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Illinois · License fees and time frames · 77 Ill. Adm. Code 245.95, 245.100
IDPH charges $1,500 a year for a home services agency license, paid by check with a paper application. A provisional license follows within 90 days of a compliant application, lasts 240 days and ends with a survey. Here is every IDPH fee, the costs the rules require without setting a price, and each step from envelope to renewal.
Quick answer
Cost: the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) charges $1,500 for a home services agency license, initial, renewal or change of ownership. The license lasts one year, so you pay it every year. The fee goes by check or money order with the paper application and is not refundable. It is IDPH’s fee, not a CareRulebook price.
Time: IDPH reviews the application within 30 days, and it must be complete and approved within 90 days. A provisional license follows within 90 days of a compliant application and lasts 240 days, with the licensing survey in its last 30 days. By our arithmetic, that puts the full license roughly 7 to 11 months after a compliant application.
The rules also require costs IDPH does not price: liability insurance of at least $1 million per occurrence and $3 million aggregate, fingerprint checks, training and supervision.
IDPH’s website did not respond when we checked, so IDPH’s forms and FAQ on this page are Internet Archive copies, each dated in its citation. The rules come from the Illinois General Assembly’s site directly. Call IDPH on 217-782-7412 to confirm the current form before you mail a check.
Every amount below is a state fee paid to IDPH, from its application forms and 77 Ill. Adm. Code 245.95. None of them is a CareRulebook price. The other license types are here for comparison; this guide covers the home services agency license.
| What for | IDPH fee | Term | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home services agency license (initial, renewal or change of ownership) | $1,500 | 1 year | Paid to IDPH by check or money order with the paper application. Not refundable. | Form 445104, page 1 |
| Each further license you hold | A fee for each | Per license | An entity can hold license types singly or in any combination, with a completed application and fee for each. | 245.95(a) |
| Home services placement agency license | $500 | 1 year | For agencies that place workers clients hire privately. Not refundable. IDPH says these agencies must also hold a Department of Labor private employment agency license. | Placement application; 245.95(c) |
| Home nursing agency license | Up to $1,500 | 1 year | For services that need a licensed nurse. The rule sets the same cap as for home services. | 245.95(b) |
| Home health agency license | $1,500 | 2 years | Skilled nursing plus at least one other home health service. | 210 ILCS 55/4(c) |
The rule sets a ceiling: "A home nursing agency or a home services agency shall pay a licensure fee not to exceed $1,500 annually. The fee is not refundable." (245.95(b)). IDPH’s form charges the full $1,500 (Form 445104, page 1). Certified local health departments are exempt from the fee (245.95(b)).
Simple arithmetic, not an IDPH figure
$1,500 × 3 = $4,500 in IDPH license fees to cover your first three years of licensing: the initial fee and two renewals. Illinois licenses home services for one year at a time, so the fee comes round every year.
Our reading of the first-year dates
The initial fee is applied to the provisional license, and the first full license expires one year from the end of the month the provisional license was first issued (245.100(a)(3)). If your survey falls near the end of the 240 days, the 60-to-90-day renewal window opens only a few months later, so budget for the second $1,500 within about a year of receiving your provisional license.
The rules require each of these, but the price is up to whoever provides them. We do not quote typical prices, because they vary and no official source we found publishes them.
A certificate of insurance showing at least $1 million per occurrence and $3 million in the aggregate goes in with the application, and you show evidence of it while you operate. IDPH’s surveyors ask for the current certificate.
A fingerprint-based check for each new direct care worker who has not had one or is not active on the Health Care Worker Registry. Part 955 lets you require workers other than CNAs to pay their own application and fingerprinting fees, and sets the deadlines: data within 2 working days, fingerprints within 10 working days.
At least 10 hours for each worker before and soon after they start (5 before the first assignment, 5 within 30 days), then at least 10 hours every year. Staff with direct access to clients with dementia also need 6 hours in their first 60 days and 3 hours a year. The rules set hours, not prices.
A supervisor visits each client on site at least every 90 days and observes each worker giving care at least once a year. Supervision time cannot be billed to the client.
An office with a working phone, staffed during business hours, adequately equipped, keeping records confidential and meeting local fire safety rules. An agency manager supervises services. No nurse is required for a home services agency.
Copies of your policies go in with the application, and IDPH reads them before it licenses you. An application not complete and approved within 90 days may be denied, and the fee is not refundable.
CareRulebook
Answer a few questions and CareRulebook writes the Illinois policies IDPH reviews with your application, with your agency's details filled in and the rule quoted under every policy.
$199CareRulebook founding price for the first 50 Illinois agencies, then $249. Not an IDPH fee.
IDPH says getting from application to a provisional license decision should take no more than 90 days (IDPH FAQ). Tick steps off as you go; progress is saved in this browser only.
Set up your governing body and name an agency manager. Register with the IDPH web portal and get Health Care Worker Registry access, arrange liability insurance, and write the policies that go in the envelope (which policies).
Send Home Services Application form 445104 to IDPH in Springfield with a check or money order. IDPH does not accept electronic submissions or payments.
IDPH reviews a new application within 30 days and emails the address on the application for any revisions. It communicates with your agency representative only by email, fax or phone.
The application must be complete and approved within 90 days of submission, or it may be denied. Answer IDPH’s revision requests quickly.
IDPH issues a provisional license to a new agency within 90 days of receiving a compliant application. It lasts 240 days unless suspended or revoked sooner, and the initial fee is applied to it.
