HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania has quietly pulled off a bureaucratic turnaround that many states have chased for decades, slashing licensing and business processing times by nearly three-quarters and turning weeks of waiting into what is now often a single day.
The Department of State reported that average processing times fell by 74 percent in 2025, cementing the Commonwealth’s push to “work at the speed of business” and replacing paper-bound backlogs with rapid, digital-age service.
Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said the transformation traces back to Governor Josh Shapiro’s January 2023 executive order, which forced agencies to adopt performance standards and overhaul how licenses and filings are handled.
“Along with the mandate came support to fill vacancies faster, retool processes, modernize systems, and cross train and support our staff,” Schmidt said.
Nowhere is the shift more striking than in business filings. Since May, the department has sustained average processing times of one business day, down from 13.6 days in 2023 — even as the volume of filings exploded.
Monthly filings jumped from an average of 20,306 in 2024 to nearly 69,757 in 2025 after the rollout of mandatory annual reports under Act 122 of 2022. Despite that surge, Schmidt said the department has kept pace, proving the gains are not temporary.
Other areas saw similar collapses in wait times. Apostilles and document certifications that once took a week can now be processed in as little as a day. Charitable organization registrations reached a one-day turnaround in July, down from a historical average of 10 days.
The department also expanded access by launching Spanish translations of the real estate licensing exams, aligning with Act 53 of 2020 and opening doors for thousands of would-be agents in a critical sector of the economy.
Health care licensing, long a bottleneck during workforce shortages, was also dramatically sped up. Processing times fell from 20 days to four for pharmacists, from 43 days to five for physicians, and from 25 days to six for nurses. Pennsylvania also joined three multistate licensure compacts, making it easier for qualified doctors, nurses, and physical therapists to work across state lines.
Those changes have had real-world impact. Streamlined pharmacy licensing has helped companies open more than 120 new locations across the Commonwealth over the past two years, bringing faster access to medications and care.
The department earned national recognition as well, becoming one of only two states where five major health care boards — Dental, Medical, Nursing, Osteopathic Medicine, and Pharmacy — were all named Wellbeing First Champions for eliminating stigmatizing mental health language from licensing applications.
“Pennsylvania’s hospitals and health systems appreciate the Shapiro Administration’s efforts to streamline and remove barriers to clinician licensure,” said Nicole Stallings, president and CEO of the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania. “Quickly licensing doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals ensures they are ready to care for patients.”
Officials say the overhaul is about more than speed — it is about rebuilding trust in government’s ability to deliver.
For professionals seeking a license, or entrepreneurs trying to start a business, the days of waiting weeks for a green light are fading fast.
More information about professional licensing is available at dos.pa.gov/BPOA, while business formation and filings can be found at dos.pa.gov/corps.
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