Nebraska: Permanent Makeup & Nano Brows Licensing and Regulation

Verified against official sources, 2026-11-11.

How can you check Nano Brows providers in Nebraska?

This is Nebraska's official registry — you can look up an individual artist and check their license.

A lookup result reflects only the information shown by the issuing agency. Directory inclusion does not certify a provider's credentials or legal compliance.

Who regulates it

Nebraska DHHS, Division of Public Health, Licensure Unit — INDIVIDUAL body-art licensing under the combined Cosmetology, Electrology, Esthetics, Nail Technology, and Body Art Practice Act (§§38-1001 to 38-10,171, inside the Uniform Credentialing Act); 'PERMANENT COLOR TECHNICIAN' is a named license class; advisory Board recommends, DHHS issues

Does it cover permanent makeup / nano brows?

Coverage: explicitly-covered

Permanent Color Technician is a distinct named license class — DHHS's own description: "Permanent Color Technician: Includes permanent makeup/cosmetic tattoo. Inserts nontoxic dyes for cosmetic purposes"; microblading assigned to PCT by Board advisory opinion (2017). Medical boundary: no PMU-named physician exemption — the general UCA carve-out (§38-1075(1): other credentialed professionals in 'the usual and customary practice' of their profession) plus §38-10,166 (body art licensure confers no medical practice) — mechanism partly inferred, flagged. BB Glow's classification UNRESOLVED (excluded from esthetics scope 2022; not affirmatively assigned to PCT).

Artist requirements

License required	Yes
Training	NO codified hour minimum (unlike cosmetology 1,800/esthetics 600) — requirements: 18+, US-HS-equivalent education, basic first aid + BBP training (172 NAC 44-003.02: completed 'within 1 year' before applying — CONFLICT FLAG: DHHS's own application PDF says '4 hours of training within 3 years'; unresolved which controls), from approved sponsors (professional body-art orgs, OSHA, AHA, Red Cross, colleges, hospitals, Safety Council)
Exam	JURISPRUDENCE exam ≥75% (statutes/regs knowledge; board-approved; delivered as an online quiz on a third-party platform per DHHS instructions — flagged)
Bloodborne pathogen	yes — initial (≥2 hrs) + CE: 2 hrs BBP per 24 months for renewal (172 NAC 44-005)
Minimum age	18+ artist; CLIENTS: under 18 permitted ONLY with prior WRITTEN consent of parent/court-appointed guardian who MUST BE PRESENT during the procedure; consent retained 5 YEARS (§38-10,165 verbatim; Class III misdemeanor ≤3 months/$500 per §28-106); ALSO separate license-discipline exposure (§38-10,171(17)); minor records incl. guardianship proof retained 5 yrs (172 NAC 44-012.03); no absolute sub-18 floor identified (unconfirmed-absence)
Fee	$95 initial (prorated to $25 near cycle end); renewal $118 active; fee waivers: young worker 18-25, low-income, military family
Renewal	biennial — ALL body-art licenses expire March 31 of odd-numbered years; reinstatement = 2 hrs BBP within 24 months + fee

Facility requirements

License required	Yes
Inspection regime	body art facility license (§38-1080): no issuance/renewal until inspected; unannounced initial inspection within 1 yr of application (172 NAC 44-011.02); floor plan + self-evaluation inspection with application; inactive status on failed inspection; REVOKED facility licenses cannot be reinstated (fresh application); void on ownership/location change; ≥30-day notice of changes; may share space with a salon behind ≥6-ft walls — 'The same room can be shared by an esthetician and permanent color technician' (44-012.04(C)(iii)); client records 3 yrs (adults)/5 yrs (minors); autoclave spore tests ≤30 days; two unsatisfactory inspections in 60 days = unprofessional conduct; prohibited: dermal/biopsy punches and lasers, smoking, intoxicated clients
Fee	$150 renewal (verbatim from a 2023-cycle DHHS notice; current-cycle reconfirmation queued); unlicensed operation $10/day ≤$1,000
Renewal	biennial (March 31, odd years)

Local variation

County-level variation: Yes

State licensing + express local authority for ordinances 'at least as stringent' (§38-10,167). Lincoln-Lancaster County requires SEPARATE local establishment permits (annual) AND practitioner permits (3-yr, with a LOCAL written exam) under LMC 8.08 — DHHS's own application says so; Douglas County (Omaha) has a local body-art establishment permit (citation UNRESOLVED).