Within the first six months of the provisional license, IDPH tells you which operational requirements must be in place for the licensure survey.
IDPH inspects in the last 30 days of the provisional license and issues a full license if you substantially meet the requirements. Your agency manager or a designee must be available when the nurse surveyor arrives. If IDPH finds violations, the plan of correction is due within 10 days.
If you do not yet substantially comply but have made significant progress, IDPH may renew the provisional license once, for up to 90 days.
The first full license expires one year from the end of the month in which the provisional license was first issued, not one year from the survey.
File each renewal, with the $1,500 fee, 60 to 90 days before the license expires, with last year’s client numbers. Be operating and able to show client activity before your second renewal.
IDPH does not publish a total. This is our arithmetic from the limits in the rule, counted from the day IDPH receives a compliant application.
| Case | How we added it | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Quickest | Provisional license issued straight away, survey at the start of its last 30 days: 0 + 210 days | 210 days, about 7 months |
| Slowest, no extension | Provisional license on day 90, survey at the end of the 240 days: 90 + 240 days | 330 days, about 11 months |
| With the one extension | As above, plus up to 90 days: 90 + 240 + 90 days | Up to 420 days, about 14 months |
Time spent fixing an incomplete application comes on top, inside IDPH’s 90-day limit for completing it. Sources: 245.100(a)(1) 245.100(a)(2) 245.100(a)(3) 245.100(a)(4)
It must be complete and approved within 90 days of submission or it may be denied, and the $1,500 fee is not refundable.
IDPH FAQ; Form 445104File 60 to 90 days before expiry. If the renewal application and fee are not in at least 60 days before expiry, IDPH may fine you.
245.90(b)Breaking the branch and drop-site rules can mean fines of up to $100 a day or a separate license for the second location.
245.80(l)Verify each employee in the Health Care Worker Registry at least once a year and enter hire and separation dates within 30 days. Missing verifications, or missing background check files, can bring fines of up to $500.
955.145; 955.220A license cannot be transferred or assigned, so the buyer applies for its own, with the $1,500 IDPH fee, at least 30 days before the sale. IDPH says the seller’s license should not lapse while that happens.
245.80(d); IDPH CHOW guidanceEach franchise business entity needs its own license, and so its own application and fee.
245.80(d)(3)IDPH may fine up to $100 a day from the day a violation is identified until it is corrected. File the plan of correction within 10 days of a notice of violation.
245.140; 245.120(b)Fines are IDPH penalties, paid to the state.
No. A home services agency license lasts one year and costs $1,500. The two-year, $1,500 license is for home health agencies. File each renewal 60 to 90 days before the license expires.
"Each license shall be for a term of one year and shall expire one year from the date of issuance."
No. If IDPH approves it as a branch: within 100 miles of the parent office, inside your service area, offering the same services, with monthly documented supervisory visits. Each franchise entity, though, needs its own license, and an unapproved second location can be fined up to $100 a day or required to get a separate license.
"A branch office shall be part of the agency and shall be located close (but not more than 100 miles from the parent office location) and shall provide the same services as the parent office"
It depends. Yes, conditionally, for up to three months, if the registry check and six web searches are clear and the worker has supervision enough to prevent abuse, neglect or theft. They must also finish 5 hours of training and pass a competency evaluation before the first assignment. Someone marked Ineligible on the registry cannot be hired.
"A health care employer or long-term care facility may conditionally employ an applicant for up to three months pending the results of a fingerprint-based criminal history records check"
No. A home services placement agency is not the worker's employer. After placement it cannot control the worker's assignments or duties, help the client pay the worker, or manage the client's care on an ongoing basis. If you want to schedule and supervise caregivers, you need a home services agency license.
"Following the placement of the worker with the client, the placement agency shall not have any control of the worker's assignments or duties, or assist the client in the payment of the worker."
IDPH charges $1,500 for a home services agency license, whether initial, renewal or change of ownership, and the license lasts one year. You pay it again every year at renewal. It is paid by check or money order and is not refundable. These are IDPH’s fees, paid to the state, not CareRulebook prices.
No. Both IDPH’s application form and the rule say the fee is not refundable. An application that is not complete and approved within 90 days of submission may be denied, so have every document ready before you mail it.
Not according to IDPH’s application form as archived on March 21, 2026: it says electronic submissions and payments are not accepted. You mail the form with a check or money order. Call IDPH on 217-782-7412 to confirm before you mail it.
IDPH reviews a new application within 30 days and issues a provisional license within 90 days of a compliant application. The provisional license lasts 240 days, and IDPH surveys you in its last 30 days. Added together, the full license comes roughly 7 to 11 months after a compliant application, or longer if the provisional license is extended. That is our arithmetic from the rule’s limits, not an IDPH estimate.
Every year. File the renewal application 60 to 90 days before the license expires, with client numbers for the past year. Missing the 60-day deadline can bring a fine. Your first full license expires one year from the end of the month the provisional license was first issued, so the first renewal comes sooner after the survey than many people expect.
The application must include a certificate of insurance showing liability coverage of at least $1 million per occurrence and $3 million in the aggregate. IDPH does not set the premium; that is between you and your insurer.
Part 955 says workers other than certified nursing assistants may be required to pay their own application and fingerprinting fees. The rule does not set the amount. Whoever pays, the agency starts the check and the fingerprints must be taken within 10 working days of the worker signing the authorization form.
IDPH’s placement application sets a $500 fee, and the rule caps it at $500 a year. IDPH also says a home services placement agency must be licensed by the Illinois Department of Labor as a private employment agency.
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