Section 2 - Preliminary Registration Requirements(A) Every applicant who intends to take the Ohio bar examination shall file with the Office of Bar Admissions of the Supreme Court an Application to Register as a Candidate for Admission to the Practice of Law in Ohio. The applicant shall file the registration application by the fifteenth day of November in the applicant's second year of law school.(B) The registration application shall be on forms furnished by the Office of Bar Admissions and shall include all of the following: (1) A certificate from the dean of the law school the applicant is attending, certifying that the applicant has begun the study of law;(2) A properly authenticated transcript of college credits showing the applicant has earned a bachelor's degree in compliance with Section 1(B) of this rule or a certificate from the dean of the law school the applicant is attending, certifying that the applicant is participating in a three-plus-three program;(3) A front and back copy of a driver's license, other state-issued photo identification card, or passport-style photo;(4) A registration fee of seventy-five dollars;(5) A fee in the amount charged by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) for its character investigation and report;(6) A typed and completed character questionnaire, in duplicate, in the form prescribed by the Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness;(7) Authorization and release forms in the number required by the Office of Bar Admissions.(C) If an applicant's undergraduate or legal education was not received in the United States, an additional fee of one hundred fifty dollars shall accompany the application for the evaluation of the applicant's education. An applicant's education shall be reviewed to determine whether the education is equivalent to the education required of applicants educated in the United States. In order to receive a review of education received outside of the United States, an applicant must submit the following documents with the registration application: (1) If an applicant's undergraduate education was not received in the United States, the applicant must submit an education evaluation completed by an education evaluation service approved by the Court. The applicant's education evaluation from an education evaluation service must show that the applicant has completed at least three years of fulltime post-secondary education in order to find undergraduate educational equivalence. Undergraduate equivalence may be found where an applicant's education evaluation shows that the applicant has completed at least two years of fulltime post-secondary education, provided the applicant also submits an educational evaluation showing that the applicant's secondary education included study equivalent to one year of undergraduate study. The registration application shall be processed while the applicant's undergraduate education is evaluated.(2) If an applicant's legal education was not received in the United States, the applicant must submit an education evaluation completed by an education evaluation service approved by the Court and a properly authenticated transcript showing successful completion of thirty credit hours of courses taken at a law school approved by the American Bar Association. Twenty of the thirty hours of coursework must be chosen from a list of courses specified by the Court; the remaining ten hours of coursework do not have to be chosen from the list of courses. The thirty hours of coursework must be completed within a period not greater than forty-eight calendar months. The applicant's education evaluation from an education evaluation service must show that the applicant has completed at least three years of fulltime post-secondary formal legal education and received a law degree in order for the Court to find legal educational equivalence. The registration application shall not be processed until the applicant's legal education is approved by the Court.(D) If an applicant does not file a complete registration application on or before the fifteenth day of November in the applicant's second year of law school, the applicant shall pay an additional late fee of two hundred dollars.(E) An applicant may not apply to take the February Ohio bar examination unless the applicant has filed a complete registration application by the fifteenth day of August immediately preceding the February examination. An applicant may not apply to take the July Ohio bar examination unless the applicant has filed a complete registration application by the fifteenth day of January immediately preceding the July examination.(F) Until admitted to the practice of law in Ohio, the applicant is under a continuing duty to update the information contained in the registration application, including the character questionnaire, and to report promptly to the Office of Bar Admissions all changes or additions to information in the application.(G) Unless the Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness grants an extension to the applicant, a registration application shall be deemed withdrawn, and the applicant shall no longer be considered a candidate for admission, if either of the following occurs: (1) The applicant fails to take the Ohio bar examination within four years after filing the registration application;(2) The applicant takes but fails the Ohio bar examination and does not retake one of the four immediately ensuing bar examinations.Amended April 4, 2020, effective 6/1/2020; amended January 10, 2024, effective 4/1/2024.