Reciprocity

NONE for body art — double statutory exclusion (both read in full): §38-1066 (practice-act reciprocity) covers only cosmetologist/esthetician/electrologist tracks, never the body-art classes; §38-129.02 (general UCA endorsement) enumerates covered acts and the Cosmetology/Body Art Practice Act is NOT on the list. Out-of-state PMU artists file a full original application (out-of-state license used only as background documentation). Two accommodations, not one. (a) The military-spouse temporary license (§38-129.01, up to a year). (b) Since 2026, a TEMPORARY EVENT LICENSE created by LB720 — approved by the Governor on 2026-03-12 with an emergency clause, so in force from that day. It is open only to someone who "shall hold a valid, unrestricted license or permit showing the individual is active in another state", which makes it the one route an out-of-state artist can actually use. It allows practice for "no more than seven consecutive days in any twelve-month period", no more than twice in twelve months, and only inside a licensed Nebraska body art facility; the fee is fifty dollars. See the pending note for what the applicant must file.

Pending / recent changes

Active changes: None identified

LB720 IS ENACTED AND IS IN THIS ENTRY (2026). Approved by the Governor on 2026-03-12 with an emergency clause, it directs the Department of Health and Human Services to create a temporary, nonrenewable event license for a body artist attending a body art event. The applicant must already hold a valid, unrestricted body art license active in another state, and must file an application form, government-issued photographic identification showing proof of age, a copy of that license, and "a sponsorship letter from the owner or operator of a licensed body art facility at which the individual will practice". The license names the approved location or event and its expiration date, the fee is fifty dollars, the department may inspect the facility in person, and a violation carries the same penalties as one by a permanent licensee. An earlier version of this entry did not record LB720 at all and described the military-spouse license as the only accommodation for an out-of-state artist; both are corrected here. LB867 CORRECTION (owner-ordered primary-text check, 2026-07-16 — slip law fetched, Approved by Governor 2026-04-14): §2 amends §38-131 by striking 'initial' (background checks extend beyond initial applications) — BUT §38-131's mandate applies ONLY to its ENUMERATED professions (RN, LPN, PT, psychologist, EMT/paramedic, audiologist, SLP, mental-health, OT, dietitian, social work, physician, PA, dentist, hygienist, optometrist, podiatrist, veterinarian, APRN classes) — BODY-ART LICENSES ARE NOT ENUMERATED, and LB867 amends no §38-10xx section. RETRACTION: the prior note's secondary-sourced claim that the change reaches all UCA credentials incl. body-art renewals was WRONG. LB867 has NO effect on PMU/body-art licensees. Operative mechanics for the record: Sec. 38 makes §2 operative three calendar months after session adjournment. No body-art bill or 172 NAC 44 rulemaking found open.

What this means before you book

Nebraska licenses PMU artists individually as 'Permanent Color Technicians' — a named body-art license requiring first-aid and bloodborne-pathogen training plus a state jurisprudence exam — working in separately licensed, state-inspected body art facilities; microblading falls under the same license per the state's own advisory opinion. Lincoln adds its own local permits and exam, and Omaha requires a local establishment permit. Minors can receive body art only with a parent's written consent and presence. You can verify any license through the state's public lookup.

Statutes & sources cited

LB720 (2026) — "relating to body art licensure... to require the Department of Health and Human Services to create a temporary event license for body artists attending certain events... and to declare an emergency". Passed on Final Reading 46-0-3 and approved by the Governor on 2026-03-12; because of the emergency clause it took effect on approval. It amends §38-1001 so that the new section forms part of the Cosmetology, Electrology, Esthetics, Nail Technology, and Body Art Practice Act. Slip law read in full 2026-11-11 on the Legislature's own site
Neb. Rev. Stat. §38-1008 (verbatim: "Body art means body piercing, branding, permanent color technology, and tattooing"); §38-1044 (permanent color technology = nontoxic dyes/pigments into or under the subcutaneous skin "for cosmetic purposes" — the PMU/tattoo line is PURPOSE, not technique: §§38-1053/-1054 tattooing = 'decorative or figurative purposes'); §38-1060 (license required; 18+, HS education, board-approved training, exam); §38-1061(2) title protection ('permanent color technician'); §§38-1080/-1081 (facility license); §38-10,165 (minors); §38-10,167 (local ordinances authorized); §38-10,171 (unprofessional conduct)
172 NAC ch. 44 (Body Artists and Body Art Facilities, eff. 2023-06-14; folds in former chs. 45/46): 44-003 applicant requirements, 44-005 CE, 44-007-012 facilities (incl. 012.11 'Ink caps are required if providing tattooing and permanent color technology procedures')
DHHS Board Advisory Opinions: 'Micro Blading Eyebrows — Within Permanent Color Technician practice (9/11/17)'; paramedical tattooing within scope IF inserting dyes; saline removal NOT body art; dermal punches excluded