that are fun, engaging and easy to finish, even with a busy schedule.
Your Oregon LMT Renewal Checklist
Before your birth month arrives, make sure you have:
Your OBMT renewal login working
Your CE courses completed and recorded (second renewal and beyond)
Your supervised ethics hours completed
An active BLS certification, ideally renewed in your off year
Your certificates organized in a CEU tracker in case of an audit
A card ready for the renewal fee
Get Your Supervised Ethics Hours Done This Week
If ethics is the requirement standing between you and your renewal, you don’t need to wait for a weekend workshop or rearrange your schedule. Enroll in our 4-hour supervised, self-paced online ethics course and finish it on your own time, with real instructor feedback and content you’ll actually use in your practice.
Your license renewal can be simple. Plan ahead, stay organized, and choose continuing education that makes you better at the work you love.
