P.R. Laws tit. 20, § 2754
(a) Applicants for licenses to be obtained by means of an examination shall meet the following minimum requirements:
(1) Be of legal age and have resided in Puerto Rico for a term of six (6) months immediately before filing the application, excluding sporadic departures from the country for medical, business, or study purposes or for pleasure. The applicant shall also file before the Board a recent criminal record certificate.
(2) Hold an associate degree in optical sciences obtained at a school or college recognized by the Council on Higher Education of Puerto Rico, or from a school which was recognized by the city or the state thereof at the time the diploma was awarded, or have practiced the optical profession in Puerto Rico during three (3) years prior to December 31, 1968. No diplomas of optical studies made by correspondence shall be admitted.
The previously established requirement of an associated degree in optical sciences diploma shall be effective three (3) years after the date of effectiveness of this amendatory act.
(3) The applicant shall, in addition, fill in the blank forms furnished by the Board to establish, under oath, his/her identify, and the genuineness of the diplomas and degrees he/she holds. The revalidation examinations shall be made in writing, in English or Spanish at the applicant’s choice, and shall cover the pertinent subjects as the Board may prescribe. Each candidate shall also be submitted to a practical examination consisting in the handling of the apparatus and instruments used in the optical profession.
Upon the prior advice of the Council on Higher Education, the Board shall establish through regulations, the specific requirements regarding the courses, studies or academic credits that must be approved by the candidates aspiring to practice the optician’s profession. Any change adopted by the Board related to said requirements shall only apply to those students that commence their studies after the modification or extension of the aforesaid.
The Board shall also establish a method to offer orientation about the revalidation examinations, the administrative norms and the applicable regulations, the type or kind of examination and the form of evaluating the aforesaid, so that the applicants may properly acquaint themselves with the revalidation process. To that effect the Board shall prepare and publish a handbook with all the information concerning the examination, and a copy of said handbook shall be given to every applicant who pays the amount of ten dollars ($10) through a postal/bank money order, or certified check payable to the Secretary of the Treasury. From time to time the Board may revise the cost of acquisition of this handbook based on the cost of preparing and publishing same, although the amount to be charged shall never exceed the real cost represented by such an expense.
History —June 3, 1976, No. 152, p. 448, § 4; Sept. 1, 1990, No. 82, p. 484, § 4.